Partner Loc Xuan Le shared his thoughts on Vietnam’s accession to the WIPO Copyright Treaty (WCT), a special agreement under the Berne Convention, with a reporter from Asia IP magazine in a recent article: “In my opinion, Vietnam’s Law on Intellectual Property has already covered and satisfied WCT’s requirements, so the accession to WCT is just us acting on our commitment when we joined the EU – Vietnam Free Trade Agreement and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership. By joining WCT, Vietnam ensures that we shall provide IP rights protection at international standards, which I believe is crucial in developing Vietnam as an attractive business destination for foreign investors.” Loc further added, “On the other hand, Vietnam has a strong and growing community of artists who generate content on the Internet daily, so the official accession of Vietnam to WCT shall provide solid legal grounds to protect Vietnamese creators in the digital era. This, in return, shall act as an incentive to promote the creative sector.” Asia IP, published by the Apex Asia Media Group, is a leading source for analysis of the IP issues facing companies in Asia, and a source of market intelligence for IP owners in the region. The full article can be read at the Asia IP website.

On December 8, Tilleke & Gibbins collaborated with True Digital Park to offer a Thai-language webinar on e-commerce laws and regulations in Thailand. In the webinar, Penrurk Phetmani, senior associate, and Nutavit Sirikan, associate, both in the firm’s corporate and commercial group in Bangkok, provided a comprehensive overview of the regulatory framework for launching and sustaining successful e-commerce operations in the country, including in-depth discussions on a number of common legal concerns for SMEs: Relevant licenses and permits and how to secure them; Appropriate procedures to establish and register e-commerce operations in Thailand; Newly announced regulations on credit terms and food pickup/delivery services; Key trends and issues in tech, e-commerce, and e-services; and The impact of competition, consumer protection, and data privacy laws on online business operators. A full video recording of the webinar, which was presented in Thai, is available on the Tilleke & Gibbins’ YouTube channel.

Asia Business Law Journal (ABLJ) has published a story on Tilleke & Gibbins’ recent addition of Derrick Khoo to the Tilleke & Gibbins regional corporate and M&A team. As the article notes, Derrick came to Tilleke & Gibbins after several years as a general counsel handling a wide variety of international corporate legal matters. He is particularly experienced in cross-border transactions and M&A deals, growth equity investments, pre-IPO investments, corporate real estate, and other corporate and commercial legal matters. In the article, his arrival at Tilleke & Gibbins is welcomed by Kobkit Thienpreecha, partner and director of the firm’s corporate and commercial group, who explains that Derrick is joining the firm at the same time that Thailand has been taking steps to support regional financial integration and cross-border investment opportunities. With the addition of Derrick’s expertise in these areas, Tilleke & Gibbins is broadening its capability to facilitate a greater variety and volume of these activities, in keeping with an anticipated uptick in associated transactions. For more details on this development, please see the ABLJ website.

On November 25, Wiramrudee (Pink) Mokkhavesa, a partner in Tilleke & Gibbins’ intellectual property group in Bangkok, joined a panel in an ASEAN IPA webinar titled “Online Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights.” Together the panelists discussed the impact of internet-based technologies and possible strategies for tackling infringement in the ASEAN region. Wiramrudee, who represented Thailand, was joined on the panel by speakers from Singapore and Vietnam. The webinar provided an overview of the online counterfeit trade and how it affects all types of businesses, from multinationals to SMEs, and discussed the most relevant current and future online counterfeiting threats. Panelists then exchanged views on approaches to dealing with these emerging online infringement risks to ensure that attendees are prepared to face the latest counterfeiting and infringement trends. The session concluded with a Q&A session and a closing statement by the moderator.