The short answer
Medicines get special treatment in the Bangladesh Patent Act, 2023. Section 6(2) keeps pharmaceutical and agrochemical products outside patent protection for as long as the TRIPS Council exemption for least developed countries lasts, and the Government can shorten or extend that period by Gazette notification. A granted patent on a medicine is subject to government import for public hospitals (Section 29), compulsory licences (Sections 36-41), export licences (Section 39) and parallel imports (Section 60). New forms of known substances, such as salts and polymorphs, are not patentable under Section 6(1)(ণ).
The Section 6(2) exemption
Pharmaceutical and agrochemical products are excluded from patent protection for as long as the TRIPS Council exemption for them continues. The Government can reduce or extend that period by Gazette notification. Check the current notification before filing a product claim for a medicine in Bangladesh.
The wording of Section 6(2) covers products. Process inventions and other subject matter that meets the Act's tests are assessed under the normal rules, so ask us how to frame the claims.
Public-health tools in the Act
| Section | What it does |
|---|---|
| 29 | Every patent is granted on the condition that the Government can import a patented pharmaceutical for its own use, or for hospitals and dispensaries it notifies as serving the public |
| 36-37 | Compulsory licence on grounds such as public interest, high price, non-working and refusal to license, with remuneration up to 4% of sales |
| 38 | Notified licences in a national emergency or extreme urgency; the Act names AIDS, HIV, tuberculosis, malaria, pandemics, cancer, diabetes and cardiovascular disorders |
| 39 | Licence to make and export patented pharmaceuticals, including diagnostic kits, to countries without enough manufacturing capacity |
| 40 | Government use of a patented invention for public health needs, including supplying medicines to notified health services |
| 41 | Direction to the owner or regulator to supply data, dossiers and test results to a licensee |
| 48 | No injunction against acts done under Sections 29 and 36-41 |
| 60 | International exhaustion: parallel import of a genuine patented product is not infringement |
| 62(c) | Pharmacy preparation of medicines on a prescription is outside the patent rights |
Read the full rules in compulsory licences and rights and exceptions.
New forms of known medicines
Section 6(1)(ণ) excludes the discovery of a new form of a known substance, and the mere discovery of a new property or new use. The explanation treats salts, esters, ethers, polymorphs, metabolites, pure forms, particle size, isomers, mixtures of isomers, complexes, combinations and other derivatives of a known substance as the same substance. Section 6(1)(ঘ) bars new uses of a known substance. See salts, polymorphs and selection inventions.
Pharmaceutical patent questions
Can a medicine be patented in Bangladesh?
Section 6(2) keeps pharmaceutical products outside patent protection for as long as the TRIPS exemption lasts. Check the current Government notification.
Can the Government import a patented medicine?
Yes, for its own use and for notified public hospitals and dispensaries (Section 29).
Can a Bangladeshi company make medicines for export under a licence?
Yes, a compulsory export licence is possible under Section 39 for countries without enough capacity.
Is a new salt or polymorph of a known drug patentable?
No. Section 6(1)(ণ) treats such forms as the same substance.
Can I import a genuine patented medicine from another country?
Yes. Bangladesh follows international exhaustion (Section 60).
Need help with a patent in Bangladesh?
SUPREMEiP® drafts, files, defends and enforces patents in Bangladesh. Send us your invention summary or your question.
