On 11 April 2022, the Parliament of Bangladesh passed the Bangladesh Patent Act 2022, replacing the old Patents and Designs Act 1911 which arguably, has been outdated for more than a century. So, what are the impacts of the Bangladesh Patent Act 2022?
The Bangladesh Patent Act 2022 reflects Bangladesh’s commitment to be compliant with the WTO’s Agreement on Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property (TRIPS).
The Bangladesh Patent Act 2022
Improved a lot in the wording compared to the previous rules, the Bangladesh Patent Act 2022 defines a patent as an unrestricted granted right to protect an innovation by which the owner of the patent becomes entitled to lawfully prevent any other person from using the innovation for personal gain.
According to the new Patent Act, a patent in Bangladesh will have a 20 years protection period (previously, 16 years) in which no parties can infringe upon the rights of the patentee within this jurisdiction.
It also extends the examination time of 36 months from the filing date to an additional 3 months for special cases. In addition, the Patent Act 2022 also secures the rights of the inventor’s successor by allowing such patent rights to be transferred or handed over to the successor.
Many experts after reviewing the Patent Act 2022 of Bangladesh have commented that the passing of the Bill will greatly improve the situation of the country as foreign investors will have more confidence in Bangladesh and its commitment to protecting IP rights, especially patents as this is one of the more special IP assets for big enterprises.
Currently, Bangladesh is ranked 116th out of 132 countries in the 2021 Global Innovation Index. This country also had the same position as in 2019 and 2020. With these new changes, Bangladesh is expected to have its position increase by an uncountable number.
Expert opinions
A.B.M. Shamsud Doulah, senior partner and head of the intellectual property section at Doulah & Doulah in Dhaka, expressed his positive view on the idea that Bangladesh will rise significantly in this year’s Global Index ranking.
Doulah said: “This Act will protect the ideas and innovations of the patent holder which will help to increase Bangladesh’s ranking in the Global Innovation Index significantly.”
Not just that, Doulah also stated that the change in the economy will also be felt across the world as foreign investment will be drawn to this country when the law has been remade.
On this matter, stating the overall positioning in the world of Bangladesh, Doulah noted: “Indeed, it’s a good initiative in comparison to the other countries. The new patent law will facilitate compliance with agreements on the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) and other global standards relating to patents and innovation. The right balance between pharmaceutical innovation and access to medicine following the introduction of any pharmaceutical products is ensured in this new law.”
Nonetheless, all Law has flaws. It is inevitable as with the development of society, new aspects will arise. These aspects haven’t been present in the past and therefore, there can’t be any strict regulations or laws detailing how the society has to do handling that situation.
With regards to the flaws in the Bangladesh Patent Act, Doulah remarked: “A patent examination will start 12 months from the filing date. An examination procedure must be a speedy process. The foreign investors fear about [other parties] copying their innovation as this is a lengthy system of registration accompanied by a verification system of Bangladeshi databases with global databases.”
Not just with the examination process but Doulah also detects other problems such as the insufficient compensation claim in comparison with other developed countries.
You can see a list of Bangladesh IP Firms here.