Tilleke & Gibbins’ life sciences specialists in Indonesia have contributed a new “Life Sciences Commercialization in Indonesia” chapter to the Life Sciences Global Guide from Practical Law. This Q&A guide to commercializing life sciences innovations in Indonesia provides important information that companies can use to shape their strategies for life sciences products and activities in the jurisdiction. Specifically, the chapter covers: Overview of the life sciences sector Pricing, government funding, and reimbursement: National health care system, price regulation and reimbursement Distribution and sale Cross-border trade and parallel imports Advertising and engagement with patient organizations Patents: Conditions for patentability, registration, length of protection, infringement, international treaties Trademarks: Requirements, registration Competition law issues: Authorities and legislation, commercial contracts and competition law, licensing approvals and formalities Product liability: Regulators, medicinal product liability law, liable partners, defenses, product liability claims, remedies Practical Law, produced by Thomson Reuters, is the world’s leading legal know-how resource for business lawyers, publishing a huge range of guides covering hundreds of jurisdictions and practice areas. The full “Life Sciences Commercialization in Indonesia” section can be found on the Practical Law website.

On March 19, 2023, Thailand’s new work-from-home (WFH) legislation amending the Labour Protection Act (No. 8) B.E. 2566 (2023) was published in the Government Gazette. It will come into effect on April 18, 2023. The amendment aims to enhance employee protections to accord with current global standards, provide alternative working arrangements for employers and employees, increase workforce efficiency, and strengthen employees’ job security and a better quality of life. As we detailed previously, the new WFH legislation allows employers and employees to reach agreements that permit employees to work remotely. Since there are no accompanying criminal punishments relating to this new provision, and the legislation incorporates the term “may agree,” it appears that this WFH provision is not mandatory but is primarily intended to facilitate and encourage remote working agreements between employers and employees. For more details on the WFH legislation, or on any aspect of employment law in Thailand, please contact Tilleke & Gibbins at [email protected].

Attorneys from Tilleke & Gibbins have contributed the Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Vietnam sections to DLA Piper’s Global Government Contracting Country by Country guide, which provides essential information for businesses in 75 jurisdictions on how to source and enter into government contracting opportunities. The guide provides procurement information for jurisdictions in Africa, the Americas, Asia-Pacific, Europe, and the Middle East, and includes information on how to find procurement opportunities, the structure of procurement laws, and in-country resources and relevant publications. Each jurisdictional section includes valuable information on procedures for government tenders, bidding, and contract execution, as well as an overview of the legal and regulatory framework governing government procurement. Businesses can refer to the guide to gain a better understanding of procurement processes and regulations in each jurisdiction, which can help them identify potential opportunities and make informed decisions when pursuing government contracts. The guide’s procurement information for Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Vietnam, combined with the online platform’s comprehensive resources, provides businesses and governments with a valuable tool to navigate the complex regulatory landscape of government contracting in the region. The full Global Contracting Country-by-Country guide is available on the DLA Piper website.

From the perspective of a plaintiff (or a group of plaintiffs) considering initiating a class action in a Thai court, a primary benefit of proceeding as a class action is the ability to aggregate claims that would otherwise be too small or too costly to bring individually. Where one plaintiff might lack a claim large enough to make pursuing litigation a cost-effective option, the combined claims of many plaintiffs could surpass that threshold. Similarly, the prospect of representing a number of plaintiffs, along with the potential legal fees that could be awarded with a win, should serve as an incentive for counsel to represent a class of plaintiffs who, acting individually, would otherwise not be able to engage a lawyer interested in taking their case. For these same reasons, a defendant will most likely—although not necessarily always—oppose a plaintiff’s request that a case be allowed to proceed as a class action. From a defense perspective, preventing a case from proceeding as a class action could be a significant strategic goal, as it could mean that individual plaintiffs, as well as their counsel, would lack the financial incentive to pursue potentially costly litigation for their separate, relatively low-value claims. Potential defendants, therefore, may benefit considerably by understanding how a Thai court determines whether a case can proceed as a class action and, if it does, the potential options for a defendant that objects to this determination. The Court’s Initial Determination: Class Action or Ordinary Litigation? When a named plaintiff requests that a case proceed as a class action, that plaintiff must present the case to the court in accordance with the prerequisites stipulated by Thai law. The Civil Procedure Code (CPC) sets out the prerequisites for a case to proceed as a class action. Considerations include: whether the nature of the claim and the monetary

Thailand has issued a royal decree officially reducing the land and building tax due in 2023. The Royal Decree on Land and Building Tax Reduction (No. 3) B.E. 2566 (2023), which was announced and published in Thailand’s Government Gazette on March 19, 2023, and came into effect the following day, will effectively reduce land and building tax payments by 15% in 2023 for the following types of land and buildings: Land or buildings used for agricultural purposes; Land or buildings used for residential purposes; Land or buildings used for other purposes; and Vacant or unused land or buildings. Owners of these types of land or buildings are therefore only required to pay 85% of the land and building tax normally owed for 2023. Furthermore, owners of certain types of land or buildings that were eligible for tax reduction of 50% or 90% under the Royal Decree on Land and Building Tax Reduction B.E. 2563 (2020) will enjoy an additional 15% reduction of the tax amount that was reduced by 50% or a continuation of the 90% tax reduction, depending on the circumstances. For more details on these measures, or on any aspect relating to Thailand’s land and building tax, please contact Chaiwat Keratisuthisathorn at [email protected] or +66 2056 5507.

Thailand has enacted new legislation to counter cybercrime and scams. The Royal Decree on Measures for Protection and Suppression of Technology Crimes B.E. 2566 (2023) (“Cybercrime Decree”) was published in the Government Gazette on March 16, 2023, and took effect the following day. The Cybercrime Decree provides a new legal tool to interrupt the money-laundering process and aims to crack down on cybercrime perpetrators and scammers by providing stronger legal measures applying to certain types of offenders that had not been sufficiently covered by existing laws. This new legislation grants victims the right to have commercial banks and online payment platforms freeze suspicious transactions and obligates these banks and platforms to comply with such requests. It further requires these banks and platforms—as well as other service providers—to share data for the prompt prevention and suppression of cybercrime. The key rights, duties, and offenses established by the Cybercrime Decree are detailed below. Freezing Transactions The Cybercrime Decree requires commercial banks and online payment platforms to temporarily freeze (for 72 hours) any related transactions of their account holders upon receipt of an alert from the account holder that he or she is the victim of cybercrime. Victims can report these illicit transactions by phone or electronic means. If by phone, the relevant bank or platform must document the call. The victim must file a police complaint about the illicit transaction within 72 hours of the freeze being made. A police inquiry officer will then notify the bank or platform about the complaint, and the transaction freeze must be maintained for seven days from the filing of the complaint with the police. The police will then determine whether it is necessary to keep the transaction frozen for longer than seven days. If the seven days lapse without a further order to freeze the transaction, it can be unfrozen. In

On March 6, 2023, Cambodia issued requirements and procedures for merger and acquisition (M&A) filings to allow the country’s competition regulator to monitor the impact of M&A transactions on the Cambodian market. These rules are contained in Sub-decree No. 60 on the Requirements and Procedures for Business Combinations. This subdecree is the latest in a series of detailed regulations issued to develop Cambodia’s competition and antitrust law framework since the 2021 enactment of the Law on Competition, which formally established the Cambodia Competition Commission (CCC), set out the CCC’s complaint and investigation procedures, listed prohibited anticompetitive practices, and outlined applicable penalties. Sub-decree No. 60 applies to any business combination that may materially affect competition in Cambodia, regardless of where in the world it takes place. Premerger and Postmerger Notifications The parties to a business combination must notify the CCC of the proposed combination if the transaction meets certain thresholds, which will be determined by the CCC at a future date. The notification must include, among other things, key terms of the relevant agreements, incorporation documents and financial statements of the parties, and an indication of the types of goods or services provided by the parties. All documentation submitted must be in Khmer, except for names, addresses, and certain other items. The CCC will determine within seven working days whether it requires additional information or documentation. Once it has all necessary documentation, the CCC will issue a decision on the proposed business combination within 30 days—the combination may be approved outright or declared subject to a secondary review. Sub-decree No. 60 states that a proposed business combination will not be subject to secondary review if the market share of each party does not exceed 30 percent in each relevant market, among other criteria. However, the CCC reserves to right to require a secondary review if

On March 9, 2023, Myanmar’s Intellectual Property Department (IPD) informed the country’s certified trademark representatives that the Trademark Law enacted in 2019 is set be enforced on April 1, 2023. A written notification about the effective date of the Trademark Law is expected soon. [Update: The official announcement is contained in Notification No. 82/2023, which was dated March 10, 2023, and published in the government-owned daily newspaper the following day.] The Trademark Rules, which are necessary to establish procedures for collecting official fees, are expected to be issued in March 2023. Once the Trademark Rules are set up and the Trademark Law comes into force, the official fees will be announced by a separate notification, as will the start of the second phase of the “soft opening” period. This second phase is expected to commence on April 3, 2023. In this phase, mark owners can pay the official fees for trademark applications filed within the first phase of the soft opening. In the meantime, the marks recorded under Myanmar’s old system or used in the country can still be filed together with payment during the soft opening’s second phase—either in person by the mark owner or through a certified representative via the online system. This second phase will continue until Ministry of Commerce (MOC) officials announce the “grand opening” of the IPD, which they hope to achieve in 2023. The IPD officials added that applications can now be submitted together with the notarized appointment of representative form that was issued by the MOC for appointing a representative for trademark matters. Any other requests, such as those for amendment, assignment, or change of representative, still need to wait for the IPD’s grand opening. While subsequent rules and announcements are expected soon, owners of existing marks should consider refiling these marks with the IPD before