In recent years, Thailand has seen an increasing number of pharmaceutical patent litigations, launched by drug originators to combat infringing generic products in the market. This article looks at the forces underlying this trend and recommends several legal options to allow drug originators to defend their products against low-price infringing generics.

Since its establishment in December 1997, Thailand’s Central Intellectual Property and International Trade (IP&IT Court) has had a mandate to adjudicate intellectual property and international trade cases. This article provides an overview of the IP&IT Court’s jurisdiction and procedures, supplemented by statistics regarding the number of cases filed per year.

In another attempt to cope with the ongoing problems caused by counterfeiting and piracy, Deputy Minister of Commerce Alongkorn Pollabut has been persistent in pushing forward amendments of the Trademark Act and the Copyright Act to cover offenses for any person who buys or possesses counterfeit goods and pirated products in Thailand. In addition, the proposed amendments would allow for actions to be taken against landlords who provide rental of commercial spaces where the sale of counterfeit and pirated products takes place. This article discusses the pending amendments.

Recent years have witnessed a proliferation in the number of products available under the “nutritional food” heading. For companies to stand out from their competitors in this growing sector, marketing and advertising is integral for success. The ability to make claims regarding products is a significant aspect of this process. While the number of products has been on the rise, there has also been an augmentation in demand among consumers for healthier, more nutritious products. This, coupled with more aggressive advertising tactics, could lead to exaggerated or egregious claims.

After several years of consideration, Thailand has recently adopted a product liability law that holds business operators strictly liable for unsafe or defective products which cause harm to consumers. As Thailand begins to embrace the product liability concept with very few precedents in this area, this article considers the possible extent of liability by observing cases in the United States, where product liability law is well established.

Product manufacturers and service providers consistently seek to create cool and modernized images to identify both themselves and the attributes of their goods and services. To this end, the elimination of vowels from trademarks has become an increasingly common trend. Yet, not all marks with vowel ellipsis have been successfully registered in Thailand.

As most ASEAN Food and Drug Administrations and Ministries of Agriculture labor under critical backlogs of product registration applications for the growing number of products being released into Asian markets, businesses are looking to new ways to facilitate approvals. Outsourcing product registration work to law firms is becoming an increasingly popular way for regulatory affairs departments to speed up applications as local knowledge and effective navigation go a long way in Asia.

Building on an earlier article entitled “How to Successfully Negotiate a Dispute,” this article provides clear examples of how put these negotiating techniques into practice in order to achieve outcomes that are beneficial to all parties.