Attorneys from Tilleke & Gibbins’ offices in Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam have contributed chapters on labor law in these jurisdictions to the Global Employment Law Guide, published by Lex Mundi. The guide provides answers to key employment-related legal questions in 57 jurisdictions around the world, with all entries provided by member firms in the global Lex Mundi legal network. Each chapter contains in-depth information on the jurisdiction’s legal framework governing employment relationships, including coverage of the following topics: Employment categories and contract types Employee rights and protections Employment termination Leave and social benefits Restrictive covenants COVID-19 vaccination mandates and post-pandemic workplace reopening Readers can browse the contributions, generate country-specific reports, and compare attorney-client privilege in multiple jurisdictions. For more information, please visit the Lex Mundi website.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused the aviation industry to face arguably the most challenging time in its history. Airlines across the world, including in Southeast Asia, have been deeply affected by the prolonged and universal halt to international air travel. Domestic flights have provided some much-needed revenue to local carriers. But with multiple and unforeseen waves of new virus cases, lockdowns and other travel restrictions, and a public generally fearful of travelling, domestic flights have not been enough to make up for the massive shortfall in revenue lost from international air travel. Despite all the current gloom for the aviation industry, there may be light at the end of the tunnel as the world glimpses life after the pandemic. This is mainly down to vaccinations. With people confined to their homes for over a year in many Western countries, there is pent-up demand to travel. As those people are vaccinated, they will want to get out of their houses and fly somewhere. Moreover, household savings have increased for those fortunate enough to be working throughout the pandemic in their homes, and with few options to go out and spend. This combination of travel demand and increased disposable income is a strong combination for positive growth in the post-pandemic aviation industry. In the context of Vietnam, which to date has managed to minimize outbreaks from occurring in the country, from around the middle of September 2020 airlines announced to fly again and increase the frequency of many domestic flights. Airlines also sought to restore some international commercial routes to meet the needs of passengers, contribute to connecting trade, and maintaining production and business activities. However, despite domestic demand, true recovery and economic success can only occur when passengers can again travel internationally, both inbound and outbound. As such, the critical questions are when the recovery

To provide further guidance and clarification on Vietnam’s new Law on Enterprises and Law on Investment, the government issued two guiding decrees which took effect in early 2021.

The one-year extension to the Personal Data Protection Act is a welcome temporary relief for businesses impacted by the third wave of Covid-19.

Moral rights are non-transferable under Vietnam’s laws on copyright, but the issue of whether they can be waived is unsettled. The amended Intellectual Property Law, now in draft form, may bring clarity to this issue.

With the latest COVID-19 outbreak in Thailand becoming more severe and widespread, travel restrictions and social distancing measures may prevent applicants for patents, petty patents, and design patents from submitting documents or amendments by the required deadline. In order to ease the burden on applicants, the Director-General of the Department of Intellectual Property (DIP) has issued a notification, effective on April 16, 2021, extending the deadline for submission of documents and amendments in response to office actions with the DIP. According to the notification, any office action deadline which was due to fall from April 16 to May 31, 2021 will now automatically be postponed to May 31, 2021. Applicants may submit their responses to office actions from June 1 – June 30, 2021. The extended deadlines apply to the following procedures: Amendments in response to office actions; Submission of documents per an office action or examiner’s instructions; and, Requests for extensions of time for amendments or document submission in response to office actions. Applicants who are able to do so may still choose to submit any documentation, amendments, and requests for extensions within the original deadline stipulated in an office action.

Laos’ Department of Intellectual Property (DIP) published its Decision on Patents and Petty Patents No. 1714/MOST, dated December 15, 2020, in the Official Gazette on December 23, 2020. The decision is a replacement for and comprehensive revision of a similarly named 2012 decision, and it is the latest step in the country’s steady efforts to strengthen its patent regime. The new decision clarifies and simplifies many key points, the most significant of which are detailed below. Priority date. Applications filed under the Patent Cooperation Treaty have a 31-month time limit for entering the national phase, counting from the priority date. This improves on the 2012 decision, which set the time limit at 30 months. Submission of original documents. If the pre-filled, unsigned form for the power of attorney and deed of assignment is submitted, scanned copies of the notarized power of attorney and deed of assignment must be submitted within 15 days (down from 60 days under the 2012 decision). However, the original documents still must be submitted within 60 days. International classification. Applicants can ask the Department of Intellectual Property (DIP) to indicate the international class of patent and petty patent applications. If there are amendments to the class, applicants can file an amendment form with the DIP free of charge. International classification was not mentioned in the 2012 decision. Publication timeline. Applications for patents or petty patents will be published in the 19th month after the application filing or priority date. The 2012 decision, in contrast, did not mention the publication timeline. Opposition. The procedures for an opposition to a patent or petty patent application are clear and concise under the new decision, whereas opposition was not mentioned in the 2012 decision. Examination request period. While the 2012 decision gave only a broad description of examination, the new decision provides clear guidelines on

Following the successful launch of “fast-track renewals” in March 2021, Thailand’s Department of Intellectual Property (DIP) is continuing its efforts to better serve brand owners by launching the “First Action Fast Track” program. The program expedites the issuance of a first office action for qualifying trademarks in Thailand to within six months from the date of filing the application, at no additional cost. The program was announced in a notification inked by the director general of the DIP on April 5, 2021, and made available to the public on April 16, 2021. To benefit from this expedited process, applications must comply with all of the fast-track conditions specified in the DIP notification: The total number of goods or services must not exceed 10 items. The description of goods or services should follow the DIP’s suggested description manual (available at https://tmsearch.ipthailand.go.th/). No amendment (such as recordal of name or address change), recordal of assignment or inheritance, or request to prove acquired distinctiveness through use is made on the application. Though not stated in the notification, we suggest that applicants or representatives who wish to benefit from a Fast-Track examination explicitly indicate this on their application. This new expedited practice is a positive, brand-friendly step from the DIP that is aligned with international benchmarks, and it has the potential to boost trademark-related activities in the country to enhance Thailand’s competitiveness. For more details on this development, or on any aspect of securing intellectual property rights in Thailand, please contact Tilleke & Gibbins at [email protected].