Practical Law Company, in association with Lex Mundi, has published the latest edition of its Q&A guides to doing business worldwide. The Thailand chapter, authored by Tilleke & Gibbins attorneys, presents an overview of the country’s legal system and the key laws applicable to foreign companies doing business in the Kingdom. In particular, the chapter examines the following main subjects:

The European Lawyer Reference has published the second edition of Copyright Litigation – Jurisdictional Comparisons. The guide offers a comprehensive overview of copyright litigation in 26 countries around the world. Loc Xuan Le and Linh Thi Mai Nguyen of Tilleke & Gibbins’ IP practice in Hanoi authored the Vietnam chapter of the guide.

The second edition of Copyright Litigation – Jurisdictional Comparisons  has been published by The European Lawyer Reference. The guide presents an overview of copyright litigation in 26 jurisdictions worldwide. The Thailand chapter, written by Nandana Indananda, Suebsiri Taweepon, and Hassana Chira-aphakul, lawyers in Tilleke & Gibbins, covers the following main topics:

To be eligible for registration, a trademark must possess distinctive characteristics that cause the public and its consumers to understand that the goods bearing that trademark are different from goods originating from other sources.Such distinctiveness can manifest itself in the form of invented words or pictures, but it will not be achieved if generic or vague descriptive terms are used to describe the trademark in the application for its registration. This form of distinctiveness is known as “inherent distinctiveness.”

Subsequent to the installation of a new government in Thailand on September 15, 2014, a number of important updates have been made to the country’s intellectual property (IP) regime. Amidst the changes, General Chatchai Sarikalya, Commerce Minister, and Ms. Apiradee Tantraporn, Deputy Commerce Minister, were promoted and designated to take charge of the Ministry of Commerce, and thus, made responsible for directing the Department of Intellectual Property (DIP)—one of several departments within the Ministry.

In Thailand, one of the most prevalent forms of indirect investment engaged in by foreign entities is the distributorship appointment. Through local distributors, investors can indirectly reap the benefits from the sale of their products and services without having to invest in a permanent establishment.

One of Thailand’s keen ambitions is to become a member of the Hague Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Industrial Designs, a key international treaty created for the purpose of protecting intellectual property. The treaty and its mechanisms, collectively known as the Hague System, have instituted an international system that facilitates the registration of industrial designs in several countries by allowing applicants to file a single application in one language with one set of fees to protect their industrial designs in states that adhere to the Hague Agreement.

On September 25, 2014, Ms. Apiradee Tuntraporn, the Deputy Minister of Commerce in Thailand, presided over a destruction ceremony of counterfeit and pirated goods at the Crime Suppression Division in Phaholyothin, Bangkok. The ceremony was jointly organized by the Department of Intellectual Property, the Royal Thai Police, the Thai Customs Department, the Department of Special Investigation, and intellectual property owners.