Mandatory Non-extendable Deadlines in Thailand
06 January 2016
In July 2015, the Department of Intellectual Property (DIP) of Thailand imposed non-extendable deadlines relating to the prosecution and registration of intellectual property rights. These stringent deadlines came in the advent of the Licensing Facilitation Act (LFA), which aims to improve the global competitiveness rankings of Thailand and encourage foreign investment. As such, the LFA makes it compulsory for public authorities to create a public Official Rules guidebook and indicate the regulations, procedures, requirements, official fees and, most importantly, the exact timeline within which filings must be done.
For patent applications, the rigorous deadlines hereunder have to be followed. Otherwise, failure to submit the formal documents on time may result in an absolute objection of the entire patent application. (See Figure 1.)
Moreover, the DIP has published a timeline relating to the registration of trademark and patent rights. If the DIP does not complete the required process within the designated timeline, the LFA requires the relevant government authority to notify each applicant and Public Section Development Committee every seven days and explain the reason for the delay. This is the most significant provision to ensure the efficiency of DIP officers.
The DIP also implemented a timeline for which certain processes have to be completed by DIP Registrars. A summary of the new patent and trademark timelines are in Figures 2 and 3.
There is no doubt that Thailand is serious in improving its IP registration system. It is expected that the DIP will issue more directives to ensure that the above timelines are strictly followed. Hence, it is important for IP rights holders to be vigilant in respect of Thai deadlines so as not to let their IP rights slip away due to a mere technicality.
- From the Thai desk of mirandah asia
Patent Applications: Non-extendable Deadlines
Power of Attorney 90 days (non-extendable)
Deed of Assignment 90 days (non-extendable)
Statement of Applicant’s Right to Apply for a Patent 90 days (non-extendable)
Complete Thai language Specification 90 days
Priority document 16 months from the earliest filing date
Response to Office Action 210 days
Figure 1.
Patents Timeline
Application Type (filing to grant) Total Time of Registration Process
Grant of Patent 55 months
Grant of Petty patent 3 months
Grant of Design Patent 15 months
Recordal of Assignment of Patent 7 days
Recordal of Patent License 35 days
Annuity Payments 9 days
Amendment of Patent Registration Information 2 days
Figure 2.
Trademarks Timeline
Application Type (filing to grant) Total Time of Registration Process
Trademark Registration 16 months
Renewal of Trademark 68 days
Amendment of Trademark Information 68 days
Assignment of Trademark Rights 68 days
Recordal of Trademark License 105 days
Figure 3.
