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

August 29, 2014

Protecting Your IP at Trade Fairs in ASEAN

Subscribe to Updates
Informed Counsel

Trade fairs provide intellectual property (IP) owners with a forum to present their innovations and ideas to potential business partners and customers. They also offer the opportunity to learn from and collaborate with other innovators. Disclosing your innovations to the public in this way does, however, leave you exposed to third parties replicating and infringing on your IP.

In the following article, we will elaborate on steps that IP owners can take before, during, and after a trade fair to minimize this risk and better protect their IP.

Advance Planning

Geography. It is advised to protect your IP both in your own local jurisdiction and in the foreign markets you trade in. In relation to patents, designs, and trademarks, this means filing for registration. For copyrights and trade secrets, this usually means ensuring you can prove ownership (and in some countries, it is possible to record these as a means of proof).

Trade fairs are attended by local and foreign exhibitors, who open up and disclose their IP to a wide audience. It is strongly advised that a few hundred dollars (perhaps more for a patent) to file a trademark or design application is certainly worthwhile.

Timing. If you are unable to obtain registration in time, this should not dissuade you from applying for protection in the time leading up to the trade fair. Once your IP has been registered, it is then possible to take action against infringers (e.g., by obtaining an injunction or recovering damages). It may also be possible to notify an infringer by referring to a pending application.

It is essential that you incorporate an IP protocol into your normal business operations if you are an innovative company. Such a protocol should regularly check for new IP, and then consider whether and where to file for such new IP.

Preparations. When preparing your exhibition materials, it is advised to notify the public—where appropriate—of your IP ownership. This can be done by using ©, TM, ®, or the “Patent Pending” and patent issue number. 

It is also wise to research the trade fair organizer’s material as much as possible to:

  • Have, if needed, an IP or business center that may be able to provide assistance or advice during the trade fair;
  • Review carefully the terms and conditions of the trade fair;
  • Be able to liaise with a local lawyer and provide that lawyer with a Power of Attorney (three to four months in advance) and other proof of IP ownership so that legal action can be taken swiftly, if necessary; and
  • Obtain the list of exhibitors and make a note to check their stands.

Attending the Trade Fair

When attending the trade fair, you need to determine how much of your IP to disclose. Much of this depends on commercial considerations such as whether your product is genuinely marketable. A disclosure that is made too early may result in others seeing the nascent innovation and improving on it, claiming the innovation as their own. This is a common practice and one that is usually legal.

Exhibitors should apply for patent or design protection covering their innovation beforehand. Once this has been applied for, they can exhibit without falling foul of one of the patentability requirements of “novelty.” You can disclose certain elements of your inventions, but it is advisable to check with a patent lawyer or patent agent if you are uncertain as to whether your exhibition may prevent you from obtaining a patent in the future.

Taking Action against an Infringer

There are several measures of enforcement that can be taken against infringers:

Notification letter. This letter notifies the infringer of your IP rights. You may wish to include a statement that you are willing to discuss the issue or license the IP to them.

Cease-and-desist letter. This letter usually threatens legal proceedings and demands that the infringer ceases and desists from infringing on the IP in question. It is possible to ask for damages and legal costs in such letters.

Raid or “search-and-seize” actions. Raids are usually carried out ex parte. The procedure and relevant authority will be different in each ASEAN nation, but they can usually be done on two to three days’ notice. Civil search and seize orders from courts in such cases across ASEAN are rare, but not unheard of.

Investigate the infringer. Investigations can reveal crucial information ahead of a trial.

Issue legal proceedings. This is often a last resort. Awards from the court to recover legal costs are generally very rare in ASEAN.

Alternative dispute resolution. Some countries in ASEAN will offer mediation or arbitration services.

Visiting Trade Fairs—Summary of Best Practices

  1. Save or collect all trade fair material and exhibitor information.
  2. Take as many photos as you can.
  3. Gather as much technical data as possible about your competitors and their products.
  4. Do not threaten legal proceedings without the advice of a local lawyer. Groundless threats could result in being counter-sued.
  5. If you suspect an infringement, immediately seek the advice of local counsel.
  6. Involve the organizers of the trade fair if you believe it would assist your case.
Download Full Article
Related Professionals

Practices

Intellectual Property

Location

RELATED INSIGHTS​ 

August 20, 2026
As part of its membership in Lex Mundi, Tilleke & Gibbins has released the latest edition of its Guide to Doing Business in Thailand, providing an overview of the legal, regulatory, and commercial considerations for companies establishing or expanding operations in Thailand. The 2026 edition offers practical insight into the country’s business environment, investment framework, and operational requirements. The guide covers a wide range of topics relevant to foreign and domestic investors, including: Investment incentives and promotion schemes Financial facilities and banking regulations Exchange controls and money transfers Import and export regulations Business structures and incorporation options Requirements for establishing a business Operational and compliance considerations Business cessation and insolvency procedures Employment and labor laws Taxation Immigration and visa requirements Prepared by Tilleke & Gibbins lawyers across multiple practice areas, the publication outlines key aspects of doing business in Thailand, including foreign investment restrictions, regulatory compliance obligations, corporate structures, employment requirements, and recent legal and economic developments affecting investors. The publication forms part of Lex Mundi’s Country Guides series, a global collection of jurisdiction-specific reference materials prepared by member firms around the world. Together, these guides help companies evaluate opportunities, compare regulatory environments, and plan international business activities across multiple markets. The full Guide to Doing Business in Thailand 2026 is available through the button below.
Read More
August 13, 2026
Modern agricultural machinery is no longer purely mechanical but instead technology dependent. Modern tractors, harvesters, and other farm equipment increasingly incorporate embedded software, electronic control units, sensors, and digital diagnostic systems. While such technologies enhance efficiency, productivity, and precision farming, they also affect the manner of equipment repair and maintenance. As a result, farmers and independent repair providers may have little practical choice but to rely on authorized dealers, even for routine maintenance and repairs. Section 36 of Thailand’s Patent Act reflects the principle that the authorized sale of a patented invention usually exhausts the exclusive right of the patent owner over the specific product. This means that upon legal sale of the patented product, it can typically be used or resold without further authorization from the patent holder. This principle is relatively straightforward when applied to traditional mechanical equipment. Ownership of a machine ordinarily carries with it the practical ability to diagnose faults, replace worn parts, and restore the equipment to working order. Modern agricultural machinery, however, increasingly depends on embedded software, proprietary diagnostic systems, firmware updates, and other digital resources that may remain under the control of the manufacturer or patent holder. This tension lies within the “right to repair” debate. In the United States, on July 8, 2026, the Federal Trade Commission and five states announced a settlement with Deere & Company resolving allegations that Deere had unlawfully restricted farmers’ and independent repair providers’ ability to repair their equipment. Under the terms of the settlement, for the next ten years, Deere must provide repair resources, including software capabilities, on terms equivalent to those provided to authorized dealers. The Deere settlement highlights that the nature of ownership is changing, but legal concepts have not kept pace. Traditional patent-law concepts, including patent exhaustion, were developed with physical products
Read More
August 10, 2026
Thailand has finalized its social media KYC (“know your customer”) rules under Notification of the Electronic Transactions Commission on Measures to Prevent Technological Crimes for Social Media Service Providers (No. 2), which was published in the Government Gazette on May 5, 2026, and will take effect on November 1, 2026. While an early draft of the notification proposed requiring social media platforms to arrange identification of every user account, the final notification is significantly more targeted, focusing on paid online advertising and advertiser identity verification. Though the regulatory initiative primarily aims to combat online fraud and technology-related crimes, it also has important consequences for intellectual property enforcement, because the verified platform records that will be generated under the new requirements can help IP rights holders to identify anonymous online infringers. Key Regulatory Mandates The notification requires social media service providers to verify the identity of advertisers before their paid advertisements are published and disseminated in Thailand through social media, regardless of whether the advertising fees come from the advertisers or third parties. Verification of an advertiser is valid for one year, after which verification would have to be performed again before the platform could publish additional paid advertisements from the advertiser. Permitted verification methods are specified under the notification. A platform may verify an advertiser by checking identity evidence and confirming the connection between the advertiser and that identity evidence, with the notification giving facial comparison against certain government-issued identity documents as an example. Alternatively, platforms may verify advertisers through a digital identity verification and authentication system with an identity-proofing assurance level not lower than the level prescribed by Thailand’s Electronic Transactions Commission. The notification further requires platforms to retain only the advertiser’s information necessary to identify the advertiser, beginning from the start of the advertising activity and for
Read More
August 6, 2026
Introduction: A Trademark Paradox in Sustainable Packaging Walk into any Thai supermarket, and the label-free water bottle is no longer a novelty. Thailand’s packaging market, valued at approximately USD 15.68 billion in 2025, is shifting toward minimalist, plastic-light designs as ESG pressures reshape how brands present their products. The country generated roughly 5.68 million tons of plastic waste in 2021, with a recycling rate of only 19 percent, and regulators are now considering rules that would allow label-free bottled water relying on embossing, laser printing, or QR codes instead of wrap-around labels. As packaging itself becomes the brand identifier, a paradox emerges: designs built to say the least often struggle hardest for protection under Thai intellectual property law. The Trademark Barrier: When Shape Is Not Enough Section 7, paragraph 2(10) of the Thai Trademark Act deems a shape distinctive only if it is not the natural form of the goods, is not necessary to achieve a technical result, and does not add value to the goods. The Department of Intellectual Property’s 2022 examination guidelines apply this test conservatively, as the following examples illustrate. A plain water bottle relying on subtle contours to signal its brand is typically read as just another bottle, not a source identifier. Acquired distinctiveness offers a theoretical escape route, but it demands extensive evidence of sales, advertising, and consumer recognition—an especially heavy burden for new entrants whose minimalist packaging has not yet achieved market prominence. The result is a structural bias against precisely the design innovation that sustainability goals are meant to encourage. Design Patents: A Partial, Imperfect Substitute Design patent protection, covering a product’s shape, configuration, or ornamentation, appears to offer an alternative route. In practice, it is constrained by the same forces driving the minimalist trend. Because many brands converge on similar solutions—clear
Read More