On April 8, Tilleke & Gibbins took part in a webinar titled “Be Ready for the Thai PDPA,” cohosted by Cisco Systems. This virtual event aimed to assist businesses in preparing for enforcement of Thailand’s Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA), which is set to take full effect in June 2022. In a presentation titled “Timeline, Regulations, and What’s to Come,” Nopparat Lalitkomon, a senior associate in the firm’s corporate and commercial group in Bangkok, outlined the key principles of the PDPA, considered the overall readiness of the country’s business community, and highlighted necessary steps that companies active in Thailand should take immediately as the law’s effective date draws closer. Nopparat concluded the session with practical advice to assist companies to manage their internal systems effectively to comply with the PDPA when it comes into force in June.

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.

Tiziana Sucharitkul, managing partner and director of Tilleke & Gibbins’ dispute resolution group, provided in-depth insights on diversity and inclusion and law firms for a recent article in Asia Business Law Journal (ABLJ) on diversity and inclusion in law firms across Asia. In the article, which was published on March 30, 2022, Tiziana offers insights gained in her years in senior leadership at Tilleke & Gibbins and as a longtime advocate for law firm diversity and inclusion initiatives. The article begins by contrasting the demand for greater diversity among Western law firms—especially by corporate counsel—with attitudes in Asia, where questions of expertise and service often take precedence when it comes to legal work. The writer then quickly shifts to investigating the reasons for this, as well as exploring the current state of diversity in the Asian legal industry today. This section of the article leads with Tiziana’s explanation that leadership of Asian law firms are in a very different context than the social tensions that catalyzed many diversity initiatives in the West. However, this does not necessarily mean that diverse representation has lagged in this part of the world. Rather, as Tiziana points out, “Southeast Asian countries have some of the highest proportions of women in senior business leadership in the world.” She also notes that markers such as gender diversity and respect for minority rights can vary widely across Asia. Elsewhere in the article, other senior law firm leaders express similar observations and provide details on the diversity challenges in their countries of focus. For example, an expert on diversity in the Indian legal profession notes that local diversity concerns must also consider caste discrimination, and a partner at a global firm in Singapore speaks about the challenges of developing diversity policies that fit each local context. Tiziana

Tilleke & Gibbins’ Japan desk hosted a Japanese-language webinar series on Thai employment law to address key principles of Thai labor law and regulations. The webinar series comprised the following sessions: On March 28, Chieko Tsuchiya, a consultant in the firm’s dispute resolution department in Bangkok, led the first session, “Basics of Thai Labor Law: Hiring to Firing.” Then, Chusert Supasitthumrong, a partner in the firm’s dispute resolution department specializing in Thai labor and employment law, joined the Q&A session to provide additional advice to attendees. Later that same day, Tokunari Otake, a consultant in Tilleke & Gibbins’ intellectual property group, offered insights on intellectual property ownership in relation to employment contracts. During his presentation, he discussed issues regarding employees’ inventions during the time of their employment, and provided a clear comparison between Thai and Japanese regulations. On March 31, Eiichiro Kimura, a consultant in Tilleke & Gibbins’ corporate and commercial group in Bangkok, highlighted Thai work permit and visa rules and the latest entry requirements instituted by the Thai government due to the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak. The session was concluded by Penrurk Phetmani, a senior associate from the same department, in which she addressed attendees’ queries on Thailand’s regulations.