According to the latest report from the USTR (United States Trade Representative), Bangladesh is facing a severe delay in processing trademark applications. Trademarks play a vital role in protecting the individuality of every business and preventing other parties from unauthorized usage. Because of this delay in trademark application processing, businesses may face difficulty in obtaining trademark protection at the earliest to protect their brand effectively. Let us learn more about Bangladesh’s delayed trademark processing issue and the situation behind it.
The Reason Behind the Extreme Delays in Trademark Application Processing
The Special 301 Report by the USTR has reviewed the overall state of intellectual property (IP) rights protection and enforcement that occurs internationally. In this report, USTR finds that Bangladesh is encountering extreme delays in trademark registration and USTR considers this issue to be addressed as a priority.
The USTR report also adds that trademark applicants in Bangladesh had to wait for several years to get their trademarks approved. This may lead to various difficulties since businesses are not able to get their trademarks protected at the earliest. This extreme delay in trademark registrations not only affect domestic businesses inside Bangladesh but also impacts international organizations wishing to register trademarks in Bangladesh.
The DPDT (Department of Patents, Designs and Trademarks) is accountable for maintaining all the trademark application processes. One of the main reasons behind this delay is directly associated with the DPDT’s lack of resources and staff to handle such a large volume of trademark applications.
Other than Bangladesh’s delay in the trademark process, the USTR report also speaks about the increasing levels of broadcast and online piracy, lack of trade secret protection, and issues related to illegal enforcement against counterfeits in Russia and China. The report also adds that these concerns should be addressed as soon as possible, as they may affect global economic strength and advancements.
The Impact of Trademark Application Delays in Businesses
This significant delay in processing trademark applications has resulted in various impacts on both the domestic and international businesses that try to register trademarks in Bangladesh. Domestic businesses in Bangladesh have waited for years to register a trademark for their Brand and faced considerable financial losses. Since trademark registrations are delayed for so long, businesses are unable to protect their identity and find it difficult to stand against the infringing parties who try to copy or reuse the trademarked goods.
International businesses that try to obtain a trademark in Bangladesh are not able to register their trademarks on time and hence face a lot of risks than domestic businesses. International brands that try to enter Bangladesh are at risk of counterfeiting and IP theft because of not getting their trademarks registered within the stipulated time. Additionally, this delay in trademark registration for both domestic and international businesses may lead to confusion among consumers, loss of market share, inhibit investors, and other financial losses.
One of the backbone businesses of Bangladesh is the garment industry. Because of these delayed trademark registrations, domestic garment manufacturers in Bangladesh face difficulty in protecting the identity of their brands. As we know trademarks play a major role in protecting brand names and logos, garment industries in Bangladesh are at risk of trademark infringements because of this delay. Hence, this extreme delay can impact Bangladesh economy as the garment industry remains one of the primary businesses in the country.
Tackling Challenges to Reduce Trademark Registration Delays
The government of Bangladesh has recognized this issue of trademark registration delay associated with the lack of resources for DPDT. The government also speaks about its efforts to settle these difficulties by increasing resources for DPDT, digitizing records, modernizing the overall trademark registration system, and more.
Apart from these, the DPDT employees should be trained enough to improve their efficiency in handling trademark registrations. Also, they should be provided training in working with modern technologies for trademark registrations.
Providing enough funding for the DPDT will also tackle this challenge, as DPDT can hire more staff if enough funding is available. Also, partnering with international companies that follow modern IP systems and trademark registration processes will allow the staff to acquire experiences and knowledge about the seamless trademark registration process.
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Since Bangladesh is facing an extreme delay in trademark registrations, it needs to be addressed at the earliest possible to remain competitive in the worldwide market. Also, the government of Bangladesh has to take effective steps to enhance the operations of DPDT and provide financial and moral support to increase the overall trademark registrations in the Country.
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