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 the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) Receiving Office in Thailand.
• Applicants must submit a request form with a clear explanation of the reason(s) and necessity for participation in the program. Supporting documents for the explanation should not exceed four A4 pages.
• Requests for participation must be submitted through the DIP’s e-Filing system between the 1st and 10th of each month.

The new fast-track program highlights the DIP’s dedication to promoting sustainable innovations, while enhancing Thailand’s global competitiveness. This balanced approach ensures timely recognition of green technologies, driving both environmental stewardship and economic growth within the region.

For more details on this new fast-track program for patent and petty patent applications, or on any aspect of securing intellectual property rights in Thailand, please contact Tilleke & Gibbins at [email protected].