Lawyers from Tilleke & Gibbins’ intellectual property team have written the Vietnam chapter of Practical Law’s IP in Business Transactions Global Guide, a high-level comparative overview of intellectual property laws and regulations across 34 jurisdictions.

On March 16, 2021, the Prime Minister of Vietnam issued Decision No. 10/2021/QD-TTg updating the criteria for identifying “high-tech enterprises,” which are eligible for certain incentives under Vietnam’s economic development strategy.

On March 24, 2021, the Prime Minister of Vietnam issued Decision No. 12/2021/QD-TTg issuing regulations on oil spill response. One of the more notable changes is the introduction of templates for oil spill response plans.

The Bank of Thailand recently issued policy guidelines on how stablecoins—fiat-backed nonvolatile cryptocurrencies—are to be regulated. This paves the way for baht-backed stablecoins, similar to China’s digital Yuan, to be developed in the jursidiction.

On March 3, 2021, two new types of license became available to operators of securities businesses in Thailand, following the enactment of an amendment to the ministerial regulation regarding securities business licensing in Thailand, which was announced by the Ministry of Finance four months prior. While existing license types are broader, and subject to high-level conditions and compliance levels, the two new licenses are more specific and may be more suitable and cost-effective for operators whose activities are limited to a narrower scope of securities business. The details of the two new license types—the Type E Securities Business License and the Private Fund Management License—are as follows: Type E Securities Business License A Type E Securities Business License covers the following business activities: Equity brokerage Equity dealing Equity underwriting Investment advisory service Securities borrowing and lending Operators eligible to apply for a Type E License include: securities companies; commercial banks; life insurance companies; special-purpose financial institutions; and, Thai incorporated companies. Private Fund Management License Previously, business operators who only intended to conduct private fund management business had to apply for a Type C license—a broad category of license covering mutual fund management, private fund management, brokerage for investment units or trust certificates, and so on. The new Private Fund Management License provides a more targeted alternative to the Type C license, which is subject to higher license fees and more comprehensive compliance requirements. New applicants for a securities business license may now specify one of the additional license types when applying to the Ministry of Finance through the SEC. Holders of existing securities business licenses can also apply to change to one of the new license types.

The effective date set out in Vietnam’s Draft Decree on Personal Data Protection is December 1, 2021, so it is important for companies to understand the scope and potential impact of the new regulations now.

Since Cambodia does not have any dedicated laws on data protection, there are no regulatory or enforcement authorities that are specifically tasked with handling, overseeing, or implementing personal data protection matters. Consequently, the following governmental bodies may have substantial powers in this realm: the Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications, and the Ministry of Interior. After reviewing the DMF [Data Management Framework adopted by ASEAN] and MCCs [Model Contractual Clauses for Cross-Border Data Flows], we are of the view that these standards broadly align with concepts of data protection that exist under Cambodian laws that implicate data protection issues. Therefore, Cambodian authorities may react positively to the guidelines provided under the DMF and MCCs. However, implementing these guidelines can be challenging for a developing country such as Cambodia due to the following reasons: inadequate data protection and cybercrime regulations; lack of technological advancement in information and communication technology; lack of technology experts who can effectively deal with advanced computer crimes; the high cost of digital data governance; and the fact that it may be time-consuming to put these guidelines into place. Positive and negative implications Furthermore, we anticipate that the guidelines would provide both positive and negative impacts on businesses. In terms of positive impact, the DMF and MCCs will likely: increase the cybersecurity of all companies doing business in Cambodia; enable businesses to have better data processes and protection and more secure internal data collection infrastructure; help businesses gain more credibility and improve their reputations; and increase companies’ customer base as clients will have stronger trust in companies and be willing to share data, knowing they are doing so in a secure environment. In terms of negative impact, both data exporters and data importers will be strictly required to abide by the data protection guidelines and properly maintain the data they gather within the remit of the law. Some

Background The Trademark Office of Thailand’s Department of Intellectual Property (DIP) is making significant, concrete progress in revising the trademark registrar’s Trademark Examination Manual, with the aim of bringing Thailand’s trademark examination standards into alignment with international standards for trademark examination. This comes on the heels of the DIP’s recent efforts to improve examination standards for patent applications by revising the form for patent office actions to include sufficient reasoning and clarifying details on each instruction (the DIP is also currently working to resolve the lengthy backlog in patent examination and registration by increasing the number of examiners and proposing amendments to patent and design law). New draft manual On 28 January 2021 the DIP unveiled the first draft of the updated Trademark Examination Manual in a webinar attended by trademark lawyers, practitioners and trademark owners. The new draft manual seeks to create increased consistency through the establishment of clear and fair criteria to be used in examining trademark applications. The proposed revisions are based on the study of trademark laws and subordinate legislation, decisions of the Board of Trademarks, judgments from Thailand’s Central Intellectual Property and International Trade Court, and previous problems that have arisen in the course of examination. Key proposals Some of the most interesting draft revisions are summarised below. When determining the distinctiveness of a mark, there are five levels of distinctiveness (from highest to lowest): fanciful, arbitrary, suggestive, descriptive and generic. A mark consisting of geometric shapes or general designs (eg, infinite or repeated textile patterns) will not be registrable. There are clearer criteria for registering marks consisting of the names of individuals, the full names of juristic persons and trade names. In determining whether a mark is a geographical name, the mark will be considered based on the knowledge and perception of Thai society. The distinctiveness of a mark consisting wholly or partially of words