Since 1932, Thailand has had 17 constitutions. During periods of non-elected regime change, usually following military coups, constitutions have been abrogated with interim charters put in place pending the approval of “permanent” constitutions.Most recently, the 2007 charter was abolished by the National Council for Peace and Order in May 2014 and an interim document enacted shortly afterwards.

The Licensing Facilitation Act B.E. 2558 (2015) (LFA), implemented on July 21, 2015, requires government authorities that register and/or grant licenses—such as the Department of Intellectual Property (DIP)—to publish public manuals disclosing the rules, procedures, requirements, costs, and periods of time that relate to granting the licenses. The rationale behind the LFA is to expedite registration procedures with government authorities across Thailand.

Two years ago, the Private Investment in State Undertaking Act B.E. 2556 (2013) (PISUA) replaced the Private Participation in State Undertaking Act B.E. 2535 (1992) (PPSUA), which set out the criteria for a private party to jointly operate a government project. There were calls to replace the PPSUA because the law had a convoluted project approval process that discouraged private investment. During its 21-year lifespan, only 40 projects were completed under the PPSUA.

A recent Nielsen survey concluded that Vietnam ranks third in the world in terms of consumer fondness for branded goods, with 73 percent of Vietnamese participants responding that they liked to buy products of famous brands. In addition, 56 percent said they were willing to pay more for designer products than for others of a similar nature. Owners of global brands that are looking to enter Vietnam’s promising market have several options available.

Indonesia has a “first-to-file” trademark system, in which protection over a mark is granted to the first applicant to submit an application for the mark and subsequently obtain its registration. In the course of the trademark registration process, trademark examiners conduct a search to ascertain whether the applied-for trademark is confusingly similar to prior-registered or pending trademarks. If the applied-for trademark is found to be distinctive and not confusingly similar, the trademark application will be published in the Official Gazette  for three months.

Franchising has become very popular among international franchisors in the Greater Mekong Subregion. In particular, franchising in Myanmar’s food and beverage sector has experienced tremendous growth, as the country’s middle class continues to expand and tourists maintain a steady influx into the region.

Thailand began accepting applications for recordation of well-known trademarks in 2005, but to date, only 75 trademarks have been recorded as well-known marks—a relatively small number compared to the volume of applications filed. In the May 2014 edition of Informed Counsel, we updated readers that, although it was still accepting applications, Thailand’s Department of Intellectual Property (DIP) had, in practice, suspended the process for recording well-known trademarks.

With an aim to improve financial stability for small and medium enterprises by increasing access to funds from financial institutions, the Business Collateral Act B.E. 2558 (BCA) was published in the Royal Thai Government Gazette  on November 5, 2015.