On September 27, 2022, the Cabinet of Thailand agreed, in principle, for the country to become a member state of the Hague Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Industrial Designs. After the instrument of accession or ratification together with any individual declaration, are deposited with the Director General of WIPO, the accession typically becomes effective three months after the date of the deposition. This initiative will offer great benefits to Thai applicants as it will eliminate the need for applicants to file separate and multiple applications for design protection in individual countries or regions across the world.

Further, the Cabinet also agreed, in principle, to the draft Amendment of the Thai Patents Act proposed by the Ministry of Commerce. The draft will be submitted to obtain approval from Thailand’s Counsel of State and then will be subject to a parliamentary procedural mechanism before it becomes effective. The Amendment includes, for example, modification of the domestic procedures for receiving international design applications under the Hague Agreement and the extension of term for design protection from 10 years to 15 years. More information about the proposed draft was featured in our previous newsletter, “SUMMARY OF PROPOSED DRAFT OF THAI PATENTS ACT AMENDMENT (PUBLIC HEARING STAGE: 2020)”.