Thailand receives PCT applications

Under the Ministerial Regulation re: Filing of Patent Applications for Inventions under the Patent Cooperation Treaty, dated October 30, 2009, international patent applications have been able to be filed with the RO since December 24, 2009.

Application requirements

An international application must include the application form and the specification, claims, drawings (if any) and abstract of the invention. The application and supporting documents must be filed in Thai or English in three sets for: (1) the International Bureau (IB), (2) an International Search Authority (ISA) and (3) the RO.

If the application is made in Thai, an English translation must be filed either within one month of the date on which the RO receives the application, one month from the date on which the RO gives a notice of the international application number and the international filing date to the applicant, or two months from the date on which the RO receives the international application, whichever is later. This is subject to the payment of a late filing fee.

If the English translations are not filed and the late filing fee is not paid within the deadlines mentioned above, the international application will be deemed withdrawn and the RO will publish the application as withdrawn.

International phase and priority claim

After the RO has issued an international application number for the international application, the RO will notify the applicant of the international filing date and the international application number, and will send a set of the application documents to each of the IB and the ISA within 13 months of the priority date, upon payment of the ISA search fee by the applicant.

“If the English translations are not filed and the late filing fee is not paid within the deadlines, the international application will be deemed withdrawn."

The applicant may claim the priority of the first application for the same invention if the first application was filed within 12 months before the filing of the international application.

A certified copy of the first application must be filed with the RO within 16 months of the priority date. If a priority claim cannot be filed within 12 months from the priority date, the applicant can still claim the priority within two months from the above-mentioned 12-month period, but the reasons for failing to claim the priority within 12 months must be given.

Searches

The applicant must specify in the international application a name of an ISA selected by the applicant to do the international search for the invention.

The RO has recognised the US, European, Japanese, Australian, Korean and Chinese patent offices as ISAs. If the applicant wants an International Preliminary Examination Authority (IPEA) to do an international preliminary search for the invention, the applicant must also name an IPEA in the international application.

National phase

An applicant who has filed an international application in a PCT member state other than Thailand on or after December 24, 2009 can file a national phase application in Thailand within 30 months from the priority date.

The national phase application must be made in the form prescribed by the RO and accompanied by Thai translations of the international application and other required documents. If the national phase application is not filed within the above-mentioned 30-month period, the international application will not be protected in Thailand.

The RO will proceed with the international application filed with it only after the end of the 30-month period. The RO, however, can proceed with the international application if the applicant requests the RO to do so prior to the end of the 30-month period.

Late filing

If the applicant fails to file the national phase application within the 30-month period for a cause acceptable to the RO, the applicant can file a restoration request (RR) with the RO within two months from the end of the cause or 12 months from the end of the 30-month period, whichever comes first.

The reasons and evidence of the cause of the failure must be filed. The RO will allow the RR if it finds that the applicant exercised due care but failed to file the national phase application within the 30-month period.