On February 2, 2015, the Ho Chi Minh City Court held a public trial for a dispute arising out of an infringement of an agrochemical patent. The trial attracted significant attention from IP practitioners as it was among the first patent litigation cases ever tried at Vietnamese courts. Additionally, the case was apparently the first time a foreign patentee had ever sought to enforce its patent rights before Vietnamese courts. The ruling in the case was to be a litmus test for Vietnam’s environment of patent enforcement.

Companies and individuals that admit to violating the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) for acts committed in Thailand risk criminal prosecution in Thai courts. When defendants in FCPA cases seek negotiated resolutions to their charges in the United States, they generally enter into guilty pleas, deferred prosecution deals, or non-prosecution agreements. By doing so, defendants formally admit to a set of facts and illegal conduct.

From the time the Royal Thai Armed Forces launched a coup d’état in May 2014 and Thailand’s reinstated military government embarked on an ambitious program to invigorate the country’s economy, numerous proposals have emerged to develop Thailand’s infrastructure, and especially, its inland transportation systems. Development of Thailand’s inland transportation systems is expected to improve the country’s logistics capabilities and help maintain a competitive advantage among the other ASEAN Member States.

With the biggest economy in ASEAN and the fourth-largest population in the world, Indonesia is an attractive location for franchisors. In this article, we will examine the process for registering franchise agreements in Indonesia, in order to provide guidance to those operating or planning to operate in this lucrative and highly competitive market.

Since 2007, Thailand has found itself on the Priority Watch List (PWL) of the U.S. Trade Representative Special 301 Report—a list which identifies countries that provide inadequate and ineffective protection of intellectual property rights or unfair and inequitable market access to U.S. persons that rely on intellectual property rights. The Thai government, including the Department of Intellectual Property (DIP), has taken several steps to address the issues and endeavor to have Thailand removed from the PWL, in an effort to improve the country’s image as a safe choice for investment.

In Thailand, the names ascribed by generic drug manufacturers to their pharmaceutical products are often similar to the names of pharmaceutical substances identified under the International Nonproprietary Name (INN) system, a World Health Organization (WHO) naming system designed to facilitate the identification of pharmaceutical substances or active pharmaceutical ingredients. Generic drug manufacturers gain an advantage through this practice, as names which closely resemble an INN are easily recognizable, and thus, are more likely to be sold by pharmacists and purchased by consumers.

Since Myanmar liberalized its economy in 2011, the country has experienced a surge of foreign direct investment and visiting tourists. Official government figures show that tourist arrivals have risen from below 1 million in 2011 to over 3 million in 2014, with the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism setting an ambitious target of 4.5 to 5 million tourist arrivals in 2015.

The advent of mobile computing has resulted in widespread use of portable technology in Thailand. The affordability of portable devices, combined with an insatiable thirst for the latest technological triumph to hit the market, has led to unparalleled access to various means of communication and a perpetual stream of cutting-edge innovations.