Lao Customs Expands Border Measures to Protect IP Rights

November 14, 2022

Lao Customs Expands Border Measures to Protect IP Rights

Managing Intellectual Property

Every country has its own customs measures in place to monitor goods crossing its borders. These measures are implemented by customs departments and other government agencies that facilitate international trade by checking shipments and collecting taxes on goods that enter and leave the country.

Laos is one of the many countries that have sought to create a favorable environment for operators to export, transit, move, and store goods. In addition to tax collection duties, the Lao Customs Department also has measures to safeguard IP rights and prevent unfair competition, including protections against the infringement of trademarks and copyright—measures that have been in place since 2011.

This year, Laos further improved its framework for enforcing IP rights through border measures against infringing goods. In February 2022, the government published new customs instructions that added industrial designs to the list of safeguarded IP rights for the Lao Customs Department. This means that an IP owner can now request the Lao Customs Department to take action on products infringing a protected industrial design under the customs border measures.

Procedures

The Lao Customs Department enables IP rights holders to protect their IP by allowing them to request the suspension of clearance for any goods imported, exported, or transiting in Laos on the grounds that a trademark, copyright, or industrial design is being or is likely to be infringed.

To be eligible for this protection, IP rights holders must submit a request for a Declaration of Ownership to the Customs Department. Once approved, the application is forwarded to the provincial and capital customs offices to serve as a reference for officers inspecting goods crossing the Lao border.

The Declaration of Ownership should be accompanied by the relevant written form for inspection and supervision of goods that are the subject of IP rights. Various other information and documentary evidence is also necessary before authorities can take action on the request.

Applications are submitted to the Customs Department, which is in the Ministry of Finance. After receiving the application, the department will inform the applicant as to whether the application is approved within 10 working days. Once the application is approved, it will be forwarded to the provincial and capital customs offices for risk management and for use as a reference when officers inspect goods at the borders.

Customs protection is effective from the date of approval. The protection offered under the application is valid for two years and can be extended upon request.

Applicants can amend or add information to an application form throughout the protection of their IP rights through the Customs Department.

Getting Help in Specific Cases

An applicant may also seek to enforce IP protection measures against specific offenders by submitting a written request to the Customs Department, along with evidence of the suspected infringement and a cash security deposit or guarantee by a bank or other financial institution for LAK 10 million (approx. USD 580) to compensate for any potential loss in the event there was no IP infringement.

After the department receives the application and necessary supporting materials, customs officers will conduct an inspection and temporarily seize the goods as requested by the IP rights holder. Next, the customs officer will compare the information in the written customs declaration (e.g., names of the goods, brands, origin, value, packing, quality, transportation route, etc.) with the information in the IP rights protection database. If infringement is suspected, the customs officers have the right to detain the goods for 10 working days. The temporary suspension period may be extended if the applicant has provided evidence that dispute settlement or legal proceedings have been initiated in respect of the matter.

The customs officers may also choose to seize the goods and prosecute the infringer in accordance with the law.

Conclusion

When customs officers discover prohibited goods, the officers have the power to restrain or seize the goods, including any means of transport used in the commission of the customs offense. They also have the power to detain the persons involved, produce a case record, and hand over the suspect, together with the exhibits, to the Office of People’s Prosecutor for prosecution.

This broad authority is why brand owners active in Laos can benefit greatly by collaborating with the Customs Department in fighting against infringement of their IP rights.

This article first appeared in Managing Intellectual Property.

Related Professionals

Saithong Rattana

Laos

+856 21 262 355

Email

Sukontip Jitmongkolthong

Thailand, Laos,

+66 2056 5867

Email

RELATED INSIGHTS

December 20, 2024

IP Holding Companies: Singapore vs. Hong Kong

With intellectual property playing an ever-increasing role in economic development, the need to harness, promote, and protect ASEAN innovation remains urgent as integration progresses. Among its objectives, the ASEAN Economic Community aims to transform the region into a hub of innovation and competitiveness and ensure that the region remains an active participant in the international IP community. With ASEAN member states increasing IP generation and further committing to global IP regimes, the region is increasingly looking toward sophisticated IP ownership and holding structures. IP Holding Companies ASEAN-based companies continue to centralize ownership of their IP assets in offshore holding and licensing vehicles—an approach multinational companies headquartered elsewhere have been using for a number of years. IP-intensive companies look to locate their IP portfolios in low-tax jurisdictions with strong IP registration and protection laws. The company then licenses the IP to operating companies in the group or to third-party licensees, franchisees, agents, distributors, and other partners in return for royalties or license fees. These special-purpose vehicles are typically referred to as IP holding companies. IP holding companies are popular because they can help corporations minimize tax, gain tax benefits or concessions, protect IP from bankruptcy or other claims against the parent company, and focus management attention on the IP portfolio as an income generator. Tax and IP Holding Companies Tax is the primary reason most companies park their IP in separate IP holding vehicles. Sometimes, companies choose to establish their IP holding company in a no-tax, low-tax, or preferred-tax jurisdiction close to their home country. The selected jurisdiction should also be a country with a large and well-established tax treaty network. Double taxation treaties are key considerations in jurisdiction shopping. If the IP assets need to be pledged as security for future borrowings or if they are to be included

December 20, 2024

Thailand Introduces Fast-Track Option for Patent Examination of Green Inventions

Closing out the year, Thailand’s Department of Intellectual Property (DIP) has gifted green innovators with a chance to take a faster route for examining their patent and petty patent applications under the “Target Patent Fast-Track” program. This route prioritizes environmentally sustainable inventions, and significantly accelerates the preliminary and substantive examinations of selected applications at no additional official fee. The program was publicly announced on December 2, 2024, in the DIP Notification on the Expansion of Technological Fields under the Target Patent Fast-Track Program, which took effect on December 15, 2024. The expedited process is open to both Thai and foreign applicants, provided the requirements in the notification are met. Under the fast-track program, a first office action for qualifying applications can be expected within 6 months during the preliminary examination stage. These applications will also be issued a first office action within just 12 months in the substantive examination period after publication. The DIP begins accepting formal requests for selection to participate in the program from January 1, 2025, onward. Each applicant can submit only one application per fast-track patent program per month, as selected applications cannot belong to the same applicant. No more than 10 applications per month will be chosen to participate in the fast-track route, with the results being announced on the 5th of every following month. To be eligible for selection, applications must comply with all the fast-track requirements specified in the recent DIP notification, particularly: The patent or petty patent application must have been filed with the DIP for at least three months, or a substantive examination request has already been filed in the case of patent applications. Each application must contain no more than 10 claims throughout its participation in the program. The application must be electronically filed in Thailand first or through

December 18, 2024

The EU-Thailand Free Trade Agreement

The EU-Thailand Free Trade Agreement is drawing a lot of interest as the fourth round recently concluded in Bangkok. Despite negotiations starting in 2013, there was a ten-year pause before we saw the first round of negotiations end in September 2023. The initial plan was for four rounds of negotiations, with the free trade agreement (FTA) finalized in 2025. However, following the fourth round it is clear that the negotiations are still ongoing. Now, the question is: how much closer are the EU and Thailand to concluding their FTA? The EU initially submitted 13 chapter proposals for the FTA, followed by a further 12, and these became the springboard for the negotiations. Given the complexity of agreeing on an accord of this size, there will probably be additional proposals submitted in 2025. These chapters have seen sector-specific negotiation groups formed, and although it has been difficult to truly gauge the status, steady progress has been made in each. Arguably one of the biggest points of discussion pertains to the customs process for imports and exports. Both sides aim to align their practices in relation to rules of origin and custom rates, with preferential tariff treatments offered to goods originating from Thailand and the EU, as well as talks of eliminating or reducing relevant taxes. The desire for a faster customs clearance can be seen in EU proposals for clearance of goods on arrival. Although there has been progress in agreeing to a more simplified customs process, more work needs to be done before we hear news of the agreed-upon fees and charges, or confirmation of what goods would be allowed temporary admission. When we consider customs clearance, it is important to also examine what this FTA could mean for rightsholders. One piece of good news is that it appears

December 9, 2024

Protection of New Plant Varieties in Cambodia

Cambodia’s Law on Seed Management and Plant Breeder’s Rights was enacted in 2008, but it was not until recently that new plant varieties could successfully be registered for protection in the country. Although the law has been in place for some time, recent developments confirmed the application process and a schedule of charges for the registration of new plant varieties. With these developments, breeders have been able to register their new plant varieties in Cambodia since March 1, 2024. Applicants for new plant variety protection must be Cambodian nationals, foreign nationals domiciled in Cambodia, or permanent residents of either a country that is a contracting party to the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) Convention or a country with which Cambodia has signed a memorandum of understanding on plant variety protection. Applicants can also claim a priority date from the first application for the same plant variety filed in any contracting party of the UPOV Convention within 12 months of the earliest application’s filing date. To be eligible for protection, new plant varieties must satisfy the following criteria: Novelty: A variety is considered “new” if, at the date of filing the application for new plant variety protection, it has not been sold, marketed, or otherwise disposed of others—by or with the consent of the breeder—for more than: One year for any plant variety in Cambodia; Six years for trees and vines or four years for all other plant varieties in countries besides Cambodia. Distinctiveness: A variety must be clearly distinguishable from any other existing varieties. Uniformity: A variety must be sufficiently uniform in its relevant characteristics. Stability: A variety must remain unchanged in its essential characteristics at the end of each cycle of propagation and in each generation. The last three criteria are often

You are using an outdated browser and your browsing experience will not be optimal. Please update to the latest version of Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox. Install Microsoft Edge

Industries

Practices

November 14, 2022