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annual renewal fees. In order to be eligible for
protection in Brunei, a plant variety must fulfill
four conditions.
Firstly, the variety must be novel (new) and thus
has not been sold or disposed of without the
consent of the breeder. Secondly, the variety
must be distinct, meaning that it is clearly
distinguishable from any other variety whose
existence is a matter of common knowledge at
the time of the filing of the application. The third
condition is that the variety must be uniform in
its relevant characteristics. Lastly, the variety
must be stable, meaning that the relevant
characteristics must remain unchanged after
repeated propagation.
All plant genera and species are protectable
under the Plant Varieties Protection Order,
2015. As protection is territorial, a plant variety
registered with BruIPO is only protected in
Brunei. Applicants will need to file directly at
the foreign IP office of the jurisdiction where
they intend to protect their plant variety.
Agreements signed with
Japan Patent Office
BruIPO signed a Memorandum of Cooperation
(MoC) with the Japan Patent Office (JPO) on
May 24, 2015 to enhance cooperation in the
IP field, namely trademarks, patents and
industrial designs.
Within the ambit of the MoC, JPO has
supported BruIPO in developing its capacity
through the training and dispatch of experts,
as well as through the compilation of formality
examination guidelines for patents.
On August 28, 2017, the BruIPO signed an
agreement with JPO to kick-start a new patent
examination cooperation initiative called the
Patent Prosecution Highway Plus (PPH+).
The PPH+ is a patent examination cooperation
work-sharing initiative by the JPO. It aims
to accelerate the examination process for
corresponding patent applications from Japan
and those filed in participating IP offices.
Brunei-Denmark and ASEAN-Korea
cooperation
Since the implementation of the indigenous
patent system in Brunei in 2012, the Danish
Patent and Trademark Office (DKPTO)
has been acting as BruIPO’s examiner. On
August 29, 2017, BruIPO and KPTO signed
a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)
on a referral arrangement to conduct
substantive searching and examination of
patents. The MoU signified the continuation
of collaborative efforts between the two
offices in the area of patents for a further
five years.
On March 27, 2018, an MoC was signed
between the Korean Intellectual Property
Office (KIPO) and the heads of ASEAN IP
offices to cooperate and work towards the
development of IP systems.
The agreement is designed to meet the goals
of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) by
transforming ASEAN into an innovative and
competitive region through the use of IP and
ensuring that the region remains an active
player in the international IP community.
In addition, the agreement aimed to promote
innovation and technology and contribute
to the economic partnership and growth of
ASEAN and Korea.
Enhanced Brunei-Korea ties
On March 11, 2019, an MoU was signed
between Brunei Darussalam and the Republic
of Korea on the Recognition of KIPO as
an International Searching Authority and
International Preliminary Examining Authority
(ISA/IPEA) under the Patent Cooperation Treaty
(PCT) for BruIPO.
The MoU was signed during a three-day state
visit of the Republic of Korea President Moon
Jae-in to Brunei Darussalam, showing the
close bilateral relationship between the two
countries. The signing of the MoU further
strengthened such ties.
Brunei joins TMview and DesignView
As of January 23, 2019, the BruIPO has made
its trademark and design data available to the
TMview and DesignView search tools.
With BruIPO on board TMview and DesignView,
both tools now contain data from 68
participating offices. With the addition of more
than 46,000 trademarks from BruIPO, TMview
provides information and access to more than
52.5 million trademarks in total. DesignView
contains more than 14.4 million designs,
including 190 designs from BruIPO.
Since the introduction of TMview on April
13, 2010, the tool has served more than 51.2
million searches from 166 different countries.
Spain, China and Germany are among the most
frequent users.
DesignView went live on November 19, 2012
and has since then served almost 4.4 million
searches from 163 different countries, with
users from the United Kingdom, Germany and
China among the most frequent users.