Bangladeshi official fees are prescribed under the Trademarks Rules and charged per step. The structure is straightforward; what makes a Bangladeshi portfolio expensive is the class rule and the term length, not any individual fee.
This note explains the structure rather than listing amounts. The schedule is prescribed by rules and revised from time to time, and the current figures are the ones the Department publishes.
Quick reference
| Where set | Prescribed under the Trademarks Rules; section 117 provides for fees |
| How charged | Per step — application, opposition, registration, renewal, recordal |
| Classes | One per application, so fees multiply by class |
| First term | Seven years, so the first renewal comes sooner than elsewhere |
| Late renewal | Possible within six months of expiry, with the prescribed fee |
| Restoration | Within one year of expiry, with the prescribed fee |
| Reinstating an abandoned application | Within five years, with the prescribed fee |
| Security for costs | May be required of an opponent or applicant not resident or carrying on business in Bangladesh |
The structure
Section 117 provides for fees to be paid in respect of applications and other matters, and the Rules prescribe the amounts and the procedure for determination and payment.
Getting registered — the application fee with Form TM-1, and then the fees attaching to registration and the certificate.
Keeping the registration — a renewal fee each term. Because the first term is seven years and runs from the application date, the first renewal falls due sooner than a portfolio manager used to ten-year cycles will expect. Late renewal within six months of expiry and restoration within one year of expiry each carry their prescribed fees. See renewal and restoration.
Contested matters — a notice of opposition carries a prescribed fee, and so do the steps that follow it.
Transactions and changes — recording an assignment or transmission, registering a registered user, varying or cancelling a registered user entry, alteration of a registered mark, corrections, and changes of name or address.
Recovering a position — two fee-bearing second chances worth knowing about: reinstatement of an application abandoned for a missed objection reply, available within five years of the notice of abandonment; and restoration of a removed registration within one year of expiry.
Security for costs
A cost that is not a fee, and one foreign parties should budget for.
Section 18(7): where a person giving notice of opposition, or an applicant sending a counter-statement, neither resides nor carries on business in Bangladesh, the Registrar may require security for the costs of the proceedings — and in default may treat the opposition or the application as abandoned.
So an overseas opponent may have to post security to maintain an opposition, and an overseas applicant may have to post security to defend one. Either way the exposure arises at the start of a contested matter, not at the end.
Section 85 separately deals with the costs of defence or prosecution in proceedings under the Act, and section 104 with the costs of the Registrar in proceedings before the High Court Division.
What actually drives the total
The number of classes. One class per application means each class is a separate application, a separate registration and a separate renewal for the life of the portfolio. Four classes is four of everything.
The seven-year first term. Every registration reaches its first renewal three years earlier than it would in a ten-year jurisdiction, and the term runs from the application date rather than the certificate. Across a portfolio, that is a real difference in cost of ownership — and a real difference in the chance of missing one.
Defensive breadth. Where a mark genuinely qualifies, section 43 defensive registration is the purpose-built route for goods you do not sell, and it is immune from non-use removal. It is also a registration like any other — its own application, its own renewals, its own fees. A defensive programme is a recurring commitment, not a one-off. See well-known and defensive trademarks.
Whether the matter is contested. An objection answered with evidence of distinctiveness, or an opposition running to evidence and a hearing within the 120-working-day timetable, adds official fees, professional time and possibly security for costs. Searching first is the cheapest way to find that out early. See trademark search in Bangladesh.
Where money is not the real cost
Three deadlines where the fee is the least of it:
The counter-statement in an opposition — two months from receipt, and failure deems the application abandoned with no reinstatement route.
The six-month advertisement application for an assignment without goodwill — failure means the assignment does not take effect, which is a title problem rather than an expense. See trademark assignment in Bangladesh.
The one-year outer limit for restoration — after which the registration is gone and a fresh application starts a new seven-year term.
On the firm’s own charges
Ours are a separate conversation and depend on what the matter actually involves — the number of classes, whether the mark needs clearing first, and whether anyone is likely to contest it. We would rather quote on the real scope than publish a figure that fits nobody’s matter.
Frequently asked questions
How are Bangladeshi trademark fees set? They are prescribed under the Trademarks Rules, with section 117 of the Act providing for fees to be paid in respect of applications and other matters.
Does filing in more classes cost more? Yes, proportionally. Every application relates to one class, so each additional class is a separate application with its own fees at every stage.
Why does the seven-year term matter for cost? Because the first renewal arrives three years earlier than in a ten-year jurisdiction, and the term runs from the application date rather than the certificate.
Will I have to put up security for costs? Possibly, if you neither reside nor carry on business in Bangladesh. The Registrar may require security from an opponent or from an applicant defending an opposition, and may treat the proceeding as abandoned in default.
Can I recover an abandoned application? Where the abandonment followed a missed objection reply, the Rules allow reinstatement within five years of the notice of abandonment on payment of the prescribed fee.
Where do I find the current fees? From the Department of Patents, Designs and Trademarks. The amounts are prescribed by rules and revised from time to time, so the published current schedule is the reliable source.
Useful official resources
- Department of Patents, Designs and Trademarks, Bangladesh — the current fee schedule and forms
- Trademarks Act, 2009 — sections 18, 22, 85, 104, 117
- Trademarks Rules — rule 4 and the fee schedules
See our related notes on trademark classes in Bangladesh, renewal and restoration and trademark opposition.
Working out what a Bangladeshi filing programme will cost to run? Talk to us.