Patent law hinges on the disclosure of secrets. To be granted a patent, an inventor is required to publicly disclose his or her invention—often in great detail—in exchange for the exclusive rights to the patented invention for a limited period of time. In theory, this disclosure of secrets benefits society by fostering a wider sharing of knowledge and know-how, accelerating the overall pace of scientific and industrial development. The awarding of patents, meanwhile, provides a continued incentive to innovate.

Border measures are at the frontlines of IP enforcement efforts to stop the spread of counterfeit goods both domestically and internationally. By raising the awareness of Royal Thai Customs Department officials and educating them on how to verify genuine and counterfeit goods, brand owners can increase their effectiveness in taking aggressive actions against IP infringement.

In Thailand, the Plant Varieties Protection Act B.E. 2542 (1999) provides protection for plant varieties that possess novelty, stability, uniformity, and distinctiveness. Once protected, the rights holder of a new plant variety has the sole right to produce, sell, distribute, import, export, or possess the plant for any of these purposes.

Thailand is not a contracting party to the “Nice Agreement Concerning the International Classification of Goods and Services for the Purposes of the Registration of Marks,” and the Thai Trademark Registrars have their own sets of manuals (in Thai) that they rely on when examining which description of goods or services would be acceptable for trademark registration. Since June 2003, however, the Thai Trademark Registrars’ manuals have been in line with the 8th edition of the Nice Classification in terms of which goods or services fall under which class.

With Thailand making the transition to a creative economy, and employers now recognizing the importance of employee creativity, it has become very important for managers to know the principles of intellectual property (IP) compensation and foster an environment of innovation where employees are willing to transfer their IP rights for a company’s benefit.

Thailand’s Anti-Money Laundering Act has been amended to include “intellectual property crime” as a predicate offense, resulting in new mechanisms for combating IP infringement.

Disputes about the registrability of similar marks are on the rise in Thailand. When a brand owner’s attempts at trademark registration are thwarted by a prior-registered similar mark, one option is to seek registration under the theory of “concurrent use.” Concurrent-use registrations are allowed under Section 27 of the Thai Trademark Act, which provides room for two similar marks to be registered if a trademark has been honestly and concurrently used by the trademark applicant or if there are other special circumstances.

This article summarizes the laws and regulations that stipulate the legal requirements to be met in Thailand’s banking and securities sectors. Readers will benefit from gaining a thorough understanding of the law in this area, as a wide range of topics are discussed.