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Published on September 12, 2007

Chamber secretary-general Federico Bogna said yesterday that although Thailand was among many Asian countries improving their suppression of IPR violations, the government must still strive to increase public awareness of the fact that many products are counterfeit copies.

This, he said, would ensure that the country's economic growth was not affected by a high rate of IPR violation.

"Thailand can no longer rely on low-labour-cost manufacturing, as in the past. It is stepping into value-added and high-technology industries that have greater concerns about intellectual property rights. The government must promote a greater awareness of IPR issues before a high rate of violations destroys the growth of these industries," he added.

The chamber wants the government to increase IPR awareness in all sectors, particularly regarding the violation of pharmaceutical IPR, as fake drugs may harm consumers' safety.

Other IPR violations in Thailand involve CDs and DVDs, brand-name products, computer software and automobile spare parts.

According to a Food and Drug Administration report, 33 sellers of fake drugs were arrested and 340,900 items seized in the first half of the year. Last year there were 285 cases and 74,500 items were seized.

Public prosecutors also reported 2,614 legal cases for copyright infringement, 2,087 trademark cases, and two cases of patent infringement in Thailand in the first eight months of the year.

Bogna said the Kingdom's efforts to suppress IPR infringement over the past few years should have prevented the US government from downgrading the country to its priority watch list for IPR violations.

However, at a public level, many people still do not consider the importance of IPR.

To increase awareness, the chamber suggests the government should begin by educating children about IPR issues at school level. It should also gradually provide knowledge on IPR through all kinds of media to people of all ages.

It believes the government should also improve its communication with the private sector and with government officials from other countries.

 Petchanet Pratruangkrai

 The Nation