This chapter provides a broad overview of licensing agreements under Thai law, including a review of types of licenses and procedural requirements. The chapter then provides in-depth discussions of licensing agreements for patents, copyrights, trademarks, layout-designs of integrated circuits, and trade secrets.

In late 2009, Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai issued a stern announcement (Announcement 323) exhorting relevant agencies to step up the fight against counterfeit and smuggled goods in Vietnam. Announcement 323 acknowledges the improvements in IP enforcement in recent years, but notes that the results do not meet requirements and that, in the future, anti-counterfeiting and anti-smuggling actions by the authorities must be strengthened to protect the health of the people and prevent a negative influence on the investment environment.

Section 6 of the Thai Trademark Act stipulates that a mark must be distinctive in order to be registrable. Section 7 (2) specifies that the word or clause employed in a mark must not directly refer to the character or quality of the goods. When examining a mark’s potential descriptiveness, registrars usually use standard print dictionaries as their main reference. With recent technological advances, however, registrars have also begun to use Internet sources to determine the meaning of some trademarks. Of course, the reliability of these online dictionaries may be called into question.

The current global economic crisis, the worst since the Great Depression, has financial regulators changing their views on how capital markets should be regulated. Whilst it is important, and perhaps mandatory, to strive for greater market liberalization for the benefits of investors, the school of thought which held widespread support prior to the crisis – that market deregulation would lead to more efficient growth of wealth – has been heavily challenged by a more cautious approach, with a push towards increased transparency and investor protection.

The Board of Trademarks has clarified that, even if a trademark is visually and phonetically similar to an earlier registered trademark, the later mark can be registered if the respective goods are of a different nature. This article describes the COOLON versus COLON (and design) case.

Experienced Thai patent agents know that obtaining a Thai patent can be time consuming, especially as a patent application may spend most of the patent term (which begins on the filing date) pending grant. Once patent rights have been won, the patentee must be vigilant not to let the patent lapse due to non-payment of the annuities. The patentee or annuity service provider may miscalculate the annuity payment deadline, often because of different laws in multiple jurisdictions with which the patentee must contend.

In Thailand, laws relating to the enforcement of patent rights mainly involve the Patent Act of 1979, as a substantive law, and the Act for the Establishment of and Procedure for the Intellectual Property and International Trade Court of 1996, as a procedural law. Those Acts contain provisions relating to patent enforcement, particularly the rules of obtaining evidence from the opposing party. These provisions of law make civil suits on patent infringement worth pursuing.

In Thailand, marital property is referred to as Sin Somros. Section 1474 of the Civil and Commercial Code provides that Sin Somros consists of: (1) earnings and most other property acquired during marriage; (2) property acquired during marriage through a will or gift made in writing if it is declared by such will or document of gift to be Sin Somros; and (3) fruits of Sin Suan Tua (non-marital assets). This article examines the division of marital assets and debts under Thai law.