Thailand needs to do more to protect its property rights and prevent other countries patenting traditional Thai products and cultural assets, according to officials.

The Kingdom is currently contesting a Japanese patent for the traditional Thai massage and exercise known as ruesi dad ton (hermit body twists). And yesterday it was revealed that a patent on mangosteen extract was recently given to an American firm.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office granted a patent on April 27 to Nature's Sunshine Products Inc for a beverage made from extract of mangosteen pulp and pericarp (fleshly peel), said Witoon Lianchamroon, the director of Biothai, a non-profit group that looks at Thai intellectual property and biodiversity.

Biothai found out about the latest "violation" of Thai property rights just last week, he said.

The mangosteen originated in Thailand and the country grows the largest volume of the fruit, so it is illogical for anyone else to claim property rights, Witoon said.

Mangosteen juice extracted from pulp has been available in Thailand for a long time.

With the mangosteen patent approved in the US, Thailand may no longer be able to legally export mangosteen in the form of extracted juice, as the patent applies to this.

The US patent covers 17 points of property rights for the beverage extracted from mangosteen pulp and peel, including a mangosteen drink mixed with the juice of

other fruits such as red grapes and apples.

Witoon said Thailand should submit an objection to the US via the Department of Intellectual Property.

And it was crucial to check if mangosteen extract had been patented elsewhere, particularly in European countries, because they were a huge market for Thai mangosteen products, he said.

Dr Pennapa Sabcharoen, deputy director-general of the Department of Traditional and Alternative Medicine Development, said she had learned there were mangosteen products waiting for patents in many countries.

Thai traditional cuisine, massage and spa, plus herbal drugs are at high risk of being patented by other countries.

The government needed to take this issue very seriously and establish a body to deal with the problem directly and actively, she said.

According to Biothai, about 70 per cent of violations to Thai intellectual property occur in Japan, which recently signed a free-trade agreement with Thailand.

Most other violations were committed in the US, which also wants to sign an FTA with Thailand, Witoon said.

"We need to protect these properties, otherwise Thailand will simply become a country that grows raw materials [for those stealing our property]," he said.

The Department of Intellectual Property, meanwhile, said it was gathering evidence to submit to the Japan Patent Office in regard to the Ruesi Dad Ton patent granted to a Japanese businessman.

"We hope that consideration of our objection to the Ruesi Dad Ton patent will not take long. It's obvious that no such patent is in line with the international law of intellectual property," said Boonlaksana Ruamraksa, the department's deputy director-general.

To prevent further violations, Thailand needed a database of intellectual property, which could be used as a reference by other countries, she said.

Arthit Khwankhom

The Nation