Thailand's Department of Intellectual Property says that it is getting increasingly concerned about the prevalence of IP infringements on the internet. The DIP DG announced stricter enforcement to tackle digital IP infringements. Like most South East Asian countries, internet commerce has trailed the developed world mainly due to the slow take up of payment systems. That has now changed and e-commerce is booming.
However Thailand's IP laws aren't yet clear on secondary liability. While rules on copyright exist, so the DIP's concerns can be addressed easily for software, movies, music and the like. Then the urgent enforcement they want can be undertaken. But the same is not so clear for counterfeits /trademark infringements. IP holders at present have to claim infringement on the basis of aiding and abetting under the Penal Code to take action against websites offering counterfeits. The idea is that knowledge can be proven if they have sent notices to the sites and they refuse to cooperate.
This remains a key challenge in most civil law SEA countries - specific legislation is needed to provide for secondary trademark liability.
No comments:
Post a Comment