Charuwan Charoonchitsathian, a partner in Tilleke & Gibbins’ corporate and commercial group in Bangkok, was featured in a recent Asian Legal Business article on M&A trends and how firms are adapting their transactional legal work to embrace new technologies. The interview was part of their September 2022 issue, in which the magazine announced their annual Asia M&A rankings. Charuwan represented Tilleke & Gibbins (which received rankings in both Thailand and Vietnam) to offer insight into how the firm has seen various new technologies gain prominence in the M&A space in Southeast Asia. She noted that companies around the world are getting more deeply involved in technological approaches such as DeFi, blockchain, and various other Web3 innovations. She also explained why it is important for lawyers to understand these technologies in order to provide relevant and effective legal services to facilitate deals between companies in these sectors. She raised the example of Tilleke & Gibbins, which has a “dedicated technology practice group which brings together commercial, IP, and disputes lawyers who each have extensive knowledge and expertise in these emerging business areas. Our experts provide regulatory advice and analysis on how the governments in our jurisdictions will regulate Web3 technologies – not just how they are doing so now, but how they are likely to do so in future – to help future-proof transactions with a substantial technology element.” Asian Legal Business, owned by Thomson Reuters, is a leading source of information for businesses and professionals active in the region. To see Charuwan’s full comments, please see the September issue of Asian Legal Business.

On July 27, Dino Santaniello, head of Tilleke & Gibbins’ office in Laos, spoke at a breakfast talk on intellectual property law. The breakfast talk, which was held in a hybrid format to accommodate remote attendees, was organized in collaboration with Department of Intellectual Property, the European Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Laos (ECCIL), and the South-East Asia IP SME Helpdesk. Dino was joined by the director of the Department of Intellectual Property in Laos, who discussed the benefits of trademark registration, principles and functions of a geographical indication. Dino then highlighted current enforcement measures as well as the importance of registered trademarks for international and Lao companies to ensure that brands are well-aware of their rights and protections under the law. The ECCIL promotes the interests of the European business community in Laos and serves its members by organizing events and networking opportunities and assisting European companies with market entry into Laos. For more details, please see the ECCIL website.

Michael Ramirez, a counsel in Tilleke & Gibbins’ dispute resolution group in Bangkok, will provide the Thailand legal outlook at a Thailand Regional Forum meeting to be held at Sasin School of Management on June 9, 2022. The event will be a special relaunch meeting of the Thailand Regional Forum, an initiative established by Dataconsult some 35 years ago. After a hiatus during the COVID-19 pandemic, the forum is restarting with Sasin School of Management as its new home. The Thailand Regional Forum at Sasin plans to hold regular meetings from July onward. The meeting will consist of forecasting panel presentations and roundtable discussions. In addition to Michael’s presentation of the legal outlook for Thailand, other speakers will offer insights into Thailand’s political, risk, economic, and human resources outlook in the coming year. Following the presentations, the speakers and attendees will participate in a roundtable discussions and Q&A to address any questions that came up during the session and to consider various potential scenarios. For more information on the Thailand Regional Forum, which offers memberships on a corporate basis, please see the Dataconsult website.

On April 26, Darani Vachanavuttivong, managing partner of the firm’s intellectual property department, led an ASEAN Intellectual Property Association (ASEAN IPA) webinar titled “IP and Youth: Innovating for a Better Future” to celebrate World IP Day 2022. Appearing in her capacity as president of the ASEAN IPA, Darani welcomed three young presenters to the virtual event. The three young innovators, who were were from Chulalongkorn University, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), and New York University, gave presentations on the following topics, respectively: Intellectual Property Law and Thailand’s Higher Education USPTO: US and ASEAN Youth Initiatives Digitalization and Innovation in Today’s Legal Industry The session emphasized this year’s world IP day theme (“IP and Youth: Innovating for a Better Future”) and inspired upcoming leaders across the region to embrace innovation, technology, and IP as part of their future.