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April 8, 2016

Alan Adcock Interviewed by IAM on Thailand’s Patent System

Intellectual Asset Management

Thailand became a signatory to the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) system in 2009. It provides a single gateway to file patent applications to protect inventions in each contracting member state. Since Thailand became a member, the number of patent applications filed in the country has risen, particularly applications made by foreigners. Despite this, not as many patents are filed as could be.

Alan Adcock, partner and deputy director of Tilleke & Gibbins’ intellectual property and regulatory affairs group, was interviewed by Intellectual Asset Management  for his thoughts on this subject, and his comments were included in an online article, “Thailand Still a Frontier Zone for Patent Business, but Attitudes There Are Slowly Changing.”

Some local companies over-rely on the country’s petty patent system, even for inventions that could earn full invention patent protection, Alan said. In addition, some companies are used to relying on trade secrets because Thailand’s patent backlog was so long before the country adopted the PCT system. In commenting on Thailand’s high ratio of patent applications to examiners, Alan said that the Department of Intellectual Property has recently been authorized to hire 72 new examiners over the next three years, further improving the patent backlog.

Intellectual Asset Management  is a bimonthly magazine that focuses on intellectual property form a business standpoint. If you would like to read the full article, please visit the IAM website.

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June 8, 2021
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May 20, 2021
In the annual meeting of the ASEAN Intellectual Property Association (ASEAN IPA) on May 19, 2021, Darani Vachanavuttivong, co-managing partner of Tilleke & Gibbins and managing director of the firm’s IP group, was announced as the next president of the ASEAN IPA. She will lead the association for a two-year term concluding with the annual meeting in 2023. The ASEAN IPA, which was founded in 1996 and granted official NGO status by the ASEAN Secretariat in 1998, brings together private-sector actors in the intellectual property space in the ASEAN region to promote the development and protection of intellectual property in ASEAN countries. The association organizes meetings and other events to spread awareness of intellectual property challenges and successes in the region, monitors and compiles relevant business and legal information, liaises with governmental parties and intergovernmental organizations regarding intellectual property concerns, and studies and proposes improvements to the legal and regulatory environment for intellectual property in ASEAN. The association has over 200 corporate and individual members from all 10 ASEAN member countries. Darani is widely recognized as one of the foremost intellectual property attorneys in Asia. She has served in executive and advisory roles for a number of national, regional, and global intellectual property associations, and for the ASEAN IPA has previously served as country head for Thailand and as a council member. For more information on the organization’s work and activities, please visit the ASEAN IPA website.
May 10, 2021
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