IP OVERVIEW OF BHUTAN

Bhutan, officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked country in South Asia at the eastern end of the Himalayas. Bhutan borders China to the north and India to the south, east and west. To the west, it is separated from Nepal by the Indian state of Sikkim; farther south it is separated from Bangladesh by the Indian states of Assam and West Bengal. Bhutan's capital and largest city is Thimphu.

Patent

Patent Protection in Bhutan is by way of cautionary Notice, as the Patent law is yet to be notified. Bhutan has become the member of both Paris Convention and Madrid Agreement and once the Patent Act is notified by Bhutan Government, it would possible to file both conventional as well as Madrid Agreement in Bhutan. Under the Patent Act, total term of Patent is proposed to be 20 years from the date of filing.

Under the proposed Act, the basic mandatory requirements for filing an ordinary patent application (without any priority) in Bhutan shall be as follows: the name, address, particulars and nationality of applicant/s for patent; provisional specification or complete specification with description, claims, abstract, drawings, proof of right in favour of applicant from inventor in writing (assignment deed, employment agreement or any other arrangement), letter of authority in favour of Bhutan Patent Attorney/agent.

Trademark

Bhutan follows the International Classification of Goods and Services as prescribed by the Nice Agreement to classify trademark registrations and it is possible to file applications in all 45 classes in Bhutan. Bhutan is member of Madrid and it is possible to file international application designating Bhutan. It is not compulsory to register the Trademark before using in Bhutan.

The duration of registration of a trademark is 10 years from the date of filing of application in Bhutan and is further renewable for every 10 years thereafter.

Following stages are ordinarily encountered while registering a trademark in Bhutan:

Filing of trademark application in Bhutan;

Formality Examination of the Application to check formal compliance before issuance of Application no. and date;

Search and Examination and Issuance of first report with objections, if any;

Replying to first report within 2 months or within additional 2 months extension;

Acceptance of application if there are no objections or if objections have been overcome;

Publication of acceptance in the Trademark Journal;

Opposition, if any, within 3 months from date of publication of the application;

Registration of Trademark, if no opposition to filing or been set aside;

Issuance of Registration Certificate.

Copyright

The copyright law in Bhutan, in keeping with international norm and practice, does not require any formalities for the exercise and enjoyment of the rights. There is no need to register the work neither in the Copyright Office nor in any other agency of the Government. Bhutan joined the Berne Convention in 2004. Therefore any work copyright under any other member country is entitled to same protection in Bhutan.