In Schneider Electric Industries SAS v Thai Bumroong Electric Co Ltd (Case 2335/2553, January 24 2011), the Supreme Court of Thailand has affirmed a decision of the Central Intellectual Property and International Trade Court (IP&IT Court) and ordered the defendant to refrain from passing off its product as that of the plaintiff.

This guide provides a detailed overview of doing business in Thailand. Topics covered in the guide include investment, import and export regulations, exchange controls, tax, requirements for establishment of a business, structures for doing business, cessation or termination of a business, labor legislation, and immigration requirements. The guide provides an invaluable primer for investors new to the Thai business investment.

The Act Protecting Home-Based Workers will go into effect on May 15, 2011. In recent years, the employment landscape has dramatically changed from employees working at an employer’s premises to outsourcing work and hiring outside personnel to work from home. This allows employers to cut labor costs and avoid complying with Thai labor laws. Without an employer-employee contractual relationship, there is no protection for workers hired to perform the same work as those working directly for employers.

The Thai Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) are considered among the most stringent regulatory agencies in Asia. Alan Adcock and Clemence Gautier of the Regulatory Affairs practice group respond to some of the most frequent questions asked by international clients as they prepare to launch their products in Thailand.

In Vietnam, land prices are used as the basis for calculation of land use fees, which apply mainly to the payment for the allocated land by eligible persons to the State, and land rental, which involves the payment for leased land by land users. Land prices fall under two categories: (1) those stipulated by the State and (2) those calculated on the basis of market price. In order to make the legislation on land prices more in line with market reality, the Government has amended a number of decrees on land prices.

Developing countries that seek to implement compulsory licensing face a crucial dilemma—between greater innovation and greater access. As long as inadequate and inequitable mechanisms to stimulate health research and development (R&D) exist, developing countries should be extremely cautious in undertaking measures, such as compulsory licensing, that could be detrimental to the development of new drugs.

Almost all enterprises have some form of trade secrets concerning their business and day-to-day operations. In the midst of other priorities, however, companies often lose sight of the need to secure proper protection of valuable business secrets, resulting in mismanagement of key intellectual property assets. In today’s highly competitive market environment, identifying business trade secrets and taking proper steps to protect them can be crucial to a company’s success.

Vietnam’s business environment has quickly evolved since its early overhaul or “Doi Moi” process in 1986. Vietnam’s Law on Enterprises and its guiding regulations, the main laws governing the establishment and operation of corporate entities in Vietnam, has been updated frequently to keep pace with changes in business practices and the evolving legal framework. Setting forth key clarifications on the law governing corporate entities, Decree No. 102/2010/ND-CP on guiding the implementation of the Law on Enterprises 2005 (Decree 102) entered into effect on November 15, 2010.