Indonesia has a “first-to-file” trademark system, in which protection over a mark is granted to the first applicant to submit an application for the mark and subsequently obtain its registration. In the course of the trademark registration process, trademark examiners conduct a search to ascertain whether the applied-for trademark is confusingly similar to prior-registered or pending trademarks. If the applied-for trademark is found to be distinctive and not confusingly similar, the trademark application will be published in the Official Gazette  for three months.

Franchising has become very popular among international franchisors in the Greater Mekong Subregion. In particular, franchising in Myanmar’s food and beverage sector has experienced tremendous growth, as the country’s middle class continues to expand and tourists maintain a steady influx into the region.

Thailand began accepting applications for recordation of well-known trademarks in 2005, but to date, only 75 trademarks have been recorded as well-known marks—a relatively small number compared to the volume of applications filed. In the May 2014 edition of Informed Counsel, we updated readers that, although it was still accepting applications, Thailand’s Department of Intellectual Property (DIP) had, in practice, suspended the process for recording well-known trademarks.

With an aim to improve financial stability for small and medium enterprises by increasing access to funds from financial institutions, the Business Collateral Act B.E. 2558 (BCA) was published in the Royal Thai Government Gazette  on November 5, 2015.

Virtually all of us are dependent on the use of the Internet and Internet-connected devices. People are plugged in, online, and in constant communication through wired and wireless telecommunication networks coupled to the Internet.By virtue of this dependency, we entrust Internet-enabled applications, programs, and connected devices with our most private communications and personal and financial details. Yet we read, almost on a daily basis, of hacks and compromises on a gargantuan scale, of the very systems we entrust with our private business and personal data.

The 2015 edition of Distribution and Marketing of Drugs, a guide to the distribution and marketing of drugs in 28 jurisdictions around the world, has been published. Each chapter provides an overview of the legal framework governing distribution and marketing of pharmaceuticals, including pre-conditions for distribution; licensing; wholesale distribution; marketing to consumers; marketing to professionals; and engagement with patient organizations.

The second edition of Distribution and Marketing of Drugs  provides an overview of the main legal issues involved in pharmaceutical sales in 28 jurisdictions worldwide.

In August 2014, the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) announced a new scheme aimed at expanding solar power generation to meet the government’s Alternative Energy Development Plan.To encourage more solar power generation, the scheme allows the establishment of solar farms through public-private partnerships, which are funded and operated by the government or agricultural cooperatives as public partners, with the private sector as project supporters.