The tenth edition of The International Comparative Legal Guide to: Telecoms, Media & Internet Laws & Regulations  provides a comprehensive overview of telecoms, media, and internet laws and regulations in 27 jurisdictions worldwide. Presented in a Q&A-style format, the Thailand chapter of the guide, which was written by lawyers at Tilleke & Gibbins, covers the following topics:

The Indonesian Directorate General of Intellectual Property has issued a new circular that clarifies how the authorities will handle annuity payments for patents that were granted before the enactment of the Law No. 13 of 2016 on Patent (the new patent law). As explained below, all owners of existing Indonesian patents will need to make additional annuity payments before the end of this year to ensure compliance.

Thailand is one of the world’s most popular travel destinations. A vast amount of tourists visit the country every year. And almost all of them have at least one thing in common—they need somewhere to stay.As tourists continue to pour into Thailand, savvy business operators have sought to capitalize on this wave of opportunity by providing various forms of accommodation. Small hotels and short-term accommodation rental service have become a particularly prevalent means to do business.

Vietnam applies the first-to-file principle for trademark registration and does not require evidence of use or intent to use at the time of filing, or for renewal. For maintaining a registration, though, a trademark owner or its licensee must use the mark or risk cancellation for non-use.

Biologics are composed of complex, large molecules, as opposed to the small molecules that make up conventional chemically derived drugs. Because of the complex nature of biologics, clinical trials and data collections are expensive to produce and require a heightened level of data exclusivity protection beyond those of a patent to incentivize biologic producers to continue research on new biologics.

In 2002, the Thai government initiated a universal healthcare scheme to bring equitable healthcare access to the general public. Under the scheme, hospitals receive per capita funding based on 47 million people. At the outset, per capita funding was approximately USD 38 per person. Now, it is USD 83. Although per capita funding has more than doubled, the current figure is still low. This budget constraint has led the Thai government to favor generic companies, as opposed to originator companies.Definition of Biological Product

Back in 2012, Thailand’s Electronic Transactions Commission issued regulations that mandated domestic processing of domestic debit card transactions with debit cards issued in Thailand. It granted a grace period of one year for service providers to meet the new requirements. This was a policy goal that had been discussed and pursued for some time, with policymakers highlighting the cost savings that would be yielded by domestic processing, rather than offshore processing.

The 2016/17 edition of Employment and Employee Benefits  provides an overview of employment and employee benefits laws and issues in 32 jurisdictions around the world.