By Wipaphat S. Trossel
In compliance with established commitments in the ASEAN IPR Action Plan 2016-2025, Thailand is on its way to joining the Hague Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Industrial Designs. Prior to entering the Agreement, the Department of Intellectual Property of Thailand (DIP) had organised public hearings of the Draft Amendments to the Thai Patent Act B.E. 2522 (Industrial Design in Thailand is recognised as a Design Patent under the Act), which went on until the end of October 2020. The Draft Amendments were recently approved by the Thai Parliament on 29 November 2022.
According to the Draft Amendments, the key focus areas which will bring Thai Design law to comply with the Hague Agreement are:
- Disclosure grace period for Design Patent: The current Act does not specify a grace period of disclosure for Design application. The Draft Amendments proposed a 6-month period, whereby disclosure made voluntarily by the designer or made unlawfully by a third party without the applicant’s consent before the filing date will not be considered valid.
- Protection term for Design Patent: 15 years in accordance with the Draft Amendments i.e., a five-year initial term plus two renewal terms of five years each.
- Scope of Protection for Design Patent: Extended to partial design and related design, which are not available under the current Act.
- Examination procedure of Design Patent application: The Draft Amendments introduce a system where formality and substantive examinations are conducted in parallel before the publication of design application. Once the design application is published, an opposition can be submitted within 90 days from the publication date by any interested person.
While further revision in response to comments received during the public hearings is to be expected, the new design law will ensure that applicants from countries covered by the Hague System will be able to designate Thailand in international design applications.
If you have any questions or would like to get more updates on the Thai Patent Act or Thailand’s accession to the Hague Agreement, drop us an email at kass@kass.asia!