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Thailand's new Trademark Act (the Act) was passed on September 6 and is expected to become effective in January 1992.
The new Act, which amends the present Trademark Act B.E. 2474 (1931), provides increased protection against trademark infringement by extending protection to service marks and collective marks and imposing heavier penalties for infringement. The provisions of the new Act apply only to marks registered in Thailand. Now that the new Act is passed, it is possible that the international classification of goods for trademark registration will be adopted.
Earlier this year, the Department of Commercial Registration issued new rules for trademark registration, bringing procedures into line with current international trademark registration practice.
New Trademark Act
Registration
Whereas the current Trademark Act protects only trademarks, under the new Act, trademark protection will be extended to service, certification and collective marks.
Collective marks are defined as trademarks and service marks that are used, or will be used, by any company and its subsidiary companies or by members of an association, a group of persons, or other organizations to identify the company or organization that owns the mark, membership in such an enterprise, and the goods and services of its members.
Collective marks (such as Siam Group and the Thai Cement Group) have been and are currently being informally used, and it was decided to introduce them into the Act in order to give them protection and officially define them.
Penalties
The new Act imposes heavier penalties for offenses relating to trademark infringement than those currently specified in the Penal Code. Following are the new penalties:
* Forgery of any registered trademark, service mark or certification mark (which involves using a mark identical to another's mark) will be punished with imprisonment for not more than four years or a fine of not more than 400,000 baht (approximately $15,000), or both.
* Imitation of any registered trademark, service mark or certification mark (which involves using a mark similar to another's mark) will be punished with imprisonment for not more than two years or a...