The problem
Bangladesh is a first-to-file jurisdiction and is not a member of the Madrid Protocol, so there is no international filing route in. A brand that has not registered in every class it might one day need is exposed to local applicants registering its name in the classes it has not covered.
That is precisely what happens to globally recognised marks in first-to-file markets, and the remedy — protection for a mark well known outside the jurisdiction even where it is not registered inside it — had not been established in Bangladesh.
What we did
Argued the well-known mark case for Nokia, establishing the doctrine in Bangladesh and securing protection across all classes.
The outcome
The doctrine is now part of Bangladeshi trademark practice and is relied on by rights holders and in subsequent High Court judgments protecting well-known marks.
It remains the strongest single credential the firm's intellectual property practice holds.
Check it
- Court, year and citation to be confirmed by the firm before publication.