Date of publication:

01/08/2026

Bangladesh

Do domestic laws and policies protect intellectual property rights for forcibly displaced and stateless persons?

ANALYSIS

Assessment by population

Refugees
Asylum-seekers
Analysis

Bangladeshi domestic laws and policies provide protection for intellectual property rights (IPR). The basic legal instrument governing copyright law in Bangladesh is the Copyright Act, 2023. Section 14 of the Act protects the rights of authors, artists, and creators over their literary, musical, and artistic works. It grants them exclusive rights to reproduce, distribute, and perform their works, and also provides protection against unauthorized use. In addition, the Bangladesh Industrial Design Act, 2023 covers subjects of copyright, enforcement of intellectual property rights, industrial designs, intellectual property regulatory body and patents (inventions). Furthermore, the Trademarks Act, 2009 governs the registration, protection, and enforcement of trademarks in Bangladesh, which ensures that brand names, logos, and other distinctive signs used in commerce are protected from unauthorized use. 

The Copyright Act, 2023 defines ‘author’ to include the creator of a work without specifying residency or citizenship.1 Moreover, the newly enacted Industrial Design Act, 2023 defines ‘person’ as a legal entity, institution, company, association, partnership firm or association, whether incorporated or not.2 The Trademarks Act, 2009 also contains similar provisions that does not distinguish between nationals or foreigners.3 If any foreigner wants the same treatment as Bangladeshi nationals the only legal requirement is that their home country’s legal framework must grant reciprocal protection4 to Bangladeshi nationals. If the foreign country does not provide the same treatment and protection to Bangladeshi nationals as it does to its own citizens, then its nationals will also be denied the protections granted by Bangladesh’s legal framework. However, the Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh being not recognized as citizens in Myanmar, the reciprocal protection provision cannot be applied towards them.  

Enforcement of intellectual property rights in Bangladesh is carried out under the judiciary, including civil and criminal courts. A person can claim civil remedies for infringement of copyright under Section 77 of the Copyright Act, 2023. Chapter 17 of the Act also grants criminal remedies in case of infringement of any provisions of the Act. While the Department of Patents, Designs, and Trademarks (DPDT) under the Ministry of Industries is responsible for administering intellectual property laws related to patents, trademarks, and industrial designs, the Copyright Office, under the Ministry of Cultural Affairs, administers copyright matters. The legal framework on the protection of intellectual property theoretically applies to all within the territory of Bangladesh as it does not distinguish between the nationality or legal status of a person in Bangladesh. 

Theoretically a refugee or an asylum-seeker’s intellectual property rights are also protected under the country’s legal framework, as relevant laws do not distinguish between the nationality or legal status of a person in Bangladesh. Where refugees or asylum-seekers comply with intellectual property registration and procedural requirements, which are stringent and lengthy, they are legally entitled to protect their intellectual property rights. However, the application of these protections to refugees and asylum-seekers is not explicitly addressed in the laws and there is no record of a refugee or asylum-seeker making any claim related to intellectual property rights.  

  • 1

    Section 2(23), The Copyright Act, 2023.

  • 2

    Section 2(j), Bangladesh Industrial Design Act, 2023

  • 3

    Section 2(17), Trademarks Act, 2009

  • 4

    Reciprocal protection as incorporated in section 121 of Trademarks Act, 2009 refers to the accord to citizens of Bangladesh the same rights in respect of the registration and protection of the trademarks as it accords to its own nationals. 

    LAW & POLICY

    Related provisions of domestic law or policy

    Trademarks Act

    Legal provision

    Provision as to reciprocity.-

    Where any country specified by the Government in this behalf by notification in the official Gazette does not accord to citizens of Bangladesh the same rights in respect of the registration and protection of the trademarks as it accords to its own nationals no national of such country shall be entitled, either solely or jointly with any other person⎯ (a) to apply for the registration of, or be registered as the proprietor of a trademark in the Register; or (b) to be registered as the assignee of the proprietor of a registered trademark; or (c) to apply for registration or be registered as a registered user of a trademark under section 45 of this Act.

    Definitions:

    (17) "Registered proprietor" means any person whose name is recorded in the register as the proprietor of a trade mark

    Bangladesh Industrial Design Act

    Legal provision

    Definitions-

    (j) person includes any corporate body, firm, company, association, partnership or association, whether or not incorporated

    The Copyright Act

    Legal provision

    Definitions

    (23) “author” means- (a) regarding a literary or dramatic work, the author of the work; (b) regarding a musical work, the composer; (c) regarding an artistic work, except photograph, the artist; (d) regarding a photograph, the person taking the photograph; (e) regarding a cinematograph film or a sound recording, the producer; (f) regarding any literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work which is computer- generated, the person or institution who causes the work to be created (g) the speaker in the case of lectures or speeches; and (h) the person implementing it in the field of information technology-based digital work;

    Civil remedies for infringement of copyright.-

    (1) Where copyright in respect of any work or any other right conferred by this Act has been infringed, the owner of the copyright or such other right, as the case may be, shall, except as otherwise provided by this Act, be entitled to all such remedies by way of injunction, damages, accounts and otherwise as are or may be conferred by law for the infringement of a right: Provided that if the defendant proves that at the date of the infringement he was not aware that copyright subsisted in the work and he had reasonable ground for believing that copyright did not subsist in the work, the plaintiff shall not be entitled to any remedy other than an injunction in respect of the infringement and a decree for the whole or part of the profits made by the defendant by the sale of the infringing copies as the court may in the circumstances deem reasonable. (2) Where, in the case of literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work, a name purporting to be that of the author or the publisher, as the case may be, appears on copies of the work as published, or, in the case of an artistic work, appeared on the work when it was made, the person whose name so appears or appeared shall, in any proceeding in respect of infringement of copyright in such work, be presumed, unless the contrary is proved, to be the author or the publisher of the work, as the case may be.