Publications

Brunei’s Patent Examination System to Increase Efficiency Through Agreement with Japan

On August 28, 2017, the Brunei Intellectual Property Office (BruIPO) signed an agreement to introduce a new patent examination initiative – the Patent Prosecution Highway Plus (PPH+) – with the Japan Patent Office (JPO), which will commence on October 1, 2017. Using this PPH+ system, patent prosecution procedures in Brunei are accelerated by allowing BruIPO […]

ASEAN – Comparison of Design Practices

Design laws vary by country. Some countries classify designs as patents and some have separate “registered design” or “industrial design” systems. In some countries, designs of products must be whole products in order to be registrable and not parts of products. Some countries allow protection of only part or parts of the product but the […]

New Patents Order In Brunei Darussalam

A new Patents Order, 2011 has come into force in Brunei Darussalam, effective January 1, 2012. This legislation repeals the previous patent legislation, i.e. The Inventions Act, Chapter 72. Previously, Brunei, a member state of ASEAN, did not have a national patent system. Patent protection was obtained by re-registration of a granted UK, European Patent […]

ASEAN Launches Patent Cooperation Programme

Countries from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations have embarked on their first regional cooperation in Intellectual property, specifically in patents, by introducing ASEAN Patent Examination Co-operation (ASPEC). There are eight participating IP offices from: Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Once a search and examination report is issued by any […]

The on going battle against counterfeit anti-malaria drugs in South East Asia

In February this year, it was revealed that the International Criminal Police Organisation (INTERPOL) with the help of scientists and health workers from the World Health Organization (WHO) and Wellcome-Trust University of Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Programme, and the co-operation of Chinese authorities have uncovered a massive counterfeit anti- malaria drug syndicate, based in southern […]