IP Handbook - Home
The comprehensive guide to the world's leading tax firms

At-a-glance: Department of Intellectual Property Ministry of Commerce, 44/100 Nonthaburi 1 Road, Bangkrasor Muang, Nonthaburi 11000, Thailand Tel: +66 2547 4621-5 Fax: +66 2547 4696 Email: dipadmin@moc.go.th Website: www.ipthailand.go.th As... [more]

As many Thai lawyers expected, new patent filings decreased in 2010 following the nation's accession to the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) in December 2009. Research shows only 975 applications were filed in the first six months of 2010, a 67% decrease from the year before. But IP practitioners remain confident that prosecution work will pick up when applicants enter the national phase in Thailand.

"We've seen some slowdown," observes one market commentator. "Everybody's holding off on filing PCT national applications until the last few months. Clients can defer filing patent applications for up to 30 months and still claim priority. We will have very few applications until June 2012."

Despite heightened political turmoil in the last year, experts say Thailand remains an attractive destination for patent filings owing to a stable infrastructure. "Some huge clients we've been filing for have not filed a single application in the last 12 months," says one lawyer. "But in 18 months we'll be translating for them."

While it does not compensate for the lower volume of work that law firms have experienced in the last year, observers note slightly more Thai companies, universities and individuals are filing in other countries and view this as progress for Thailand's economy.

Amendments to the copyright, patent and trade mark laws are all under way, though market commentators say it may take another two to three years before any changes take place. Planned changes to the Patent Act include clarifications on compulsory licensing and novelty criteria as well as improvements to quicken the patent registration and design patent examination processes.

Several proposed changes to the Trade Mark Act are now at the Council of State, including one to shorten responses to official actions and appeal petitions against orders from the Registrar from 90 to 60 days.

A crucial modification to the copyright and trade mark law involves punishing landlords and internet service providers for providing physical and virtual spaces respectively where counterfeit and infringing goods are bought and sold. The landlord liability provision has not elicited positive responses from some lawyers, however.

One market observer explains: "That would criminalise a significant portion of the population in Thailand," while another remarks: "I would be happy if it weren't passed. It would mean more corruption."

Another important change in the works concerns whether or not certain copyright infringement acts are compoundable offences. The current system identifies copyright infringement matters as compoundable, meaning they can be settled out of court. This development and the aforementioned proposed changes to Thailand's IP laws are clear indicators of the country's growing commitment to enforcing IP rights.