Thailand’s Commercial Minister ordered the DIP to collaborate closely with private agencies to strengthen IP protection in Thailand
Recently, Commerce Minister Jurin Laksanawisit has directed the Department of Intellectual Property (DIP) to operate jointly with government and private agencies to win the battle against IP infringements. Moreover, Commercial Minister also ordered the DIP to upgrade existing laws to cope with the goal to make Thailand free from the United States Trade Representative’s Watch List as early as possible.
According to Laksanawisit, the DIP has been commanded to work in collaboration with US-related agencies to create an IP Work Plan that aims to remove Thailand from the Watch List and all US lists in the future. Furthermore, they also plan to have discussions with their US counterparts under the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (Tifa) to tackle IP issues.
Thailand’s collaboration with the US
On April 30, the USTR announced in its annual Special 301 Report that it would keep Thailand on its trade Watch List.
The US government stated that it respects the Thai government’s and Commerce Ministry’s progress in IP protection, along with the development in countering IP infringements and crackdowns on violations in both the offline and online markets.
According to the report, Thailand continues to make headway. They are approaching concerns raised as part of the bilateral US-Thailand Tifa.
Thailand has made great improvement in the fight to confiscate pirated goods and the combat against the sale of counterfeit goods online as well as promulgating enforcement statistics online. Furthermore, they have also expanded efforts against online piracy, particularly through enhanced intra-agency coordination though concerns remain.
However, the report also showed that pirated goods are still readily available, both in physical markets and online. Therefore, the US has urged Thailand to continue improving enforcement measures.
Expert opinions
“The Plan is not made known to the public. I guess that the Minister mentioned the Plan as part of Thailand’s 20-year IP Roadmap, which covers six major areas including IP creation and protection. It has been reported in the period of 12 months from April 2020 to March 2021, that DIP worked actively on a large number of projects and activities in collaboration with governmental agencies of foreign countries, international, regional, and local IP organizations and associations, and other IP stakeholders, for protection and enforcement of IP. For example, the draft amendment to the Patent Act is being prepared to increase the efficiency of the patent and design registration processes, the Copyright Act amendment for Thailand’s accession to the WIPO Copyright Treaty (WCT) is now being reviewed by a reviewing committee of the House of Representatives. The draft of the new trademark examination guidelines is being finalized after it was published for public consultations in March 2021,” says Kowit Somwaiya, managing partner at LawPlus in Bangkok.
“The amendments to the Copyright Act are being carried out in two phases. The first phase is for Thailand’s accession to the WCT. The draft amendment is with the House of Representatives and is expected to be enacted as a law in 2022. The second phase is for Thailand’s accession to the WIPO Performance and Phonograms Treaty now being drafted by DIP to be ready for public comments around the end of 2021 or early 2022. The two amendments are expected to address the concerns of all stakeholders, such as the concerns about the offline and online pirated goods, the border enforcement issues, and the conducts of collective management organizations.” Somwaiya adds.
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– You could visit here to see Procedure of Thailand Trademark Registration.
– You could visit here to check the required documents for filing trademark in Thailand here.
– You could read 06 Frequent Questions About Filing Trademark In Thailand here.
– You could visit here to see Power of Attorney of trademark in Thailand here.
– You could read 07 Legal Notes To Thailand Trademark Law You Need To Know here
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