Update on PCT applications in Thailand

Thailand acceded to the Patent Cooperation Treaty on September 24, 2009, as the 142nd contracting party, effective from December 24, 2009.

As of October 2010, the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) and the Department of Intellectual Property (DIP) have issued regulations to implement registrations of inventions under the PCT as follows:

• The notification of the DIP re: registration of patent agents, dated September 2, 2009
   
• The notification of the DIP re: rules and procedures for required knowledge on examination and obtaining patent agent licences, dated September 11, 2009
   
• The notification of the DIP re: training and practices on patents registration and protection of inventions under the PCT, dated September 11, 2009, and
   
• The ministerial regulation of the MOC re: filing patent applications for inventions under the PCT, dated October 30, 2009.

On December 24, 2009, the DIP also announced four notifications on filing patent applications for inventions under PCT. These notifications prescribe the procedures and the required documents for filing PCT applications in detail. They include the forms of powers of attorney and of international applications and withdrawal applications, as well as details of the filing fees, the international search fees and the international search authorities.

“As of October 7, 2010, 42 invention applications have been filed with the Thailand Patent Office as the receiving office under the PCT system. The applicants are mainly Thai juristic persons and Thai individuals. The inventions under the applications are mostly in the fields of industrial machinery, electronics, chemistry and physics.”