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INVESTMENT POTENTIAL
The Brunei Intellectual Property Office (BruIPO)
was formed on June 1, 2013 to restructure the
national intellectual property (IP) administration.
The BruIPO is responsible for the registration
of patents, trademarks, industrial designs and
plant varieties protection.
Among the objectives of the BruIPO is to
administer and facilitate registration and
renewal of trademarks, patents, industrial
designs and plant varieties. While overseeing the
development of the national IP system, the office
also aims to raise awareness on the benefits
of IP rights protection, enhancing business
growth and competitiveness and promoting an
‘IP Culture' where creativity and innovation can
flourish.
Patents
The application system in Brunei Darussalam
operates on a “first-to-file” basis. The first per-
son to file a patent application will have priority
over others for the same invention. The patent
system’s key feature is its “self-assessing”,
which allows applicants to decide how and
when to proceed with the patent applications.
In addition, the patent system is “formali-
ty-based”, and substantive examination work
is outsourced to the foreign patent offices of
Austria, Denmark and Hungary.
Industrial Designs Order
The Industrial Designs Order came into force in
2000 and provides for the registration of new
industrial designs or the visual appearance of
products. BruIPO administers a registration
system based on formalities examination only
and does not conduct prior art searches.
For industrial designs to be registrable, the
design must be new, which means it has not
been registered, published, used or sold in
Brunei or elsewhere before the date on which
the application of registration is logged.
The design must be applied industrially,
meaning that it must have been applied to more
than 50 separate articles which altogether
do not constitute a single article or articles
manufactured and duplicated in a number of
lengths and pieces, except handmade articles.
Once accepted for registration, the industrial
designs will be published in the Industrial
Designs Journal and a certificate of registration
will be issued to the applicant.
Registration is for an initial period of five years
and extendable for two periods of five years
each, totalling a maximum of 15 years subject
to the payment of a renewal fee at the end of
the fifth year.
Trademarks
According to the BruIPO website, a trademark
means any perceptible sign capable of being
represented graphically which is capable
of distinguishing goods or services of one
undertaking from those of other undertakings.
A trademark may consist of words including
personal names, designs, letters, numerals, or
the shape of goods or their packaging.
Since 2017, Brunei has been accepting
registrations for non-traditional marks: smell,
sound and taste – so long as an applicant can
visually represent the product’s mark in writing.
While not compulsory, there are advantages to
register a trademark. A registered trademark
owner can get exclusive legal rights to use,
sell, or license their trademark and can stop
others from using their trademarks without their
permission.
Protection of a trademark begins on the date on
which the application for its registration is filed
and it is initially protected for 10 years. This may
be renewed indefinitely subject to the payment
of a renewal fee.
Previously, trademark protection in Brunei was
territorial, which means a trademark registered
with BruIPO is only protected in Brunei. In 2016,
Brunei joined the Madrid System for international
trademark registration. The system allows local
applicants to protect their trademark overseas,
subject to a fee.
Plant Varieties
The plant varieties protection system provides an
incentive for private research and development
into new breeding techniques. It also encourages
the development of new and beneficial plant
varieties for use by farmers and consumers,
advancing the society’s development in
agriculture, horticulture and forestry.
In addition to preventing others from using
the variety without permission, the protection
allows plant breeders to gain an exclusive right
to produce for sale and sell propagating material
of the plant variety.
A plant variety is given a protection term of
up to 25 years, subject to the payment of