Manage your Intellectual Property in South-East Asia
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In Thailand, trademark applicants often encounter rejections on the grounds of non-distinctiveness, where the application is principally composed of an acronym or a combination of unpronounceable letters. However recently, there have been several Thai Supreme Court decisions indicating the Thai Trademark Office’s position on letter combinations should be modified.
The Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS) has granted its first accelerated patent under its new FinTech Fast Track initiative. This new FinTech Fast Track initiative comes at no additional cost and is open to any FinTech company who files through IPOS.
On March 5, 2018, the DIP announced a new e-filing system, which allowed users to submit the four main types of IP application (trademark, patent, design, and copyright) via one platform with a single login. The new system introduced alternative payment channels and removed the requirement for applicants to submit hard copies if the documents already filed online met the requirements.
From 1-7 September 2019, EU Gateway | Business Avenues will take up to 50 selected companies to South East Asia for an Organic Food & Beverage business mission. The first stop will be Singapore, where companies will hold business-to-business meetings and attend a networking reception. They will then carry on to Thailand for four days of business exhibition at the Food & Hotel Thailand.
In July 27, 2018, the Indonesian government enacted Government Regulation No. 36 of 2018 on the Recordal of Intellectual Property License Agreements (GR No. 36/2018). This is the first government regulation ever issued in Indonesia on the procedures for recording license agreements for copyright and related rights, patents, trademarks, industrial designs, layout designs of integrated circuits, trade secrets, and plant varieties.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has launched the ASEAN Patentscope making up-to-date online ASEAN patent data available to patent search firms, patent attorneys and innovators seeking to commercialize their innovations in the ASEAN region.
On June 12, 2018, Vietnam passed a new Law on Competition that will take effect on July 1, 2019, replacing the Law on Competition of 2004. The new law brings about several changes affecting intellectual property. Notably, it eliminates many of the discrepancies between the current 2004 Competition Law and the Intellectual Property Law in dealing with IP-related unfair competition.
Under the EU Singapore Free Trade Agreement, Singapore must improve its Customs IP border protection system. A new Intellectual Property (Border Enforcement) Bill passed into law on 9 July.
Indonesia's controversial patent working requirements are now going to be enforced.
Government Regulation No. 22 of 2018 on Registration of International Trade Mark Madrid Protocol (“Regulation”) was enacted and took effect on 6 June 2018.