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Brunei is a member of the TPP when it came into force in 2006. The main industry is oil and natural gas, and the largest exporting country is Japan. In recent years, Japan has been aiming to diversify its economy in order to break away from dependence on energy resources.

Since around 2000, Brunei has been developing various laws regarding intellectual property rights in accordance with international standards. In particular, the Patent Act was completely revised in 2011, changing from the previous patents based on patents of other countries (so-called confirmed patents) to a patent system that grants rights independently. Additionally, Japan has joined a number of treaties related to intellectual property rights, as listed below.

As mentioned above, the status of protection of intellectual property rights in Brunei has been improving significantly in recent years, and in 2013, Brunei was excluded from the list of monitoring countries under Special Article 301.

In the TPP negotiations, the United States is seeking stronger protection for intellectual property rights, so this trend is likely to advance further.

*Language is Malay or English *PCT must be migrated within 30 months (2 months translation grace period) *With grace period (12 months) *Formal examination only. No substantive examination will be conducted. *The right period is 20 years from the date of application (extension system available) *It is possible to apply for a patent revocation order to the Japan Patent Office.

On April 2019, 4, the Brunei Intellectual Property Office moved to the new address below.

Brunei Intellectual Property Office (BruIPO)
KHub Building, Simpang 32-37
Anggerek Desa Technology Park
Jalan Berakas BB3719
Bandar Seri Begawan
Negara Brunei Darussalam
Tel: +673 238 0966 +673 238 0545

*There is a partial design system, a set design system, and a secret design system. *Grace period available (12 months or 6 months) *Formal examination only. No substantive examination will be conducted. *The right period is 5 years from the date of application. Renewable up to two times for five years each. *You can petition the court to invalidate the design.

・Approximately 12 to 18 weeks from application to registration.

Documents required at the time of application

*Protection targets include products, service marks, certification marks, and collective trademarks. *Types of trademarks include word trademarks, figure trademarks, symbol trademarks, three-dimensional trademarks, 　Combined trademarks, color trademarks, etc. *substantive examination included *After the examiner confirms that the formal requirements are met, the examiner examines whether there are any identical or similar prior trademarks and whether the trademark has distinctiveness. *There is an opposition system before registration. You can file an objection within 3 months of the public announcement. *The right period is 10 years from the date of application. Renewable in 10 year increments. *Within 5 years of registration, to the Japan Patent Office or court, 　A trademark can be invalidated. *Cancellation can be applied for if not used in Brunei for 5 years

・Adoption of multi-classification system

・Renewal period: From 6 months before expiration.

Trends in the number of applications and registrations

　　Source: FY3 Trademark Application Trend Survey Report (Summary)

　*The number of applications from other countries is large, accounting for over 90% of the total.

Documents required at the time of application

On August 2017, 8, the PPH Plus framework was agreed between the Japan Patent Office and the Brunei Intellectual Property Office.

Based on the decision to grant a patent for the Japanese application, a PPH Plus application is filed for the Brunei application, and after receiving the PPH Plus examination result, a request for patent issuance is submitted to the Brunei Intellectual Property Office to quickly obtain rights for the Brunei application. You can do it.

・Ministry of Foreign Affairs homepage

・Japan External Trade Organization “Brunei Subordinate Law Survey” June 2015

・Trademarks in Brunei Darussalam -General Information (NJQ & Associates)
http://njq-ip.com/country/brunei-darussalam/trademarks/

・Want to register your IP? – IP Hall
http://www.iphall.com/

・IP Factsheet: Brunei Darussalam -South-east Asia IPR SME HELPDESK”