Thai inventors and designers risk having their products copied overseas if they fail to patent their intellectual property in the countries where their products are exported, says the Department of Intellectual Property Rights (DIP).
Chumpichai Svasti-Xuto, director of the department's intellectual property centre, said many Thais still considered it unnecessary to register their intellectual property.
Local investors considered their innovations and products as part of common property to be shared with the public, so that everyone can benefit from their inventions.
"But ask yourself how you would feel if you saw products exactly like yours coming from China, for example, and being sold here, in the local market, to Thai people?" Mr Chumpichai asks rhetorically.
Inventors and designers whose products go abroad thus need to consider how they can patent their ideas both domestically and overseas.
They must patent product rights in countries where they intend to export within one year of the first submission in their country of residence, said Mr Chumpichai.
"There have been cases of Thai entrepreneurs taking their own products to display in exhibitions and conferences in China and being detained by the police because the same product was patented there," he said.
"The patent will protect you in court, showing that the product is your own original idea. And if you patent your products, it's like having dual protection. When the product is complete, it is automatically protected by copyright law as well."
However, copyright law cannot be used to prove the rights of the original inventor or designer in court.
Before starting their business, to prevent intellectual property infractions, exporters must also check trademark and patent rights to ensure the same product or design has not already been used and registered.
Intellectual property rights include copyright, invention and industrial design rights, trademark, integrated-circuit layout designs, trade secrets and geographical indication.
According to the department's annual report for 2007, cumulative patent applications in Thailand totalled 56,287. Of these, 11,860 have already been granted.
Industrial design patents normally take about two years to issue, while inventions might take up to five years as the department has to perform a global patent check to make sure the product is indeed original.
Mayuree Phancheun, head of the intellectual property training centre, advised inventors and designers not to display their products or designs before patent registration as their products could lose the quality of being "new" and therefore not qualify for patents.
"To patent your intellectual property, you must consider whether the products show inventive steps or higher technology. They should be applicable in industry and they must be new," explained Mrs Mayuree.
Prakasith Sutthikul, senior officer of the Office of Prevention and Suppression of Intellectual Property Rights Violations, said that currently most intellectual property cases relate to music and films. About 39 companies filed complaints last year.
source : www.bangkokpost.com |
