JURISDICTION REPORT: THAILAND
IP AND ASEAN
Kowit Somwaiya and Prasantaya Bantadtan LawPlus Ltd
Te Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is a community of 10 member states (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Tailand and Vietnam). It was formed in the late 1960s following the Bangkok Declaration of August 8, 1967. Te ASEAN Charter was signed in Singapore on November 20, 2007 and became effective on December 15, 2008. It formally establishes ASEAN as an entity.
At the 8th ASEAN Summit in Cambodia on November 4, 2002, ASEAN members agreed to establish the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) as a unified market with full-scale trade liberalisation. Te AEC has adopted four main objectives in its AEC Blueprint, consisting of: (1) a single market and production base; (2) a highly competitive economic region; (3) equitable economic development; and (4) full integration into the global economy. ASEAN aims at achieving these by 2015.
One important aspect of the highly competitive economic region objective of the AEC Blueprint is the protection of intellectual property rights. Under the ASEAN IP Action Plan 2004-2010 and the ASEAN IP Strategic Plan 2011-2015, ASEAN members have been working hard to fulfil a number of goals to make it a competitive and innovative community with better IP protection.
Amongst the most important of these goals are: • Improvement of IP legislation, protection and enforcement
• Accession to international IP treaties, including the Madrid Protocol (for trademarks), and
• Simplification and harmonisation of IP registration and procedures.
Tailand has made a lot of improvements to its IP legislation. It enacted the international-standard Trademark Act in 1991, adopting the WIPO trademark law model and the International Classification of Goods and Services. Te Trademark Act was amended in 2000. It is being amended further to include landlord liability and non-traditional marks, and to prepare Tailand for accession to the Madrid Protocol in the near future.
Te Tailand Patent Act 1979 was amended in 1992 and 1999, and Tailand acceded to the Paris Convention on Protection of Industrial Property in 2008 and to the Patent Cooperation Treaty in 2009. Te Tailand Patent Office will start accepting national phase applications under the PCT in June this year. Tailand has been a member of the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works since 1931 and became a member of the WTO, recognising TRIPS in January 1995.
On IP enforcement, Tailand established the Central Intellectual Property and International Trade Court in 1996. Te court is very active
www.worldipreview.com
in enforcing IP rights. In 2010 alone, the court accepted more than 3,200 new criminal cases on trademarks and more than 1,600 new criminal cases on copyright infringement.
Kowit Somwaiya is the managing partner at LawPlus Ltd. He can be contacted at:
kowit.somwaiya@
lawplusltd.com
Prasantaya Bantadtan is a partner at LawPlus Ltd. She can be contacted at:
prasantaya.bantadtan@
lawplusltd.com
World Intellectual Property Review March/April 2011 61
“ AT THE 8TH ASEAN SUMMIT IN CAMBODIA ON NOVEMBER 4, 2002, ASEAN MEMBERS AGREED TO ESTABLISH THE ASEAN ECONOMIC COMMUNITY (AEC) AS A UNIFIED MARKET WITH FULL-SCALE TRADE LIBERALISATION.”
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76