The cannabis industry in Thailand took its first concrete step in February of 2019, when medical cannabis was unexpectedly legalized. In August 2019, a Ministry of Public Health (MOPH) notification delisted some components and derivatives of cannabis plants from the category of narcotics and reclassified them as products within the purview of individual laws (e.g., on medicine, herbal products, cosmetics, food, etc.).

As the Thai government became increasingly aware of the exponential rise of online IP infringement, in 2017 the government amended the Computer Crime Act (CCA) to give IP owners the option of blocking websites containing IP-infringing content. In the years following this, however, no trademark owner relied on the website-blocking measures under the amended CCA, which are set out in section 20(3) of the law. This changed recently, when Tilleke & Gibbins assisted our clients in filing complaints under section 20(3) of the CCA against websites infringing trademarks online.

As Vietnam continues to integrate into the world economy via bilateral and multilateral trade agreements, tariff barriers in the country have gradually been removed. This has made Vietnam an even more attractive target for foreign manufacturers and exporters, but it has also indirectly introduced a new challenge: local authorities are increasingly applying non-tariff barriers, such as anti-dumping duties, in an attempt to protect domestic industry.

On June 17, 2020, the National Assembly of Vietnam passed the Law on Investment 2020 (LOI) and Law on Enterprises 2020 (LOE). The new laws will take effect on January 1, 2021, replacing their predecessors from 2014. These are two of the main sources of corporate law in Vietnam, applicable to both domestic and foreign companies. Some key changes for foreign investors are listed below.Law on Investment 2020

Myanmar’s new Insolvency Law (IL) came into effect on February 14, 2020, replacing the Yangon Insolvency Act 1909 and the Myanmar Insolvency Act 1920. The long-awaited replacement law was soon followed by the Insolvency Rules, issued by the Supreme Court of the Union on April 28, 2020.

A recent notification from the Bank of Thailand (BOT) has introduced new know-your-customer (KYC) guidelines for e-money businesses, updating the country’s regulatory regime to accommodate the greater variety of e-money services that have come into the market. The new regulations better differentiate between the types of risk relating to each product, and are expected to help e-money service providers overcome difficulties in identifying their customers.

On August 28, 2020, the Myanmar Government announced that the soft opening period of the Myanmar Department of Intellectual Property (MDIP) under Myanmar’s new trademark law will begin on October 1, 2020. This long-awaited development will be a very welcome one to trademark owners worldwide who have been waiting for the opportunity to properly protect their rights in Myanmar for many years.

The Thai government’s various COVID-19-related tax relief measures—most of which were approved by the cabinet in March of this year—have now been formally promulgated and clarified in a series of royal decrees and notifications.