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Parallel Imports: Importation of non-counterfeit/original
product without the permission of the IP owner (i.e. Parallel
import) is not expressly governed by the law. However, it has
been explicitly declared illegal by the Hon’ble High Court
Division of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh (‘HCD’) in Writ
Petition No. 11163 of 2014. In Writ Petition No. 7592 of 2015,
the HCD issued a rule and directed the concerned government
authorities to confiscate/restrain such parallel imports.

EFFECT OF NON-REGISTRATION

• Unregistered Marks (in general)

Action: There is no statutory remedy for infringement of
unregistered marks, however, the common law based tortious
remedy of ‘passing off’ is available. A suit in this regard shall
be entertained by the court of District Judge (S. 96, TMA
2009). Passing-off is the protection of the plaintiff’s goodwill,
which is the plaintiff’s actual power to attract and thereby to
retain customers, from being misrepresented by the defendant
that his goods are those of the plaintiff’s. The components
of passing-off are the following: (1) plaintiff has established
goodwill; (2) defendant misrepresented information; and
(3) the diversion of customers caused actual, or threatened,
damage to the plaintiff’s reputation.

MARKS UNREGISTERED IN BANGLADESH BUT REGISTERED
IN OTHER COUNTRIES

Article 6 of the Paris Convention requires allowing marks applied
for/registered in one member country to be accepted for filing
in another member country by claiming priority while making
application in another member state. As Bangladesh is a signatory
to the Paris Convention, marks applied for/registered in any other
country which is also a signatory to the said convention may claim
priority while making the application in Bangladesh.

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