Thailand

(From Ministry of Foreign Affairs website - Regional index)

1. Introduction

Useful information when protecting trademark rights in Thailand is presented below.
It is our hope that our clients will find this page helpful in protecting their intellectual property overseas.

< Approximate time from application to registration of trademarks in Thailand > (As of March 2018)
Currently, it takes approximately 10-18 months from the date of filing to the date of registration of a trademark if no rejection is raised.

2．Trademark rights in Thailand

< Registerable marks as trademarks >
Photograph, drawing, figure, brand, name, word, letter, number, signature, combination of colors, shape or configuration of an object, sound, and any combination thereof (Trademark Act, Art. 4)
* The trademark of a sound can be additionally registered by the revision to the Trademark Act in 2016.

< Targets for Protection under the Trademark Law >
Trademarks, service marks, collective trademarks, and certification trademarks

< Matters to be noted in filing a trademark application >
1. Procedure language: Thai
2. Documents to be filed:
(1) Application form
(2) Power of attorney (signed by a notary public)
(3) Trademark sample
(4) Priority Certificate (in the case where Applicant claims priority)
3. Adopt a system of filing a multi-class application
* The system was adopted by the revision to the Trademark Act in 2016. Note however that no divisional application is available at this stage because the Trademark Act has not provided for divisional application.
4. The Nice Agreement: Has not joined (however, international classification has been adopted)
* The Madrid Protocol: Already Joined (Application can be filed under the Madrid Protocol from November 7, 2017)

•Regarding Trademark Application
It is possible to acquire the right of a trademark written with English letters and their corresponding (homonymous) Thai letters. In this case, the owner of a registered trademark is permitted to enforce the right against the third party who uses a trademark with either English letters or Thai letters. However, in the case where the owner of the registered trademark is accused by the third party in a trial for its cancellation on grounds of non-use in such a situation that the owner has only used the registered trademark written with either English letters or Thai letters, it is uncertain whether or not such use is considered as the use of the whole of the registered trademark. This is because there is no precedent for such a case.
Therefore, if Applicant wishes to use both a trademark written with English letters and a trademark written with Thai letters, Applicant is advised to separately file trademark applications for them.

< Main registration requirements >

• Distinctive trademark (Art.7)
• Trademark whose registration is not prohibited under the Trademark Act (Art. 8)
• Trademark that is neither identical nor similar to that which has been already registered by another person (Art. 13)

< Flow after a trademark application is filed >
• Formality examination

• A formality examination is carried out on a filed trademark application.
A correction order is issued in the case where the formality requirements are not met.

• Publication of application and examination request system

• Unlike patent, there is neither publication of application nor examination request system.

• Substantive examination

• A decision of refusal is issued to a trademark application which does not meet the registration requirements.
Applicant can appeal within 60 days.
• A correction order is issued to a trademark application which needs to be amended.
Application can file an Amendment within 60 days.
In the case where Applicant has an objection to the order, Applicant can appeal.

• Publication

• A trademark application which has met the registration requirements is published.
• An opposition can be filed to a trademark application for 60 days from the publication date of the trademark application.

• Registration

• A decision to grant trademark registration is issued to a trademark application to which no opposition has been filed or accepted. The trademark right is registered by payment of the registration fee.

< After registration >

• Duration: 10 years from the filing date
• Renewal term: three months before the expiration date to the expiration date (late payment of annual fees is available for six months after the expiration date)