On September 30, 2020, Thailand’s Department of Intellectual Property (DIP) published its latest draft of the proposed amendments to the Patent Act B.E. 2522 (1979). The amendment process, which is taking place in two phases and has been pending for several years, began to take a higher profile in February 2018 with the convening of public hearings on the proposed new legislation. After a series of committee meetings through November of that year, the cabinet approved a set of proposed amendments in January 2019. The second phase in the amendment process then began, focusing on industrial design registration procedures and provisions to facilitate Thailand’s accession to the Hague Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Industrial Designs. The Committee on Patent Act Reform held nine meetings from March to November 2018, and then further discussed these proposed amendments with the Committee on the Law for the Development of Patents over seven meetings from February to July 2019. To get comments and recommendations on the proposed second-phase amendments, the DIP arranged public hearings from September to October 2019, before submitting the proposed amendments to the cabinet and Council of State for approval. On March 27, 2020, the Council of State requested that the proposed amendments from both phases be combined into a single Patent Act, thus shelving the initial idea of a separate Design Patent Act. Accordingly, the DIP made plans to revise the proposed amendments, using comments obtained during public hearings, before sending them to be reviewed by the Ministry of Commerce, the cabinet, the Council of State, and finally the parliament. This process began with the publication of the proposed amendments on the DIP’s website on September 30, 2020, and public hearings that were held through October 31, 2020. Patent-Related Amendments While these proposed amendments are likely to undergo changes as this process progresses,

The latest update to the Cambodia chapter of Thomson Reuters’ Practical Law guide to insurance and reinsurance has been published, written by legal practitioners from Tilleke & Gibbins’ Phnom Penh office.

Multilaw has launched the 2020 edition of its Real Estate Guide, including updated contributions for Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam provided by real estate specialists at Tilleke & Gibbins. This concise guide, which features contributions from Multilaw member firms in 58 jurisdictions worldwide, is designed to help investors navigate the complex global real estate landscape and overcome the key challenges they may face when managing real estate across borders. The guide outlines key legal requirements in each jurisdiction, focusing especially on the restrictions and taxes applicable in each country, and the legal methods available for registering and identifying real estate and property ownership. Tilleke & Gibbins is a proud member of Multilaw, a leading network of carefully selected, independent law firms consisting of over 8,000 lawyers in more than 150 commercial centers, able to provide expert legal advice in complex environments around the globe. The full Real Estate Guide  is available free on the Multilaw website.

Vietnamese cuisine has a growing reputation internationally, and a visit to Vietnam will quickly reveal that food plays a very important role in the country’s identity and culture, as well as its economy. More than 80% of the population makes a living through some form of agriculture, and approximately 35% of household income in Vietnam is spent on food and beverages. As food is the most essential of necessities, and thus the first priority in household spending, this percentage tends to be high in developing countries, declining as incomes rise.

Indonesia’s long-deliberated Omnibus Law (Law No. 11 of 2020) was enacted on November 2, 2020, implementing a number of amendments to Indonesia’s intellectual property laws. The law is intended to aid foreign investment. The changes pertaining to intellectual property law include reducing the time required for prosecution of simple patents, providing greater flexibility in regard to the working requirement for patents, and making some practical administrative amendments to the trademark law. These are summarize below.Patent Law

The Thailand updates to Practical Law’s Life Sciences Global Guide  have been released online, with legal practitioners from Tilleke & Gibbins contributing the Pharmaceutical Intellectual Property and Competition Law section.The guide is a Q&A-style overview of the regulatory frameworks of the life sciences industries across multiple jurisdictions worldwide, with this chapter addressing the following issues as they relate to Thailand:

The Thailand updates to the Practical Law’s Life Sciences Global Guide  have been published, with attorneys from Tilleke & Gibbins providing answers for the Medicinal Product Regulation and Product Liability chapter.

As the exclusive Vietnam member firm of Multilaw, a leading global network of independent law firms, Tilleke & Gibbins contributed the Vietnam section to the network’s Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Guide, which details regimes for enforcing foreign judgments in 74 jurisdictions worldwide.