The competitive success of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations when confronting the challenges of rising economic powerhouses, such as India and China, will depend significantly on how effectively the region’s countries embrace systems for the effective protection of intellectual property rights. This article looks at the role IP laws and enforcement will play in ASEAN’s growth.

When governments contract for products and services, they enter into what is commonly known as “procurement” contracts. Normally, regulations are enacted to ensure that such contracts are entered into fairly and transparently, and indeed Thailand has such a procurement law. As these are contracts with governments, the question will arise as to what can be expected when there is a change of government. How can companies best deal with changes in government and what effects can such changes have on procurement contracts? This article explores the situation.

In Grotto SpA v. Department of Intellectual Property, the Central Intellectual Property and International Trade Court has issued an extremely rare judgment implementing the theory of ‘concurrent use’ under the Trademark Act in order to allow the registration of the trademark GAS (and design). This article summarizes the decision.

Intellectual property rights owners are increasingly feeling the pressure from the counterfeit goods that are invading the global market. Societies worldwide also suffer, as countless people are either slaves to these criminal black marketers or victims of their faulty products. The second part of this two-part feature takes a look at some of the economic and social problems posed by counterfeiting and other IP rights violations.

On the heels of its 2006 entry into the WTO, Vietnam’s economy continues to show high growth and is generally considered the second fastest growing economy in Asia behind China. This article provides a brief overview on a number of important considerations for those considering investing or trading in Vietnam.

A widespread misunderstanding exists regarding the protection of copyrighted work, even among legal practitioners. Questions as to the extent of protection, what comprises an infringing act, and scope of “fair use” do not have definitive answers. This article examines the aspect of fair use in respect of the reproduction of copyrighted work under the Thai Copyright Act 1994 through a precedent case.

Presented in a Q&A format, this document provides an introductory overview of transportation law in Thailand. Questions address issues of aviation, inland transportation, insurance, maritime law, and multimodal transportation.

A new government has introduced changes that may have implications for foreign investors. This article assesses the situation.