Following the successful launch of “fast-track renewals” in March 2021, Thailand’s Department of Intellectual Property (DIP) is continuing its efforts to better serve brand owners by launching the “First Action Fast Track” program. The program expedites the issuance of a first office action for qualifying trademarks in Thailand to within six months from the date of filing the application, at no additional cost. The program was announced in a notification inked by the director general of the DIP on April 5, 2021, and made available to the public on April 16, 2021. To benefit from this expedited process, applications must comply with all of the fast-track conditions specified in the DIP notification: The total number of goods or services must not exceed 10 items. The description of goods or services should follow the DIP’s suggested description manual (available at https://tmsearch.ipthailand.go.th/). No amendment (such as recordal of name or address change), recordal of assignment or inheritance, or request to prove acquired distinctiveness through use is made on the application. Though not stated in the notification, we suggest that applicants or representatives who wish to benefit from a Fast-Track examination explicitly indicate this on their application. This new expedited practice is a positive, brand-friendly step from the DIP that is aligned with international benchmarks, and it has the potential to boost trademark-related activities in the country to enhance Thailand’s competitiveness. For more details on this development, or on any aspect of securing intellectual property rights in Thailand, please contact Tilleke & Gibbins at [email protected].

Thailand has made significant changes to its statutory interest rate framework for the first time in almost a century. Since 1925, the statutory interest rate codified in Thailand’s Civil and Commercial Code (the CCC) has remained at 7.5% per year. But with Covid-19 having an unprecedented impact on the Thai economy, the Thai Government, via emergency decree, has reduced the statutory rate. While the decree is largely aimed at providing relief to hard-hit SMEs and individual debtors, the amendments have broader implications for doing business in Thailand. Main Changes The new interest rate revisions are contained within the Emergency Decree Amending the Civil and Commercial Code B.E. 2564 (2021) (the Emergency Decree), which was published in the Government Gazette on April 10, 2021 and came into effect on April 11, 2021. The Emergency Decree amends Sections 7 and 224 of the CCC, which stated the previous statutory interest rate of 7.5% per year. The Emergency Decree makes three major changes. The first involves a reduction of the statutory interest rate from 7.5% per year to 3% per year in Section 7. The new 3% annual rate is subject to review every three years by the Ministry of Finance. The interest rate is subject to further change later by a royal decree. The second change concerns money debts under Section 224 of the CCC. The previous version of Section 224 stated, among other things, that a money debt based on a default bears interest of 7.5% per year. Under the Emergency Decree, the new actual statutory default interest rate is the statutory interest rate stated in Section 7 with an additional rate of 2% per year. The result is a 5% annual statutory default interest rate. Since the statutory default interest rate is based in part on the Section 7 rate, any future

Experts from Tilleke & Gibbins have authored the Vietnam chapters of the latest edition of the Practical Law Life Sciences Global Guide.

Practitioners from Tilleke & Gibbins’ Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City offices contributed content for Vietnam to the latest edition of the Practical Law Life Sciences Global Guide.

Lawyers from Tilleke & Gibbins’ intellectual property team have written the Vietnam chapter of Practical Law’s IP in Business Transactions Global Guide, a high-level comparative overview of intellectual property laws and regulations across 34 jurisdictions.

On March 16, 2021, the Prime Minister of Vietnam issued Decision No. 10/2021/QD-TTg updating the criteria for identifying “high-tech enterprises,” which are eligible for certain incentives under Vietnam’s economic development strategy.

On March 24, 2021, the Prime Minister of Vietnam issued Decision No. 12/2021/QD-TTg issuing regulations on oil spill response. One of the more notable changes is the introduction of templates for oil spill response plans.

The Bank of Thailand recently issued policy guidelines on how stablecoins—fiat-backed nonvolatile cryptocurrencies—are to be regulated. This paves the way for baht-backed stablecoins, similar to China’s digital Yuan, to be developed in the jursidiction.