On July 27, Dino Santaniello, head of Tilleke & Gibbins’ office in Laos, spoke at a breakfast talk on intellectual property law. The breakfast talk, which was held in a hybrid format to accommodate remote attendees, was organized in collaboration with Department of Intellectual Property, the European Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Laos (ECCIL), and the South-East Asia IP SME Helpdesk. Dino was joined by the director of the Department of Intellectual Property in Laos, who discussed the benefits of trademark registration, principles and functions of a geographical indication. Dino then highlighted current enforcement measures as well as the importance of registered trademarks for international and Lao companies to ensure that brands are well-aware of their rights and protections under the law. The ECCIL promotes the interests of the European business community in Laos and serves its members by organizing events and networking opportunities and assisting European companies with market entry into Laos. For more details, please see the ECCIL website.

On July 5, 2022, Tilleke & Gibbins’ Bangkok office welcomed legal professional across Thailand and Southeast Asia for the third annual International Arbitration & Corporate Crime Summit, organized by Legal Plus. The event brought together high-profile speakers from over 10 leading law firms, presenting sessions to address the latest legal and regulatory updates related to international arbitration and corporate crime. Noppramart Thammateeradaycho and Michael Ramirez, both counsel in Tilleke & Gibbins’ dispute resolution group in Bangkok, contributed their insights to the event. Noppramart’s session covered dispute matters and arbitration proceedings in the virtual world and the metaverse, while Michael used his presentation to address the challenge of corporate crime and anticorruption issues in Thailand, including key considerations to manage fraud investigations. At the end of the forum, Tilleke & Gibbins accommodated distinguished guests in a cocktail reception where legal experts, general counsel, and key players in the field had an opportunity to connect and exchange ideas to strengthen the arbitration community in Asia.

On June 30, 2022, Tilleke & Gibbins collaborated with Anderson Mori & Tomotsune to offer a Japanese-language webinar titled “Dispute Resolution in Thailand: Litigation, Arbitration, and Mediation” to spread awareness of dispute resolution principles in Thailand. In this online session, Chieko Tsuchiya, a consultant in Tilleke & Gibbins’ dispute resolution department in Bangkok office, provided a comprehensive overview of traditional and alternative dispute resolution in Thailand, covering litigation, arbitration, and mediation. Additionally, she guided attendees through procedures for each type and highlighted effective ways to enforce settlement agreements. At the end of the session, Chieko welcomed Chitchai Punsan, an experienced litigator from the same department, to assist in fielding queries and sharing practical advice with Japanese clients.

Michael Ramirez, a counsel in Tilleke & Gibbins’ dispute resolution group in Bangkok, will provide the Thailand legal outlook at a Thailand Regional Forum meeting to be held at Sasin School of Management on June 9, 2022. The event will be a special relaunch meeting of the Thailand Regional Forum, an initiative established by Dataconsult some 35 years ago. After a hiatus during the COVID-19 pandemic, the forum is restarting with Sasin School of Management as its new home. The Thailand Regional Forum at Sasin plans to hold regular meetings from July onward. The meeting will consist of forecasting panel presentations and roundtable discussions. In addition to Michael’s presentation of the legal outlook for Thailand, other speakers will offer insights into Thailand’s political, risk, economic, and human resources outlook in the coming year. Following the presentations, the speakers and attendees will participate in a roundtable discussions and Q&A to address any questions that came up during the session and to consider various potential scenarios. For more information on the Thailand Regional Forum, which offers memberships on a corporate basis, please see the Dataconsult website.