These laws are being enforced by various agencies namely the Department of Intellectual Property, the Royal Thai Police, Customs Department, the Department of Special Investigation and representatives of IP owners.
This page will be focusing on the Patent and Trademark law in Thailand.
| How to get your invention or product patented in Thailand? |
|
What is a Patent?
Patent is an instrument given by the authority to a patentee for a disclosure of his invention. Patent provides the right to exclude others from making, using, selling, offering for sale, or importing the patented invention for the term of the patent
According to Section 3 of PATENT ACT B.E. 2522 As Amended by the Patent Act (No.2) B.E 2535And the Patent Act (No.3) B.E. 2542,
“patent” means a document issued to grant protection for an invention or a design under the provisions in Chapters 2 and 3 of this Act
Patentable Subject Matters (Things that can be patented under Thai law
By the virtue of Thai Patent Act, patentable subject matters comprise
the invention and
the product desi
The invention is defined as an invention or a creation resulting in a new product (Product Patent) or process (Process Patent), or any act which makes the improvement of a product or a process.
- Product Patent: The products are tangible object that can be in forms of machinery, parts, devices, tools and so on.
- Process Patent: A process, within the context of patent, is defined as any method, procedure or process of producing or preserving or improving or readjusting the product including the application of such process.
The main requirements of Patent of the invention
Pursuant to the section 5 of the patent Act 1999, invention as follows may be granted as a patent.:
(1) the invention is new
(2) it involves to an inventive step, and
(3) it is capable of industrial application
Thus, Patentability of an invention is subject to the following three conditions, i.e.,
1 novelty, 2 inventive step or non-obviousness and 3 industrial applicability.
These are exactly the international standards as stipulated in TRIPs.
1. Novelty is a test if the invention is patentable. Interpreting Section 6 of Thai Patent Act, the novelty explains that the invention is considered new if there‘s no such an invention invented before.
Excerpt from the Thailand IPR Service Center website - “The Act, then, elaborates that the existing invention includes the following ones:
1. |
an invention which exists or is widely used in the Kingdom prior to the date of patent application; |
2. |
an invention of which the essential substances or details have been disclosed in documents or printed materials published within or outside the Kingdom prior to the date of patent application and whether the disclosure is done through document, printed materials, exhibition or disclosure to public by any means; |
3. |
an invention which has been granted a patent or a petty patent whether within or outside the Kingdom prior to the date of patent application; |
4. |
an invention of which the application for patent or petty patent has been filed outside the Kingdom longer than eighteen months prior to the date of application and the patent or petty patent has not been granted; |
5. |
an invention of which the application for patent or petty patent has been filed within or outside the Kingdom and the publication of the application has been made prior to the date of application in Thailand. |
There are some exceptions to (2) above. The Act does not regard the disclosure in some manners to destroy the novelty of the invention, i.e. (a) the disclosure of essential substances or details which is illegal or which is a result of an illegal act, (b) the disclosure by the inventor himself, (c) exhibition of the invention in an international trade show or in a public display organized by the government; provided that the disclosure in the foregoing manners is made within twelve months prior to the application for patent.”
2. Inventive step
“Inventive step” requires that the invention is not easily created, and not obvious to a person with ordinary skill in arts. According to the Court, an already known principle or technique used in an invention or minor difference from the previous invention does not constitute an inventive step.
3. Capability of industrial application
An invention must be applicable to use in the industrial application such as in the industry, handicraft, agriculture and commerce. This condition requires that the invention must, in some way, beneficial to the public. The lack of industrial applicability will result in the denial of qualification for patent.
The Non Patentable (Things that cannot be patented)Non-patentable Invention
The exclusionary list was narrowed in the amendment of the Patent Act in B.E. 2535 or 1992 to the followings:
(1) plants and extracted substances from animals or plants;
(2) scientific or mathematical rules or theories;
(3) computer programs;
(4) method of diagnosis, therapy or healing of human beings or animals;
(5) inventions which are contrary to public order or good moral, public health or welfare.
|
