The current trademark laws and regulations in Bhutan are mainly based on the "Industrial Property Act of the Kingdom of Bhutan" promulgated on July 13, 2001. The Bhutan Intellectual Property Office is responsible for managing trademark affairs, and the official language is English. Trademark rights are required to be obtained through registration. Trademark registration is mandatory. Bhutan adopts the "first-to-file" principle for trademark registration.

Bhutan is a contracting party to international intellectual property treaties such as the "Paris Convention" and the "WIPO Convention", and a member of the "Madrid Agreement" and the "Madrid Protocol". Therefore, trademark registration can be processed through "national registration" or "Madrid international registration".

Trademark Application

Currently, Bhutan adopts the Nice Classification for goods and services descriptions and accepts one application for multiple classes. The elements that can be registered as trademarks in Bhutan include: words, graphics, colors, letters, numbers, etc.

Trademark Registration Process

The main process for applying for trademark registration in Bhutan is: application - acceptance - examination – publication - approval - certificate issuance. Applications will be accepted within 1 to 2 weeks after submission. The examiner will conduct a formal examination and a substantive examination of the application. The formal examination mainly checks whether the application requirements and classification information comply with regulations; the substantive examination includes the examination of the trademark's distinctiveness, whether it violates prohibitive registration and use provisions, and whether it conflicts with prior trademarks. If the examination fails, a rejection notice will be issued, requiring the applicant to respond within the time limit specified in the rejection notice. If the substantive examination passes, it will be scheduled for publication.

A 3-month opposition period starts from the publication date. Any interested party or prior right holder may file an opposition. If there are no oppositions during the publication period or the oppositions are not established, the trademark can be approved for registration and a registration certificate will be issued. Under normal circumstances, trademark registration in Bhutan currently takes about 1 year; if there are objections or rejections during the process, the time will be greatly extended.

Trademark Maintenance

Trademark registrations in Bhutan are valid for 10 years from the application date; renewal can be processed within 6 months before the expiration date, with a grace period of 6 months; the renewal validity period is 10 years.

If a trademark has not been actually used in the country for 3 consecutive years after registration, anyone may apply for cancellation, except for force majeure.