While the Indonesian government already has the power to exercise compulsory licensing through existing patent laws, a new regulation, thought to be a preemptive response to the development of a vaccine for COVID-19, has expanded the scope of the government’s ability to use patents in the public interest.The changes are contained in Presidential Regulation No. 77/2020 regarding Procedures of Patent Implementation by the Government, which took effect on July 8, 2020, and is an implementing regulation of Patent Law No. 13/2016 (chapter 7, articles 109–120).

Practical Law has published an updated online version of Patent Litigation in Thailand: Overview,  a Q&A-style guide that provides detailed overviews of courtroom and litigation procedure as it relates to patent dispute resolution. The Thailand overview is one of 33 such guides to jurisdictions worldwide, covering key practical issues related to the legal environment for patent litigation.

The EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) was ratified by Vietnam’s National Assembly on June 8, 2020, under Resolution No. 102/2020/QH14 (Resolution 102), and will take effect on August 1, 2020. Among the IP provisions in the EVFTA (Chapter 12), some will be applied directly upon the effective date of the agreement, without any changes to the current domestic laws and regulations, while others will be applied via the amendment of the IP Law. Until the amended IP Law is issued (which is expected to occur in 2021), temporary provisions from the EVFTA will be directly applied.

The popularity of the franchise business model has been growing rapidly in mainland Southeast Asia in recent years, with some of the world’s top brands becoming common sights in the commercial districts and shopping malls of major regional cities in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam.