The Bhutanese Leading the way.
The Department of Intellectual Property (DoIP), Ministry of Economic Affairs is the responsible agency for the administration and management of intellectual property in the country.
Accordingly, the DoIP generates revenue both in Ngultrums and in Swiss Francs (CHF) by registering and grant of Patent, Industrial Design, Trademark and Copyright and Related Rights.
The revenue generation from registration of trademarks crossed Ngultrum 100 million mark this year. Trademarks of companies and enterprises are distinctive signs, names and symbols or other forms of indications that distinguish goods and services from one another in the marketplace.
There are two routes of filing trademark applications in Bhutan; the first route is the National Filing system, which is a direct filing to the DoIP by the applicants. For non-national applicants, they are required to file the applications using the local services of registered Intellectual Property Agents.
The second route is the Madrid Filing system, administered at the international level by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).
Bhutan became a member of the Madrid Filing system in the year 2000, and the DoIP have been receiving increasing foreign trademark applications through this system.
As of June 2018, the total combined revenue generation from both National and Madrid trademark filing stands at Nu. 102.0 million and the total number of application is 17,458. The trademark registration also earns Swiss Francs (CHF) as the cost of filing applications when international applications are filed to Bhutan for registration.
This contributes to the government exchequer and increases the foreign currency reserves. For instance, of the total revenue earnings, it has generated CHF 1.67 million from the international trademark applications.
