Intellectual Property
Intellectual property law is seen mainly in the Copyright Act and Industrial Property Act of 2001. Under the Copyright Act, Bhutanese copyright protection lasts for the life of the author, plus fifty years after death; in the case of joint authors, it lasts for fifty years after the death of the last author. Collective and anonymous works are protected for fifty years after publication. Applied art is protected for twenty-five years from creation. Bhutanese intellectual property law recognizes both economic and moral rights of the author; the former is freely assignable in whole or in part.
Bhutan protects other types of intellectual property, such as patents, trademarks, trade dress, and industrial design, through the Industrial Property Act.
The Intellectual Property Division of the Ministry of Economic Affairs is responsible for maintaining registration and upholding intellectual property law. The Division cites low levels of awareness and innovation along with poor coordination among stakeholders as hampering the development of intellectual property in Bhutan. It launched its registration system for industrial design in 2009, and had registered two designs as of April 2011.
Read more about this topic: Law Of Bhutan, Civil Law, Property Laws
Famous quotes containing the words intellectual and/or property:
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“As a man is said to have a right to his property, he may equally be said to have a property in his rights.”
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