Intellectual Property Lawyers in Thailand
The question that decides most IP disputes is who owns it — and that is settled at setup, not in court
The question that decides most IP disputes is who owns it — and that is settled at setup, not in court
Brand and product disputes are usually lost long before anyone copies anything, at the moment ownership was arranged casually: a mark registered in a founder's personal name, a design commissioned without an assignment, or a formulation shared with a manufacturer under nothing in particular. We advise on getting ownership right at the outset — which entity holds what, and how it moves if the business is restructured or sold — and on protecting it afterwards through registration, contract, and enforcement where copying has already happened.
Service Scope
Who holds the mark matters more than when it was filed
A mark registered in a founder's own name, or in the name of an entity that later becomes a minority shareholder's, creates a problem that only surfaces when the business is raising money or being sold. Deciding deliberately which entity holds the brand — and putting assignments in place for anything created before that decision — is inexpensive at setup and disproportionately expensive to correct once there are other stakeholders.
Patent, petty patent, or keep it confidential
Registration publishes the thing being protected in exchange for a defined period of exclusivity. For some innovations that trade is clearly worth it; for others, particularly processes that are hard to reverse-engineer, protecting it as confidential information may be stronger and lasts as long as it stays confidential. That choice is strategic rather than administrative, and it should be made before disclosure to manufacturers or partners makes it moot.
Enforcement begins with proving ownership
When copying is discovered the instinct is to capture the infringement, which matters. What decides the outcome, though, is the evidence of your own ownership: registrations, records of creation, and assignments from whoever actually made the work. Where those are in order, a warning letter often ends the matter. Where they are not, the same letter invites a fight about title rather than about copying.
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Frequently asked questions about Intellectual Property Law
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Further reading
Before asking how to file a patent, you must first answer whether you should file at all — the differences between patents, petty patents, and trade secrets, the trap of disclosure before filing, who owns an employee's invention, and what to do when you are copied.
7 min readIntellectual Property GuideShould your Thai operating company or an offshore holding entity own the mark? What first-to-file means when your brand launched abroad, licensing the mark down to your Thai company, employee and contractor IP, and what a diligence lawyer will look for later.
9 min readIndustry and Administrative LawHow compulsory standards differ from general standards, how liability is allocated among manufacturers, importers, and distributors, why putting your own brand on contract-manufactured goods shifts liability to you, and what should be written in the supplier agreement.
7 min readBusiness LawThe notifier is the legal responsible party and holds the receipt when you want to change business partners. A decision guide for cosmetic brand owners covering OEM contracts, labels, exaggerated advertising, and liability when users have allergic reactions.
7 min read