Invention – Patent in Thailand
Rather than Trademark and Copyright, Patent is an intellectual property. In Thailand, there are two types of Intellectual Property:
- Patent which can be divided into an Invention (the invention has to be new, inventive and capable of industrial application) and a Product design;
- Petty Patent or utility model which is similar to the invention but the level of technological innovation is not high or it is a result of minor innovation.
Invention Patent
To be able to register an invention patent in Thailand; the invention is to be searched to see if it is new, not similar to the one shown and widely used in public. The search shall be done through a worldwide database. Nonetheless, besides the invention has to be new, the invention has to also be an inventive, and capable of industrial application.
Therefore, since the database to be searched is a worldwide one, even though the invention patent is not registered in Thailand and is registered overseas, it is deemed as not new. In other words, if such an invention patent is registered anywhere else before, it might be considered as not a new invention, and unable to register as a patent in Thailand.
The officer shall consider by its function or technique of the invention itself to see if the one registered and the one widely used are the same. Therefore, even the appearance of the invention looks different; the only thing to be considered as newly invented is its function/technique. Hence, upon the worldwide search, if the function is exactly the same or similar to the one registered overseas, the invention is unable to be registered in Thailand. In such case, to be able to be protected, the invention has to be developed, invented in somehow different in its function or technique from the previous one.
Category: Company Law, Litigation, Property
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Siam Legal is an international law firm with experienced lawyers, attorneys, and solicitors both in Thailand law and international law. This Thailand law firm offers comprehensive legal services in Thailand to both local and foreign clients for Litigation such as civil & criminal cases, labor disputes, commercial cases, divorce, adoption, extradition, fraud, and drug cases. Other legal expertise of the law firm varied in cases involving corporate law such as company registration & Thailand BOI, family law, property law, and private investigation.
