Trade fairs provide intellectual property (IP) owners with a forum to present their innovations and ideas to potential business partners and customers. They also offer the opportunity to learn from and collaborate with other innovators. Disclosing your innovations to the public in this way does, however, leave you exposed to third parties replicating and infringing on your IP.In the following article, we will elaborate on steps that IP owners can take before, during, and after a trade fair to minimize this risk and better protect their IP.

The Indonesian Government implemented Government Regulation No. 45 on July 3, 2014, regarding Non-Taxable State Revenue. This had the effect of changing the official fee structure for numerous IP prosecution-related actions in Indonesia. However, not all IP-related official fees have changed. Certain types of work still have the same official fees, while others have been waived altogether. Overall, however, many have been increased, with some being to quite a significant extent.The significant changes being made to the official fees are summarized as follows:

In Thailand, Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) were first implemented in 1979 for local pharmaceutical manufacturers under the Drug Act 1967 (B.E. 2510). In 1984, the Thai Food and Drug Administration (FDA) campaigned seriously for the pharmaceutical industry, and ultimately managed to update pharmaceutical standards, with the first Guidelines to Good Manufacturing Practices being issued in 1987. Also, as a way to standardize pharmaceutical factories, the Thai FDA began to officially grant GMP Certificates in 1989. 

Counterfeit products damage the Thai economy. Not only do they hamper public confidence in the quality of goods imported from overseas, but they pose a significant risk to the health and wellbeing of consumers.

In Thailand, the requirements for trademark registration are specified in Section 7 of the Trademark Act. One requirement, subject to certain exceptions, stipulates that marks must possess the element of “distinctiveness,” in that they must be distinguishable from the marks of other parties in the eyes of the general public (this quality is also referred to as “inherent distinctiveness”). The second paragraph of this provision states the essential elements that constitute such distinctiveness.

The latest incarnation of Vietnam’s Land Law was ratified by the country’s National Assembly on November 29, 2013, and came into force on July 1, 2014 (the 2014 Land Law). This new law replaced the previous Land Law of 2003 (the 2003 Land Law). Following the 2014 Land Law, the Vietnam Government issued Decrees Nos. 43, 44, and 47, all of which came into force on the same date as the 2014 Land Law. The new Land Law has, however, brought with it mixed feelings for foreign developers in Vietnam.

On July 21, 2014, the Vietnam Government issued Decree 71/2014/ND-CP (Decree 71), which sets out the prescribed remedies for competition violations. Among these include sanctions in cases of antitrust, unfair dealings, and unfair competition. While these measures are a step in the right direction, they potentially conflict with last year’s Decree 99/2013/ND-CP on administrative sanctions in industrial property (Decree 99), complicating the enforcement of Decree 99.Conflicts with Decree 99

The Thai Trademark Act provides no restriction on the registration of marks that consist of Roman letters, Arabic numerals, mathematical symbols, scientific symbols, or abbreviations. However, in practice trademark registrars order that such elements be disclaimed or reject applications for marks consisting of such elements in their entirety on the ground that these elements are common or generic terms, or have general meanings. Therefore, many applicants simply decide to disclaim such elements in their marks in order to allow the registration process to continue.