Intellectual property experts from Tilleke & Gibbins were engaged by ARISE+ IPR, a regional support program funded by the European Union and implemented by the European Intellectual Property Office, to craft a series of IP enforcement guides for Southeast Asian countries, aimed at raising local awareness of the importance of IP protection. The five-year, EUR 5.5 million ARISE+ IPR program supports regional integration through IP cooperation and aims to upgrade national IP systems for creation, protection, utilization, administration, and enforcement to be in line with international best practices and standards and the strategic objectives of the ASEAN Intellectual Property Rights Action Plan 2016-2025. The guides were developed by Tilleke & Gibbins’ lawyers in cooperation with the IP offices of each participating country, and cover issues related to trademarks, industrial designs, and geographical indications. Each guide was produced in a compact leaflet form in English as well as the local language, and is considered an official publication of the respective national IP office. The guides can be accessed from the ARISE+ IPR site (under “Leaflets, brochures and booklets”), or by clicking on the links below: Cambodia: English | Khmer Indonesia: English | Bahasa Indonesia Thailand: English | Thai Vietnam: English | Vietnamese

Thailand’s Board of Investment (BOI) recently published BOI Notification No. Sor. 8/2564, which extends the scope of investment promotion covering electronic vehicle (EV) industry manufacturers to include the production of “automotive platforms” for electric vehicles, and creates a new category of BOI promoted activities covering the manufacture of electric bicycles (E-bikes). Automotive Platforms The following investment promotion categories have been extended: 4.24 – Manufacture of Battery Electric Vehicles 4.26 – Manufacture of Electric Battery Tricycles 4.27 – Manufacture of Electric Battery Busses and Trucks These categories now include the manufacture of “automotive platforms”—which must include an energy storage system, charging module, and front and rear axle module—benefiting from similar tax incentives and subject to additional conditions, as detailed below. New BOI Promotional Category for E-Bike Production The BOI has also introduced a new category, No. 4.28, covering the manufacture of E-bikes. Projects under this category will be eligible for a three-year CIT exemption with an additional one-year exemption if certain criteria are met. Applications for this category must cover the manufacture of E-bikes, the manufacture or sourcing of electric batteries, and a management plan for used batteries. In addition to the general conditions for EV projects (industrial standards, manufacturing timelines, etc.), the BOI has also imposed the following conditions specific to E-bike projects: E-bike frames must be produced from light-weight materials such as aluminum alloy, chromium–molybdenum alloy steel (chrome moly), titanium alloy, and carbon fiber; and E-bike batteries must adopt environmentally-friendly technology. Interestingly the BOI allows E-bike production lines to jointly use manufacturing lines for ordinary bicycles. However, the sale of ordinary bicycles is regarded as non-BOI-promoted income and will not be entitled to BOI tax incentives. These new provisions, intended to stimulate both local and foreign investments in the electric automotive industry, seem to complete the BOI promotion scheme for the full range of electric vehicles. They will hopefully accelerate the expansion

The popularity of the franchise business model has grown rapidly in mainland Southeast Asia in recent years, with some of the world’s top brands becoming common sights in the commercial districts and shopping malls of major regional cities in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam. Although these countries have not yet enacted franchising-specific laws, certain features of each country’s regulatory regime impact franchising. As such, well-prepared franchise business operations have comfortably adapted to each country’s regulatory framework, and the growth is poised to continue even as the global retail sector redesigns and redoubles its efforts in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. In fact, the franchise business model, which is both global and local at the same time, may offer retail entrepreneurs a solution in their quest to meet the challenges of the new retail economic realities. This article explains the legal frameworks that impact the franchise business model in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam. For each country, this article discusses relevant regulatory considerations for franchise agreements, how to protect intellectual property rights, and judicial and arbitral procedures for resolving disputes that might arise between a franchisor and a franchisee. The full article can be downloaded through the button below.   © 2021. Originally published in the Franchise Law Journal, Vol. 41, No. 2, Fall 2021, by the American Bar Association. Reproduced with permission. All rights reserved. This information or any portion thereof may not be copied or disseminated in any form or by any means or stored in an electronic database or retrieval system without the express written consent of the American Bar Association or the copyright holder.

The era of Industry 4.0 has led to a dramatic increase in corresponding computer program invention patent filings in Vietnam. However, the current patent examination guidelines for inventions related to computer programs are quite brief and vague, which inevitably causes difficulties for patent examination. Therefore, in 2021, the Intellectual Property Office of Vietnam (IP Office) considered the necessity of amending the patent examination guidelines for inventions related to computer programs. Currently, a computer program is excluded from patentability under Article 59.2 of the Law on Intellectual Property (IP Law). However, according to Article 5.8.2.5 of the patent examination guidelines issued on March 31, 2010, as amended on December 31, 2020 (hereinafter referred to as the 2010 Guidelines), an invention related to a computer program is eligible to mature into a granted patent if the claimed subject matter has technical features and/or produces a further technical effect going beyond the normal interactions between the software and the hardware. From June 24 to December 31, 2021, the IP Office established a working group including members from the patent examination center, the legal and policy department, and experts from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to detail the provisions under Article 5.8.2.5 in order to tackle the problem of “In what circumstances are applications related to computer programs patentable?” In December 2021, the preliminary guidelines for this problem were drafted in the form of an annex to the 2010 Guidelines. The group also consulted many local IP agents, state agencies, organizations, and individuals to improve the draft. On December 18, 2021, the IP Office organized an online meeting with IP agents and organizations to discuss the draft. Basically, the draft does not make any significant changes in comparison with Article 5.8.2.5 of the 2010 Guidelines, but it adds more details. The draft visualizes the process

In the last week of December, 2021, the Ministry of Justice published the Law Amending Certain Provisions of the Laws on Tax No. 01/NA, dated August 7, 2021, in the Government Gazette. The Law will come into force on January 1, 2022. The most notable amendments relate to Value Added Tax (VAT), which are summarized below. The new law also makes changes to the laws on tax management, income tax, and excise tax, which Tilleke & Gibbins will provide updates on in due course.

Since 2017, Thailand’s Anti-Money Laundering Office (AMLO) has been developing an amendment to the Anti-Money Laundering Act B.E. 2452 (1999) (AML Act) to improve Thailand’s anti-money laundering framework.

A new royal decree retains the current land and building tax rates, which have been in place since 2020, through the end of 2022.

On December 9, 2021, the Government of Vietnam issued Decree No. 111/2021/ND-CP amending and supplementing Decree No. 43/2017/ND-CP dated April 14, 2017, on goods labeling (Decree 43). Decree No. 111/2021/ND-CP (Decree 111) takes effect on February 15, 2022. Under Decree 111, the regulations on goods labeling will change as follows: Exported goods The scope of regulations for goods labeling is currently restricted to goods imported and circulated in Vietnam according to Article 1.1 of Decree 43. However, under Decree 111, the scope is expanded to include exported goods, and exporters are added to the list of entities subject to the regulations. An exception is added whereby exported goods do not need to be labeled in Vietnamese if the goods are not consumed domestically. According to the new regulations, labels for exported goods must comply with the regulations of the import country. The origin of goods must be identified and labeled in compliance with Vietnam’s laws on origin of goods or with international agreements Vietnam has joined or signed. Moreover, the label must not display any images or information relating to a sovereignty dispute or other sensitive information which may affect national security, politics, the economy, society, diplomatic relations, or traditions of Vietnam. Origin of goods Under Decree 43, it is compulsory to display the origin of goods on their labels with no alternatives. This can cause difficulty for entities who cannot determine the origin of the goods. Decree 111 has addressed this issue by adding a clause whereby, if the origin of goods cannot be determined, it is required to clearly state the place where the final production stage is conducted to complete the product. The following statements should be used to present the final production stage: “assembled at”, “bottled at”, “mixed at”, “finished at”, “packed at”, or “labeled at”, followed by the country name or