Throughout 2017 so far, the government in Thailand has been signalling its intention to revamp the country’s patent system to provide a more efficient standard of service to applicants and inventors. In February, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O Cha pledged to urgently deal with a problem: around 20,000 domestic and international patent applications made to the […]
Publications
Thailand Trademark Legislation: Amends Act
Amendments to the Thailand Trademark Act will take effect on 28 July 2016. The amended Act introduces amendments to the trademark registration process, extends its protective scope and revises the applicable deadlines and fees. A summary of the amendments to the Trademark Act is described in the table below: Changes Before After Amendment on 28 […]
Stringent Time Limits for Submitting Formal Documents in Thailand
The Department of Intellectual Property (DIP) of Thailand has imposed a more stringent time limit for submitting formal documents for patent applications effective 21 July 2015. Previously, patent applicants were allowed to file two 90-day extension requests, followed by a final 30-day extension request for submitting a notarized Power of Attorney, a Deed of Assignment […]
ASEAN - Comparison of Design Practices
Design laws vary by country. Some countries classify designs as patents and some have separate "registered design" or “industrial design” systems. In some countries, designs of products must be whole products in order to be registrable and not parts of products. Some countries allow protection of only part or parts of the product but the […]
Thailand - When trade marks must be associated
Having a single-class system, a trade mark owner seeking registration in Thailand for the same mark in different classes will be required by the Trade Marks Registrar to “associate” its marks. Section 14 of the Thai Trade Marks Act states that the Registrar may order an applicant of similar or identical marks, relating to goods […]
Cancelling Bad Faith Registrations in Thailand
Ever so often, a trademark owner finds itself unpleasantly surprised when it discovers that its mark has been registered by unauthorized parties. Under Section 67 of the Trade Marks Act, a trademark owner may petition the Central Intellectual Property and International Trade Court (CIPITC) to have the unauthorized registration cancelled within five years from the […]
Thailand - Precedent On Descriptiveness And Suggestiveness
The issue of determining whether a mark is descriptive or merely suggestive of the goods sought to be protected has always been a debated area in Thailand. Though not many precedents are available, it was recently addressed by the Supreme Court in Liebherr-International v Department of Intellectual Property. The case before the Supreme Court required […]
Thailand - Distribution and Trade Mark Licensing Distinguished
The recordal of a license is mandatory under the Thai Trade Marks Act. However, in practice, parties are not aware of this requirement and so do not register the license. Such non-compliance is aggravated by the fact that the Act does not define the term “trade mark licence.” To compound the problem, not much jurisprudence […]
Thailand - Smell and Sound Marks to be Introduced
Thailand has several amendments in the pipeline for the Trade Marks Act. Amongst them is the introduction of smell and sound marks. The bill extends the meaning of a "mark" to include non-visual trade marks such as sounds and smells, which will bring Thai trade mark law in line with international standards. To be registered, […]
Thailand - Overcoming Trade Mark Refusals
Office Actions are issued by the Thai Department of Intellectual Property (DIP) on grounds of non-distinctiveness or identical/similar character to a well-known and/or registered mark. However, the procedure for evaluating the response is different from other jurisdictions, making Thailand a difficult territory for IP protection. For a non-distinctiveness objection, the trade mark owner will be […]