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.