On May 13, 2021, Peeyakorn Suparugbundit, an attorney-at-law in Tilleke & Gibbins’ intellectual property group, will speak at an upcoming Pint of Science Thailand event to provide a legal perspective on scientific achievements and advancement today. Her presentation will explain how researchers and organizations can protect their important cutting-edge discoveries and ensure they are able to benefit from and apply their scientific developments. Peeyakorn will draw especially on her deep experience advising clients—many of whom are in the life sciences industry—on patent applications, management of patent portfolios, and patent enforcement matters. Peeyakorn will be joined by several scientists and researchers presenting on a diverse range of timely scientific topics, such as a study on the use of face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic, an explanation of bacterial contagion and evolution, the importance of testing clinical advances through randomized controlled trials, and a look at the causes and impact of the annual “smoky season” in Chiang Mai. Pint of Science Thailand is an annual festival that brings interesting and relevant scientific talks to the public in an accessible and fun format. This year’s festival consists of multiple virtual events; the one on May 13 is being hosted by the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand and can be viewed live online with free registration. For more information and to register, please visit the Pint of Science Thailand website.

On April 27, 2021, Joseph Tomkiewicz, partner and co-chair of Tilleke & Gibbins’ energy practice, will moderate an online panel discussion on challenges and opportunities facing the rooftop solar energy market in Thailand. The session will open with presentations from Lim Cheong Boon, APAC head of product and marketing for Trina Solar, and Jell Jiang, manager of GoodWe’s operations in Southeast Asia and Pakistan. They will then be joined by Michael Belov, country head of Thailand for Cleantech Solar, and Joseph, who will moderate their panel discussion on trends in the rooftop solar marketplace in Thailand. The guided conversation will also focus on prospects for rooftop solar activities and investment in Thailand, as well as practical considerations to be aware of when selecting sites and preparing to enter the rooftop solar energy market in the country. The webinar is free to attend and will be held from 2:00 to 3:25 p.m. (GMT+7) via Zoom. For more details and to register, please visit the webinar registration page.

Tiziana Sucharitkul, co-managing partner and director of the Tilleke & Gibbins’ dispute resolution group, has been invited to speak at a webinar on May 7, 2021, on diversity and inclusion (D&I) policies and practices at law firms. The webinar is organized by the International Bar Association (IBA) Law Firm Management Committee and will feature insights from several members of IBA leadership as well as other senior professionals from leading law firms and companies around the world. Tiziana, who sits on the committee’s advisory board, will focus especially on how Tilleke & Gibbins develops and implements D&I policies. Her presentation will also be informed by her extensive experience fostering cooperation among law firms and legal practitioners at the international level through her work with IBA, her leadership of the Lex Mundi network, and her firm-to-firm relations as a co-managing partner of Tilleke & Gibbins. The growing push for effective law firm D&I practices not only comes from internal developments but also is driven by investors who demand that companies have sound D&I policies. Law firms have been responding to these various pressures by setting D&I strategies for their own operations as well as by incorporating a D&I perspective into their client advice. This webinar will therefore delve into the practicalities of developing D&I policies for law firms and successfully carrying out those policies. For more details on the webinar, please visit the IBA website.

Attorney Waewpen Piemwichai, a key member of Tilleke & Gibbins’ Technology Industry Group, was recently quoted by MLex in an article on Vietnam’s draft personal data protection decree. The draft decree, which, as Waewpen noted, “appears to create barriers that may impede the promotion and development of the digital economy in Vietnam,” has been a topic of much discussion in recent weeks in the business community. The MLex story examines the potential impact on businesses in Vietnam if the draft decree is issued in its current form. Among the various challenges, Waewpen mentioned the data localization requirement implied by the draft decree’s Article 21, which requires that, for the transfer of data, “in addition to obtaining prior approval from the Personal Data Protection Commission for the transfer, the data transferor must also retain the original data in Vietnam and build a system to store data transfer history [containing the type of information required by law] for three years.” The article is available in full on the MLex website (login required).