A Critical Analysis of TRIPS: Compatibility and Limitations of Trademark Regime in Bangladesh

Abstract

In today’s global trade and business hub, trademark as one of the components of Intellectual Property (IP), is a decisive subject matter particularly to the socio-economic and technological development of a country. As such, in conjunction with other IPRs, trademark has become an international concern as the WTO member states, including Bangladesh, have the obligation to articulate their IP regime complying with the WTO Agreement on TRIPS. Consequently, Bangladesh has endorsed The Trademarks Act, in 2009 conforming the WTO Agreement on TRIPS; but this new law is not free from the criticisms of IP experts and academicians, especially in terms of standard protection and enforcement measures provided for the owner of trademark or service mark. To this context, this research is an attempt to overview the safeguards and enforcement mechanisms of trademark law in Bangladesh as well as the compatibility of Trademarks Act, 2009 with the TRIPS Agreement. This paper, thus aims to trace out the achievement and implication of the present trademark regime taking into consideration of TRIPS flexibilities. Finally, this paper concludes with some recommendations to formulate an inclusive domestic legal regime for the proprietor of trademark and service mark in Bangladesh.