On August 16, Tilleke & Gibbins collaborated with Eiger in Taiwan to host a webinar on franchising law in Taiwan and Thailand. The webinar aimed to help international brand owners better understand the legal landscape of both jurisdictions. The Thailand section was presented by Alan Adcock, partner, and Sher Hann Chua, consultant, both from the firm’s intellectual property group in Bangkok, while Eiger provded the perspective from Taiwan. hey provided a comprehensive summary of the following key considerations: Legislative framework for franchises in Taiwan Legislative framework for franchises in Thailand Comparison of key regulations – similarities and differences Enforcement of foreign arbitral awards in franchise agreements, including case studies Five common pitfalls facing franchises Two webinar sessions were conducted to accommodate companies in different parts of the world. A full recording of the webinar is available below.

Suebsiri Taweepon, a partner in Tilleke & Gibbins’ intellectual property group, and Nopparat Lalitkomon, a senior associate in the firm’s corporate and commercial group, were recently invited to be guest contributors for True Digital Park’s (TDPK) Thailand GameChanger—a weekly podcast that explores the startup ecosystem in Thailand and across Southeast Asia. During the session, Suebsiri and Nopparat shed light on a number of common legal pitfalls for Thai startups, including discussions on: the importance of getting internal and external legal documents right from the start; non-disclosure agreements and whether or not they’re enforceable; what needs to change for more startups to incorporate in Thailand; and regulations around cryptocurrencies, non-fungible tokens, and asset fractionalization. A recording of the video podcast is available below.  

On October 27, Tilleke & Gibbins’ dispute resolution group in Bangkok teamed up with consulting firm KPMG to offer a webinar titled “Business Rehabilitation in Thailand: Considerations for Debtors and Creditors.” The webinar aimed to help companies better understand the rehabilitation process as they look ahead toward the post-COVID-19 environment. During the session, Alongkorn Tongmee, senior associate; Jamorn Pornponwat, associate; and John Frangos, partner, introduced the Thai business rehabilitation process and detailed the objectives and benefits of rehabilitation, notable legal challenges, and key considerations that debtors and creditors should keep in mind if they become involved in business rehabilitation in Thailand. A full video recording of the session is available below.

On September 22, lawyers from Tilleke & Gibbins were featured in the Asian Legal Business Summit 2021, organized by Thomson Reuters. The summit set out to address emerging risks and compliance challenges, regulatory updates, the latest skills and practices needed to succeed in the legal industry, the evolving roles of in-house counsel, and other important issues. In the first part of the session, titled “Competition Law: Practical Guidance for the Prevention of Anti-competitive Conduct,” Kobkit Thienpreecha, partner and director of Tilleke & Gibbins’ corporate and commercial group, provided a brief history of competition law in Thailand, provided an enforcement overview, and clarified roles and responsibilities of competition authorities. Nutavit Sirikan, an associate in the same department, then shared relevant case studies, analyzed trends and regulator priorities, and provided recommendations for general counsel and business executives. A full video recording of the session is available below.