In today’s digital economy, financial technology (FinTech) is a major economic driving force. FinTech has transformed the private sector, resulting in a drastic shift in the way customers use financial services. Financial institutions, in particular, have taken significant strides to implement innovative platforms to facilitate financial transactions and payment methods for goods and services.

Thailand’s Trade Competition Act has long been perceived as a paper tiger since its conception in 1999. With the release of the new Trade Competition Bill, which may be amended, and the Trade Competition Commission pointing out violations by energy drink manufacturers, things may be about to change.

The Lao government has recently stepped up its efforts to raise public awareness of health issues and the quality of products sold in the market. The impetus behind the government’s actions is largely attributable to one main factor—in Laos, most products still do not have labeling in the Lao language to provide consumers with information about the product, despite this being a requirement. In the past, the government generally turned a blind eye to this shortcoming in consumer protection, but this is now set to change.Regulatory Framework

The National Assembly of Vietnam adopted a new Law on Pharmacy on June 4, 2016. The new law will take effect on January 1, 2017, replacing the current version which was passed in 2005. In an effort to update certain aspects of Vietnam’s legal framework to be more in line with international practices, the new pharmaceutical law is expected to provide quicker access to drugs for patients, increased consumer protection, and more incentives for local manufacturing of drugs.Removing the Five-Year Rule for Clinical Trials

One of the main rules of trademark registration in Thailand is that a trademark must not be identical or similar to a prior-registered mark. This is not, however, an absolute rule—exceptions exist in cases where the use of trademarks that are similar to marks owned by different proprietors does not cause public confusion, or cases where the owner of a prior-registered mark has given written consent to the owner of a later-filed, confusingly similar mark.

The conventional practice to commercialize intellectual property (IP) is to directly exploit or license IP assets. A trend is emerging, however, to commercialize IP through securitization. This trend coincides with the advent of the Secured Transaction Act B.E. 2558 (2015), which allows IP assets to be used as collateral.

Thailand 4.0 is the next step in Thailand’s evolution, according to Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha. Thailand 4.0, an economic model that aims to develop Thailand into a valued-based economy, would bring about a number of changes.

On June 20, 2016, Thosapone Dansuputra, the Deputy Director-General of Thailand’s Department of Intellectual Property (DIP), made a speech on the DIP’s roadmap for IP reform in Thailand. During his speech, Mr. Dansuputra mentioned five core strategies that the Thai government would follow in order to enhance IP protection in the country. The strategies relate to the creation, commercialization, and protection of IP; the prevention and suppression of IP rights violations; and the protection of geographical indications.