Patent registration in Brunei. Brunei, officially the Nation of Brunei, the Abode of Peace, is a country located on the north coast of the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia. Brunei has developed wealth from extensive petroleum and natural gas fields. Brunei has the second-highest Human Development Index among the Southeast Asian nations, after Singapore, and is classified as a developed country. According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Brunei is ranked fifth in the world by gross domestic product per capita at purchasing power parity. Accordingly, many businesses want to enter this market and one of the most important preparations a business needs to take before expanding to this country is to learn the procedure of patent registration in Brunei.
Patent in Brunei
A patent in Brunei is temporary ownership of an invention. During the patent’s term, the patentee will have the right to exclude third-party actions related to the protected subject such as manufacture, commercialization, use, and others.
To protect an invention through patenting means to prevent its unauthorized exploitation by competitors who were not involved in nor bore the invention’s research and development costs.
To be patentable in this country, an invention must meet the requirements of novelty, inventiveness, and industrial applicability.
Necessary documents for patent registration in Brunei
The necessary documents for patent registration in Brunei include:
- The request to grant a patent (patent application);
- Detailed information on the applicant(s) including the applicant’s and inventor’s names, addresses, citizenships, etc.;
- A description of the invention;
- A signed and stamped power of attorney by the applicant(s);
- A copy of the amendments (if any);
- Priority documents (if any).
- Other required documents.
The patent application must be filed in English.
The procedure of patent registration in Brunei
To obtain a patent in Brunei, the applicant needs to file their patent application to the Brunei Darussalam Intellectual Property Office.
Although there are no restrictions on who can file the patent application in Brunei, foreign applicants need to file their patent application through an authorized representative with a local address in Brunei Darussalam.
The application will then undergo a thorough formality examination to check if it complies with the law of Brunei.
If there are no problems, the IP Office will send a notification to the applicant that they can proceed to the next step.
The applicant then can request a substantive examination to ensure that all relevant provisions have been complied with.
When all the examinations are completed, the decision to grant the patent will be issued and the applicant will receive the patent.
A patent is valid for 20 years. The patentee needs to pay the annual maintenance fee every year to maintain the validity of the patent.
Patent registration in Brunei through International IP Treaties
Besides the traditional national filing, the applicant can also obtain patent protection in Brunei through International IP Treaties.
Paris Convention: If the applicant has previously filed a patent in a country that is a member of the Paris Convention or a WTO member country, they may claim priority if they file the patent application for the same patent in Brunei within 12 months.
Patent Cooperation Treaty: As Brunei has now become a member of the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), applicants who want to obtain patent protection in this country may file their patent application using the PCT route. It will usually take up to 2 to 4 years to register a patent using the PCT process in Brunei.
You can find a list of Brunei IP firms here.