News — N&K IP

A registered mark lasts ten years from the Thai filing date. The renewal can be filed in the window before that date.

Thailand is a first-to-file country. A mark already used abroad should be filed here before someone else files it.

A pending application or a registered mark can be assigned. The assignment is recorded at the Department of Intellectual Property.

A patent needs novelty, an inventive step, and industrial application. The term is twenty years from the Thai filing date.

A design patent protects the appearance shown in the drawings. The views should present the shape, pattern, or colour claimed.

The same invention takes one route. A petty patent does not require an inventive step. A pending case can be converted in the cases the Act allows.

A petty patent runs six years from the Thai filing date and may be renewed twice, for two years each time.

A patent or petty patent can claim priority within twelve months of the first foreign filing. A design has six months.

A design protects the look of a product for ten years. A trademark protects a sign that distinguishes goods or services, and it can be renewed.

A foreign applicant files through a local agent. The power of attorney is signed by an authorized person and notarized.

A mark must not be identical or similar to a mark already registered by another person. An availability search is made before filing.

A granted patent stays in force for up to twenty years from the filing date when the annual fees are paid.