Thailand to Draft New Industrial Design Act

Thailand’s Department of Intellectual Property is in the process of drafting a new industrial design law that is set to change the way industrial designs are assessed, registered and protected, both in the country and internationally.

If passed, the law would amend the Thai Patent Act, removing the industrial design aspect altogether to make way for separate legislation.

The bill would bring the following changes:

·         An Extended Term of Protection

The current protection period of ten years would be reduced to five. However, it would also have the possibility of being renewed twice, enabling a full term of up to 15 years.

·         A Creativity Requirement

The current law requires designs to be only “novel” and “industrially applicable”. The new law would introduce an extra requirement for creativity, which means that designs consisting only of well-known shapes, such as those found in geometry or nature, would not be protected.

Thailand trademark and IP attorneys specialize in patent and trademark filing.

·         New Time Restraints for Examination

The system by which applications are assessed and registered would be streamlined to take less time. The current extended period of 180 days will be cut in half, allowing an initial 60-day period with the possibility of an extention for an extra 30 days.

·         All-in-One Applications

While the current law requires applications to make individual applications for each country they wish their design to be registered in, the new legislation will allow international registration to be granted with a single application.

The bill is being drafted in preparation for Thailand’s compliance with the ASEAN IPR Action Plan, which requires all ASEAN countries to become a contracting party to the Geneva Act of 1999 under the Hague Agreement by 2018.

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Image: Konrad Foerstner