Intellectual Property in Thailand: Trademarks, Copyright, Patents, Trade Secrets and Supporting Documents

Applications are filed with the Department of Intellectual Property under the Ministry of Commerce, either in person or through the department's electronic filing system. The core papers are the application form with a representation of the mark, a clearly worded list of goods or services, proof of the applicant such as an ID card or a company affidavit from the Department of Business Development, and a power of attorney if an agent files. An applicant resident abroad must have an agent or a contact address in Thailand.

The Trademark Act B.E. 2534 gives a ten-year term counted from the filing date, renewable for further ten-year periods without limit. A renewal request may be filed within three months before expiry, and late renewal is still possible within six months after expiry with a surcharge. If no renewal is filed the registrar cancels the registration.

Yes, in every case, because the most common ground of refusal is similarity to an earlier registered or pending mark that could confuse the public. The Department of Intellectual Property provides an online database for searching. A useful search covers phonetic equivalents, translations and device elements, and extends to related classes rather than only the class being filed. Search results inform your decision but do not bind the registrar's discretion.

The Nice system divides goods and services into 45 classes, classes 1 to 34 for goods and 35 to 45 for services, and Thailand applies it for classification. File only the classes and item wordings you actually use or plan to use in the near term, because over-broad coverage raises the risk of opposition and of partial cancellation for non-use later.

The Madrid Protocol entered into force for Thailand on 7 August 2017. An applicant who is a Thai national, is domiciled in Thailand or has a real and effective industrial or commercial establishment here may use the Department of Intellectual Property as office of origin to file a single international application with the World Intellectual Property Organization. The current list of members should be checked on the WIPO website.

A Madrid filing uses one application, one language and one fee package covering several designated member countries, and renewals or changes are managed through a single international register. Direct national filing is necessary where the target country is not a member, or where strategy favours avoiding the dependency on the basic mark. In both routes the designated office still examines the mark under its own law.

For five years from the date of the international registration, that registration remains tied to the basic application or registration at the office of origin. If the basic mark is refused, withdrawn or cancelled during that period, the international registration falls with it, a situation known as central attack. Where this happens the holder may transform the registration into national applications in each designated country within the prescribed time limit.

Under the Madrid Protocol a designated office must notify a provisional refusal within twelve months, or eighteen months for countries that have declared the extended period, counted from the notification of designation. If no refusal is notified in time the mark is treated as protected in that country. A provisional refusal must be answered under the local law of that country and normally requires appointing a local representative.

The applicant may appeal to the Trademark Board within sixty days of receiving the registrar's notice, under the Trademark Act B.E. 2534 as amended by the third amendment of B.E. 2559. An appeal is far stronger with dated evidence of genuine use such as tax invoices, advertising material and packaging photographs. If no appeal is filed within the deadline the order becomes final.

Once the registrar publishes the application, an interested person may file an opposition within sixty days of publication, on grounds such as having a better right, similarity likely to confuse, or conflict with public order. The applicant may file a counterstatement within the same sixty-day period. Because these windows are short, brand owners should run a watching service on published applications.

Yes. An interested person or the registrar may ask the Trademark Board to cancel a registration if it is shown that the owner had no bona fide intention to use the mark, or did not use it at all during the three years before the request, without proper reason. For this reason owners should keep continuous dated evidence of use tied to the registered classes.

The Central Intellectual Property and International Trade Court, a specialised court with nationwide jurisdiction over civil and criminal intellectual property matters. Certain acts such as counterfeiting or imitating a registered mark carry criminal penalties under specific legislation. Rights holders may also record their rights with Thai Customs so that suspected infringing goods can be watched at the border.

No. Copyright arises automatically once the author has created the work, under the Copyright Act B.E. 2537, with no registration requirement. What the Department of Intellectual Property offers is voluntary recordation of copyright information, which records that particulars were notified on a given date as preliminary evidence. It neither creates the right nor conclusively establishes ownership.

As a general rule protection lasts for the life of the author and for fifty years after the author's death. Where the author is a juristic person or the work is anonymous, protection runs fifty years from creation, and if the work is published during that period, fifty years from first publication. Photographic works and works of applied art follow their own separate rules.

Where a work is commissioned, copyright belongs to the person who commissioned it unless agreed otherwise. Where an employee creates a work in the course of employment, copyright belongs to the employee unless there is a written agreement to the contrary. Because the default rules differ, businesses should always take a signed written assignment, especially for software and for designs that will later be filed as trademarks.

An assignment changes the owner of the right, and an assignment other than by inheritance must be in writing and signed by assignor and assignee. A licence lets another party use the work within a defined scope, term and territory while ownership stays with the copyright owner. Cross-border agreements should state the governing law and the dispute forum expressly.

The Patent Act B.E. 2522 as amended gives an invention patent a term of twenty years from the filing date in Thailand, subject to payment of the annual fees when due. The invention must be new, involve an inventive step and be capable of industrial application, so the application must be filed before the substance of the invention is disclosed to the public.

It can, because an invention whose substance has been disclosed to the public is treated as part of the prior art. Thai law allows narrow exceptions for unlawful disclosure and for display at an international exhibition organised or authorised by the authorities, provided the application is filed within twelve months of that disclosure. The safe practice is to file before any presentation or publication.

Thailand has been bound by the Patent Cooperation Treaty since 24 December 2009. An applicant with an international application may enter the Thai national phase within thirty months of the priority date by filing a Thai translation of the description and claims, together with the power of attorney and supporting papers, at the Department of Intellectual Property.

After the application has been published, the applicant must request substantive examination within five years of the publication date, failing which the application is deemed abandoned. Actual examination time depends on workload and the technical field, so budget and docket reminders should be set well ahead. Current deadlines should be reconfirmed with the Department of Intellectual Property.

A petty patent suits an invention that is new and industrially applicable but does not involve a high inventive step, and it is granted without prior substantive examination, so rights arise faster. An invention patent suits more advanced technology where a long term matters. The choice should weigh the product life cycle against the risk that a competitor later challenges validity.

A petty patent runs for six years from the filing date in Thailand and may be renewed twice for two years each, giving a maximum of ten years. Renewal must be requested within the statutory window before expiry with the fees paid in full. A lapsed petty patent cannot be revived and the technology falls into the public domain.

It protects the shape or configuration of a product, or a composition of lines or colours giving a special visual appearance, where the design is new and intended for industrial use. The term is ten years from the filing date in Thailand. Drawings should show every view and be mutually consistent, since contradictory views are a frequent cause of office actions and delay.

Yes, and layering is usually the best value. The internal mechanism can go to an invention or petty patent, the external shape to a design patent, the name and logo to trademark registration, while manuals, graphics and software already enjoy copyright protection. Planning these together closes the gaps a competitor would otherwise copy.

The Trade Secrets Act B.E. 2545 protects trade information that is not generally known, has commercial value because it remains undisclosed, and is kept secret by appropriate measures taken by the controller. No registration is required and there is no fixed term as long as secrecy is maintained. A controller may notify particulars to the Department of Intellectual Property for reference purposes.

In practice it means measures provable in court, such as confidentiality agreements with staff and partners, need-to-know access control, system access logging, classification markings on documents, and a process for returning or destroying information when a relationship ends. Without such measures the information may fall outside the statutory definition of a trade secret.

A geographical indication is a name or symbol used with goods whose quality or reputation derives from that geographical origin, protected under the Geographical Indications Protection Act B.E. 2546. Applicants may be government agencies in the area, groups of producers or groups of traders in that origin. The resulting right is shared among qualifying producers in the area rather than being an exclusive right of one person.

Define confidential information precisely with the standard carve-outs, state how long obligations survive termination, name the governing law and the dispute forum, and verify from the company affidavit that the Thai signatory actually has authority. If the agreement may be used before a Thai authority or court, prepare a bilingual version and state which language prevails on conflict.

Yes. An applicant without a domicile in Thailand must have an agent or a contact address here to receive notices from the Department of Intellectual Property. Registrar notices often carry short response deadlines, so having no one in Thailand to receive them is a common reason applications are abandoned by accident.

Normally it is signed before a notary public or other competent officer in that country, then legalised through the chain up to the Royal Thai Embassy or Consulate, then translated into Thai and the translation certified by the Legalization Division of the Department of Consular Affairs. Once the Apostille Convention takes effect for Thailand on 28 February 2027, documents from member states can use an apostille instead of the chain legalisation.

Typically a certificate of incorporation or a certificate of good standing issued within the last six months, evidence of the signatory's authority, and a power of attorney stating the mandate clearly. Every document needs a Thai translation with the translation certified. Company and signatory names must be spelled identically across all papers, since a single-letter difference is the most frequent cause of office actions.

By certifying signatures on powers of attorney, deeds of assignment and affidavits intended for use abroad, and by certifying true copies of originals. The certifying lawyer must be registered and authorised as a Notarial Services Attorney by the Lawyers Council of Thailand. Thailand has no civil-law notary office, so this status should be explained in advance to the receiving authority abroad.

Typically twelve to eighteen months where no office action or opposition arises. The stages are filing, formality and similarity examination, sixty-day publication for opposition, then payment of the registration fee. Protection runs ten years from the filing date and is renewable for successive ten-year terms, with renewal filed within three months before expiry.

Strongly recommended. Searching the DIP database before filing reduces the risk of refusal for similarity to an earlier mark, which is the most common ground of rejection. A useful search covers word marks, device elements, phonetically similar variants, and the goods in the same or related classes.

Marks lacking distinctiveness, such as generic terms that directly describe the goods, terms denoting quality or geographical origin, well-known geographical names, marks contrary to public order or morality, marks identical or confusingly similar to earlier registrations, and state emblems or flags. Adding a distinctive device element can sometimes overcome a distinctiveness objection.

Thailand applies the current Nice Classification with forty-five classes — goods in 1 to 34 and services in 35 to 45. Specify goods that match actual or genuinely planned use within three years, because a mark unused for three consecutive years can be challenged for cancellation. Over-broad specifications increase fees and create attack surface.

Thailand is a Madrid member. You need a Thai basic application or registration, then file the international application through the DIP to WIPO, designating target countries in a single filing. Fees depend on the number of countries and classes. Note the five-year central attack rule: if the Thai basic mark falls, the international registration is affected.

The applicant must file a counter-statement within sixty days of receiving the opposition, otherwise the application is deemed abandoned. A strong counter-statement includes evidence of actual use such as tax invoices, advertising, packaging images and first-use dates, showing acquired distinctiveness and absence of public confusion.

Yes, to the Trademark Board within sixty days of the order, and if the Board's decision is unsatisfactory, to the Central Intellectual Property and International Trade Court within ninety days. Effective appeals focus on evidence of real use in Thailand and a detailed comparison distinguishing the cited earlier mark.

No. Copyright arises automatically on creation. The DIP offers a copyright notification which creates no new rights but provides useful prima facie evidence of creation date and authorship in a dispute. The general term is the author's life plus fifty years.

Under the Copyright Act, for works created under a hire-of-work contract the copyright belongs to the creator unless otherwise agreed in writing. For works by employees in the course of employment, copyright also vests in the employee, though the employer may publish it for the intended purpose. The safe practice is an explicit written assignment at the outset.

An invention patent protects for twenty years from filing and requires novelty, an inventive step and industrial applicability, with substantive examination that takes years. A petty patent lasts six years, renewable twice by two years each for a maximum of ten, needs no inventive step, and registers far faster — suited to technical improvements in short product cycles.

The external shape or pattern applied to a product, where new, for ten years from filing. It does not protect function or technical principle. Public disclosure before filing destroys novelty, so file before launch or at least control disclosure with confidentiality agreements.

The Patent Cooperation Treaty lets a single international application preserve your filing date in more than 150 countries and defers the national phase decision up to thirty months from the earliest priority date. It suits applicants uncertain about target markets or awaiting funding. It is not a world patent — grant remains with each national office.

The Trade Secrets Act B.E. 2545 protects information that is not generally known, has commercial value from its secrecy, and is subject to reasonable protective measures by the owner. There is no fixed term while secrecy is maintained. In practice you need confidentiality agreements with staff and partners, access restrictions, and evidence those measures were genuinely applied.

Applicants are usually local producer groups or government agencies. They must show that the quality or reputation of the product is linked to the geographical origin, and provide a code of practice with a quality control system. Once registered, compliant local producers may use the name and others may not use it confusingly.

The DIP accepts a power of attorney signed by an authorised officer of the foreign company with a certified Thai translation. It is generally notarised in the country of origin; once Thailand's Apostille Convention accession takes effect on 28 February 2027 an apostille will replace embassy legalisation. Draft the scope to cover filing, amendment, appeal and withdrawal.

Civil action for damages and injunction, criminal complaint with search warrants through the Economic Crime Suppression Division, and customs recordation to detain infringing goods at the border. Cases are heard by the Central Intellectual Property and International Trade Court. Key evidence is a subsisting registration plus properly documented test purchases.

Major platforms have rights-owner portals requiring the trademark registration certificate or copyright ownership evidence plus the infringing URLs. The Copyright Act also lets a rights owner apply to the court to order a service provider to take content down. Holding a Thai registration in advance makes takedowns much faster.

Yes — there is no nationality restriction and no Thai company is needed. An applicant without a Thai domicile must appoint a representative resident in Thailand to receive registrar correspondence. The power of attorney must be certified as prescribed, and the applicant's address should match its home corporate records to avoid later office actions.

Renewal may be filed within three months before expiry, and late within six months after expiry with a surcharge. Beyond that the registration lapses and a fresh application is required, losing the original filing date and risking a third party filing first.

Yes. Assignments and licence agreements must be in writing and recorded with the registrar to be valid. A licence should specify the covered goods and services, term, territory and quality-control obligations, because allowing uncontrolled use by a licensee can be a ground for cancellation.

Produce evidence of genuine commercial use in Thailand during the alleged period — tax invoices, delivery notes, dated product and packaging images, dated advertising and sales figures — or show a legitimate reason for non-use, such as awaiting a regulatory licence for that product category.

Search the Department of Intellectual Property register for identical spellings, phonetically similar words, translations with the same meaning, and device marks that give a similar overall impression, covering both the intended class and neighbouring classes. Then assess distinctiveness: words that directly describe the goods, well-known geographical names and generic terms are commonly refused by the registrar. Adding a stylised or figurative element often raises distinctiveness enough to proceed.

Thai registrars require specific itemised goods and do not accept whole class headings. Drafting too broadly triggers an office action to amend, which costs time; drafting too narrowly leaves future products unprotected. The workable approach is to list every product actually sold at the filing date, add items planned for the near term, and use the standard wording published in the Department's list of acceptable goods.

An interested person or the registrar may ask the Trademark Board to cancel a mark if the owner never used it in good faith or did not use it during the three years preceding the petition, unless special circumstances prevented use. Owners should therefore keep systematic evidence of use: dated invoices, photographs of packaging bearing the mark, advertising materials and online storefront listings.

The international application must mirror a Thai basic application or registration in owner, mark and goods. For the first five years it remains dependent on that basic mark: if the basic filing is refused or cancelled, the international registration is affected and must be transformed into national applications within the deadline. Each designated country also examines under its own law and may issue a provisional refusal that has to be answered through a local agent.

File an appeal with the Trademark Board within the period stated in the notification of the order, counted from receipt. The appeal should rebut each ground the registrar relied on and attach supporting evidence: proof of acquired distinctiveness through use, search results showing that the cited mark covers different goods or a different consumer group, or a letter of consent from the cited owner. If the Board's decision is unfavourable, a case may still be brought before the Central Intellectual Property and International Trade Court within the statutory period.

Once an application is published, an interested person files a notice of opposition with the registrar within the statutory period from the publication date, stating the grounds — a better right, confusing similarity, or conflict with public order — with evidence of prior use. The applicant may file a counter-statement, the registrar decides, and either party may appeal to the Trademark Board.

Copyright arises automatically on creation with no registration requirement. General works are protected for the life of the author plus fifty years after death. Works owned by juristic persons, photographic works, audiovisual works, cinematographic works, sound recordings and broadcasts are protected for fifty years from creation or publication as the case may be. Recording the work with the Department of Intellectual Property creates no new right, but serves as prima facie evidence of ownership and creation date in negotiation and litigation.

The default rule under the Copyright Act is that the author owns the work unless agreed otherwise in writing. Where an employee creates a work under a contract of employment, the employee retains copyright but the employer may publish it for the purpose of the employment. Under an ordinary hire-of-work arrangement the hirer owns the commissioned work. To avoid disputes, use a written signed assignment covering scope, ownership of source files and any needed waiver of adaptation rights.

An invention patent requires novelty, an inventive step and industrial applicability, and lasts twenty years from the filing date, but it needs a request for substantive examination and takes considerably longer. A petty patent requires no inventive step, is granted faster because only formalities are examined, and lasts six years renewable twice for two years each. Petty patents suit incremental improvements with short product cycles; clear technical advances that need long protection justify an invention patent.

Public disclosure normally destroys novelty, but the Patent Act provides exceptions where the disclosure resulted from an unlawful act by another person, or where the inventor exhibited the work at an international or official exhibition. The application must be filed within twelve months of that disclosure. Keep records of the date and nature of the disclosure, and avoid publishing technical detail before filing.

National-phase entry must be made within thirty months of the earliest filing or priority date, by filing with the Department of Intellectual Property together with a Thai translation of the description and claims, the international application number, and the appointment of a Thai agent if the applicant is abroad. A request for substantive examination must then be filed within the prescribed period, otherwise the application is treated as abandoned.

The Trade Secrets Act protects information that is not generally known among people in the relevant circles, has commercial value because it is secret, and is subject to reasonable measures to keep it secret. Protection lasts as long as secrecy is maintained. Measures courts look for include confidentiality agreements with staff and partners, restricted file access, confidentiality markings on documents, and access logs.

A geographical indication protects the name of a place used for goods whose quality or reputation derives from that place. The right belongs to producers in the area who follow the published quality-control manual, not to a single owner, whereas a trademark is an exclusive right to indicate commercial origin. Producers wanting to use a registered GI must apply to be listed and pass inspection under the control system.

Rights owners may record their trademark or copyright with the Customs Department for watch-listing, submitting proof of ownership, genuine product samples, the features that distinguish counterfeits, and contact details that respond quickly. When suspect goods are detained, officers give the rights owner a short window to confirm, so appoint an authorised representative in Thailand in advance and be prepared to post security under the regulations.

The authorised signatory normally signs before a notary public or a Thai consular officer in that country. The signature is then certified through that country's chain and by the Royal Thai Embassy or Consulate. Once in Thailand the document is translated into Thai and the translation is certified by the Legalisation Division of the Department of Consular Affairs before filing with the Department of Intellectual Property. Draft the mandate broadly enough to cover filing, amendments, appeals and receipt of registrar notices.

A licence of a registered trademark must be in writing and recorded with the registrar. It must contain terms enabling the owner to control the quality of the licensee's goods or services and must specify the goods or services licensed. An unrecorded licence may be ineffective under trademark law and can weaken enforcement. Assignments of registered marks must likewise be recorded.

Search the Department of Intellectual Property database and WIPO's Global Brand Database for identical words, phonetic equivalents and similar device marks in the same and neighbouring Nice classes. Search results are only an indication, because the registrar also assesses similarity through the eyes of ordinary consumers. Prepare a fallback, such as a modified logotype or an added distinctive element, before filing.

An applicant without a domicile in Thailand must appoint an agent with a Thai address to receive the registrar's notices. The power of attorney is signed before a notary abroad and then apostilled, or legalised by the Royal Thai Embassy where the Hague Convention does not apply, and filed with a certified Thai translation. A defective power triggers an office action and a fresh deadline, putting the original filing date at risk.

Roughly 12 to 18 months where no office action or opposition arises. The stages are formality check, examination for similarity, 60-day publication for opposition, then payment of the registration fee. If the mark is partly refused, the applicant must respond within the period stated in the order, and an unsatisfactory outcome can be appealed to the Board of Trademarks.

Madrid is efficient when several countries are needed at once, because one application and one renewal cycle cover them all. It stays dependent on the home registration for five years, so a successful central attack affects every designation. Direct filings suit a handful of core markets, cases needing locally tailored goods descriptions, or countries with a high office-action rate.

Cover what is genuinely used plus what is realistically planned for the next three to five years, without going so broad that the registrar demands specification or that the registration becomes vulnerable to non-use cancellation. Thailand follows the Nice classification and publishes an accepted goods list; drawing wording from it reduces office actions and keeps the timetable predictable.

An interested party may petition to cancel a registration where the mark has not been used in good faith for the registered goods for three consecutive years before the petition. Keep evidence of use — tax invoices, packaging photographs showing the mark, dated online storefront pages and advertising — filed by year so it can be produced immediately if the registration is challenged.

Protection lasts ten years from the filing date and is renewable for further ten-year terms, with renewal filed within three months before expiry. A late renewal is still possible within six months after expiry with a surcharge. After that the registration lapses and a fresh application is needed, losing priority and exposing the brand to an intervening filing, so diarise a reminder at least a year ahead.

Assignments and licence agreements must be in writing and recorded with the registrar, otherwise they cannot be raised against third parties. A licence must set out the owner's quality control, the goods covered, the territory and the term. Where a party signs abroad, the signature should be notarised and apostilled or legalised by the Royal Thai Embassy, with a certified Thai translation.

Copyright arises automatically on creation, with no registration requirement. The Department of Intellectual Property nonetheless accepts copyright notifications, producing a certificate that serves as prima facie evidence of the creation date and the author. That certificate supports police complaints, court proceedings and takedown requests to online platforms, so it is worthwhile for commercially valuable works.

As a default rule, copyright in work created by an employee in the course of employment belongs to the employee unless the parties agree in writing that it belongs to the employer, while work made under a hire-of-work contract belongs to the commissioning party unless otherwise agreed. Misunderstanding this leaves many companies not owning their own logo or software, so include assignment and moral-rights waiver clauses in every engagement.

An invention patent covers something new, involving an inventive step and industrially applicable, lasting 20 years after substantive examination that can take several years. A petty patent covers a new and industrially applicable invention without requiring an inventive step, lasting 6 years and renewable twice for 2 years each. A design patent protects the appearance of a product for 10 years.

As a rule, prior disclosure destroys novelty. Thai law allows a grace period where the disclosure resulted from a wrongful act against the inventor, or from an exhibition organised or approved by a government agency, provided the application is filed within twelve months. Other countries apply different rules and many have no grace period at all, so file before any trade show or fundraising presentation.

A PCT application allows 30 months from the earliest priority date before national phase entry, and Thailand applies the same 30-month deadline. During that time the applicant receives the international search report and written opinion, which help decide where further investment is justified. National phase entry requires a Thai translation of the description and claims with the prescribed fees.

No registration is needed. Protection applies where the information is not generally known, has commercial value because it is secret, and the owner has taken reasonable steps to keep it confidential. Courts look for confidentiality agreements with staff and partners, restricted file access, confidentiality markings and access logs. Without that evidence, a trade secret claim is very difficult to sustain.

Collect ownership evidence — the trademark registration certificate or copyright notification certificate — along with screenshots showing the URL, date, time and seller details, then file through the platform's infringement channel. For stronger legal effect, an application can be made to the Intellectual Property and International Trade Court to suppress the material under the computer-related offences legislation.

Rights holders record their trademarks and copyrights with the Customs Department, supplying a guide distinguishing genuine from counterfeit goods and an urgent contact channel. When officers detain suspect goods, the rights holder must confirm within a very short deadline, so a responsive local contact is essential. Recordal does not mean customs polices the right for you, but it materially improves interception at the border.

The Central Intellectual Property and International Trade Court has nationwide jurisdiction and sits with associate judges experienced in the field. It hears civil claims for damages and injunctions as well as criminal cases for counterfeiting or imitation of marks. Title documents issued abroad must be notarised and legalised before Thai translation, or the court may decline to admit them.

Yes. The Business Security Act permits intellectual property to serve as collateral, provided the security agreement is registered with the Department of Business Development and a licensed security enforcer is appointed. Lenders normally require an independent valuation report supported by historic licensing income, such as licence agreements and royalty receipts.

Where a domain identical or confusingly similar to your mark was registered in bad faith, a complaint can be filed under the UDRP with an ICANN-approved dispute resolution provider. You must prove three elements: confusing similarity, the holder's lack of rights or legitimate interests, and bad-faith registration or use. Domains under .th are handled by the Thai registry's own dispute mechanism.

A registered trademark in the classes matching the goods and services, a franchise agreement granting the licence with quality control provisions, an operations manual protected as both copyright and trade secret, and pre-contract disclosure documents required by the applicable regulations. Where the franchisee is overseas, fix the governing law and dispute resolution forum expressly from the outset.

You need form Kor.01, a clear representation of the mark, a goods or services list classified under the Nice system, proof of identity such as an ID card or company affidavit, and a stamped power of attorney if an agent files. Applicants based abroad must appoint a Thai representative. The process runs from a clearance search, to filing, examination, 60-day publication for opposition, then payment of the registration fee.

File a response or appeal within the deadline stated in the notice, generally 60 days from receipt. The submission should give legal grounds and attach evidence of actual use such as packaging photographs, tax invoices, advertising, and search results distinguishing the cited mark. Missing the deadline abandons the application and you must start again.

Madrid suits multi-country filings when you already hold a Thai basic application or registration, because renewals and recordals are managed centrally. Watch the five-year dependency rule: cancellation of the basic mark affects every designated country. Direct filing suits jurisdictions with strict examination or specific requirements on goods descriptions.

Copyright arises automatically on creation without registration. Recording the work with the Department of Intellectual Property provides a certificate that serves as prima facie evidence of ownership and creation date, which is valuable for takedown notices, licensing negotiations and litigation.

An invention patent requires a higher inventive step, undergoes substantive examination and lasts 20 years from filing. A petty patent has only formal examination, registers faster, and lasts 6 years renewable twice for 2 years each, up to 10 years. Short product cycles or modest technical improvements usually suit a petty patent.

The Paris Convention allows a priority claim within 12 months for inventions and 6 months for industrial designs. Under the PCT you file the international application within 12 months and generally have 30 or 31 months from the priority date to enter national phase. Budget and translations should be planned early, as national phase is the costliest stage.

Preserve evidence: screenshots showing the shop name, date, time and price, plus a real test purchase with receipt and shipping packaging. Then use the platform's infringement channel attaching your registration certificate. If the seller persists, consider a cease-and-desist letter, a criminal complaint, or a civil action in the Central Intellectual Property and International Trade Court.

Recordal gives officers a reference to detect and detain infringing goods at import and export checkpoints. Rights holders should supply an illustrated genuine-versus-fake guide and a contact reachable at all times, because the confirmation window after a detention is very short.

Assignments and licence agreements for registered trademarks must be in writing and recorded with the registrar to be fully effective. Licences must set out quality control and the scope of use. Without recordal the agreement may not be enforceable against third parties and its validity can be challenged later.

The Trade Secrets Act protects information that is not generally known, has commercial value because it is secret, and is subject to reasonable protective measures by the owner. In practice, classify documents, restrict access, sign confidentiality agreements with staff and partners, and keep access logs as evidence.

Usually a certified copy of the certificate issued by the Department of Intellectual Property, translated into the destination language, with the translation certified by the Department of Consular Affairs. Hague Convention countries accept an Apostille; non-member countries also require destination embassy legalisation. Powers of attorney for foreign agents usually need notarisation first.

Our advisers have handled cross-border filings and documentation for over 15 years. We cover clearance searches, class drafting, filing and office-action responses, Madrid or PCT expansion strategy, translations and legalisation, plus online infringement monitoring and coordination with Thai Customs. Contact us by phone or LINE for a portfolio review before any work begins.