Copyright, Patents, Trademarks And Trade Secrets Under Thai Law
Thailand has a lot going for it on the world stage; a unique economy that creates
great quality products and services at extraordinarily low prices, plenty of tourism opportunities, and in many ways, quite an involved and hardworking government.
However, copyright and trademark problems continue to taint our relationships with other countries, particularly the US, where Hollywood sees Thailand as a major revenue leak through film piracy and high street designers are constantly up in arms over trademark infringements. Today we go back to the basics of Thai law on intellectual property, with Thai business lawyers explaining copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets and patents.
Copyrights
There is automatic copyright protection under Thai law, from the date of the work's creation. Thailand is a signatory to the Berne Convention, so copyrighted works of other signatory nations are automatically protected in Thailand also.
Owners of potentially profitable copyrights are advised by Thailand business lawyers to register their copyright with the Department of Intellectual Property. Of course, false registration of another person's copyright doesn't confer any real protection - but it will carry significant weight in a court case. There are four main ways that Thai law prohibits copyright infringement:
Banning reproduction
Banning adaptation
Banning communication to the public without permission
Banning unauthorized use
Copyright protection exists for 50 years after the death of the author, and the maximum penalty for infringement is TB200,000 fine. However, offences committed for a commercial purpose (such as selling pirated DVDs in a market) could attract up to 6 years in jail despite the best efforts of a corporate legal service in Thailand, especially if the government needs to be seen as taking a tough stance on infringements. The minimum fine for commercial offences is TB100,000.
Trademarks
Trademark infringement is perhaps the most common type of intellectual property problem under Thai law. Trademarks are 'symbols used on or in connection with goods to distinguish the goods from those of another person'. This means that colors, patterns, certain lettering styles and symbols can all be considered trademarks; for instance the Burberry check pattern would be a trademark.
These must be registered with the trademark board to be protected, however there are legal provisions for companies that own unregistered trademarks which have been subject to 'passing off' by another agent. Corporate legal services in Thailand have used this aspect of Thai law to obtain injunctions against certain companies using certain marks.
International companies need to apply to have their trademarks protected under Thai law. One can safely assume that any internationally recognized company with profit potential in the forgery of their trademark would have applied to have that trademark registered in Thailand. Penalties for forgeries of these marks include fines up to TB400,000, plus prison sentences of up to 4 years.
Patents
These are less commonly infringed in Thailand. Patent owners need to apply to have their patent protected, but Thailand legal service help is not usually needed for this. Patents can be either of the invention patent, design or petty type.
Trade Secrets
Trade secrets have a minimal amount of protection under Thai law. Their infringement or dissemination is not usually a criminal matter, but a civil matter. Thai business law advice on the establishment of a trade secret is always recommended; Thailand lawyers can help set up contracts for those exposed to the trade secret to provide an avenue for recourse under civil law.
by: Gregory Smyth
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