Thailand will extend trademark protection to the sound and smell of a product soon as the Intellectual Property Department will submit the draft amended law to ensure the benefits of these specific innovations to productmakers.
Deputy Commerce Minister Alongkorn Ponlaboot said that wider protection of trademark in sound and smell will help promote investment growth in the country.
Under the draft amended law, Thailand will allow enterprises to register the sound or smell of products that have been created by human beings, and have a unique quality.
For instance, it will allow registration of sounds in a TV show or a tennis ball that has the unique smell of grass.
Alongkorn said the amended law will make the Trademark Act highly acceptable in the international arena as many countries offer protection for sound and smell under the Intellectual Property Rights Act.
In addition, the Intellectual Property Department has shortened the time for registering a basic patent from one year to six months. It will also cut the period of advertising each trademark, patent, and copyright to the public from 90 days to 60 days.
Previously, innovators who wanted to register a new innovation had to advertise for 90 days before getting the approval to ensure the right will not be duplicated by others.
Moreover, the ministry has set up a special team to investigate complaints about copycat food brand names selling in the country. The move came after owners of some trademarks filed complaints with the ministry that their product brands had been copied and were being sold widely.
"Imitation goods are dangerous to health as they are not approved by the Food and Drug Administration of Thailand. The government will be stringent in cracking down on those violators," he said.
Some imitation food products are fish sauce, monosodium glutamate, seasoning, noodles, cosmetics, and supplementary foods.
The ministry reported that some 48 violators involved in IP infringements had been arrested and some 67,000 pieces of illegal products worth Bt30.8 million were seized last week. This is part of the government's serious crackdown on IP violations in the redzone areas.