Chavalit & Associates was founded in 2005 by well-known lawyer and former International Legal Counsellors Thailand partner Chavalit Uttasart. A peer has this to say about the firm's leading light: "He has big clients – good clients. He took the best members of his team with him." "They are not a small player," comments another competitor when asked about the firm's trade mark practice.
In patents, the team is equipped with two full-time members and a number of part-time technicians in the areas of biotechnology, physics, mechanics and electrical engineering. In a case that reached the Supreme Court, Uttasart and Phatthrawat Nakaranuruck acted for Bioscience after Aventis Pharma accused the former of importing generic medicine for cancer treatment from a company that used its patented process. The court overruled the IP & IT Court's decision and found the client not guilty of patent infringement.
An active contributor to IP developments in the country, Nakaranuruck is assisting the Department of Intellectual Property and the Ministry of Commerce of Thailand with revisions to an Intellectual Property Guide Book that offers guidance on the IP laws and systems of a number of foreign countries. The publication provides information such as the processes and time frames of trade mark, design and patent prosecutions as well as costs and necessary documents for registrations for Thai business operators with foreign assets. The firm cites Intel, Siam Makro Public Company and NEC as some of its clients.