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.

On April 26, Darani Vachanavuttivong, managing partner of the firm’s intellectual property department, led an ASEAN Intellectual Property Association (ASEAN IPA) webinar titled “IP and Youth: Innovating for a Better Future” to celebrate World IP Day 2022. Appearing in her capacity as president of the ASEAN IPA, Darani welcomed three young presenters to the virtual event. The three young innovators, who were were from Chulalongkorn University, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), and New York University, gave presentations on the following topics, respectively: Intellectual Property Law and Thailand’s Higher Education USPTO: US and ASEAN Youth Initiatives Digitalization and Innovation in Today’s Legal Industry The session emphasized this year’s world IP day theme (“IP and Youth: Innovating for a Better Future”) and inspired upcoming leaders across the region to embrace innovation, technology, and IP as part of their future.

On April 21, Tilleke & Gibbins collaborated with Anderson Mori & Tomotsune to offer a Japanese-language webinar on insolvency proceedings in Thailand. Presented by Chieko Tsuchiya, a consultant in the dispute resolution department in Bangkok office, the webinar session addressed the following areas of discussion: Comprehensive overview of bankruptcy and business rehabilitation procedures in Thailand; Rehabilitation case studies; and Practical tips on what measures to take if a business partner goes bankrupt. The webinar concluded with a Q&A session, in which Alongkorn Tongmee, an experienced litigator in same department, assisted Chieko in fielding many queries on this topic from the floor. Together, the two attorneys were able to provide guidance and advice on attendees’ insolvency-related questions.

On April 7, Tilleke & Gibbins, in collaboration with the European Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Lao PDR and the South-East Asia IP SME Helpdesk, offered a webinar titled “Intellectual Property in Lao PDR.” In the webinar, Dino Santaniello, head of Tilleke & Gibbins’ office in Laos, gave an introduction to the Lao regulatory and legal framework for trademarks, and then focused on a few common areas of concern for international businesses looking to do business in Laos. These specific topics included: How to register and enforce trademarks in Laos; Parallel import issues; and Franchise and license agreements. The session helped increase awareness of the value of intellectual property and risk mitigation strategies. Attendees were also able to address their questions to Dino, who provided guidance based on his extensive experience with the regulatory regime for intellectual property in Laos.