Bangladesh may join Madrid protocol on trademarks

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Bangladesh is likely to join the Madrid Protocol on Trademarks to facilitate Bangladeshi businesses to protect and promote their trademarks and brands in the international market.

The industries ministry has already initiated a process to join the protocol or the Madrid Union, a platform of 105 members covering 121 countries on the international registration of trademarks.

Bangladeshi businesses will be able to get registration of their trademarks in the international arena in less time and at low cost to protect and expand the geographical scope of their trademarks if Bangladesh joins the protocol, officials of the ministry said.

They said that local businesses would be able to get registration for their trademarks to all the countries under Madrid Union through a single application to the World Intellectual Property Organisation through its local focal point — Department of Patent, Design and Trademarks of the industries ministry.

The process will also reduce time and cost of trademarks registration as the applicant will have to pay the application fees once to the WIPO, they said.

Joining the protocol will also help the country establish the local brands in the international market and create a positive image of Bangladeshi products, they added.

The industries ministry has already held several meetings in last few months with stakeholders that include trade bodies and different ministries to obtain their opinions on the issue.

In July 2018, the then post, telecommunication and ICT minister Mustafa Jabbar also requested the industries ministry to consider joining the protocol saying that it would boost export of Bangladeshi ICT products and services in the international market and attract foreign direct investment in the sector.

Currently Jabbar is the post and telecommunication minister.

Commerce ministry and different trade bodies including Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services have also given their opinions in favour of joining the protocol, a senior industries ministry official said.

The industries ministry at an inter-ministerial meeting held in July 10 decided to obtain the opinion of the foreign ministry regarding joining the international platform, he said.

It also decided to place the proposal of joining the Madrid protocol before the cabinet soon after getting opinion of the foreign ministry, he added.

Officials said that joining the union was important for Bangladesh to keep trademarks rights protected and avail intellectual property rights in the international market as more than 80 per cent of global trade takes place among the Madrid Union member countries while Bangladesh’s international trade is expanding day by day.

The role of local trademarks in the international market will also be important in the post-LDC graduation period for the country, they said.

The decision of joining the union will also help the local brands including Yellow, Aarong, Walton, and brands of some pharmaceuticals companies, to expand their business across the world.

Officials of the Department of Patent, Design and Trademarks said that registration of trademarks remained protected within the territory of a country where the trademarks were registered.

The local traders would be able to get registration in all member countries of the Madrid Union through a single application to the DPDT by paying fees as the DPDT is a focal point of the WIPO in Bangladesh, they said, adding that traders would not require appointing any international expert on the issue.
Source: http://www.newagebd.net

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