The government officials and the private sector in Thailand succeeded in raids and other enforcement measures against IPR infringing activities in physical markets resulting in the USTR Review of Notorious Markets for Counterfeiting and Piracy 2020 (released on 14^th January 2021) no longer listing any physical market in Thailand as notorious.

The internet and social media use, and the online sales of goods in Thailand grew exponentially in the past few years, and so did the online counterfeiting and piracy activities against IPR.  While the government officials have blocked a large number of websites that sold or allowed sales of counterfeits and pirated goods, the volume of online sales of fake and pirated goods remain high.

However, the good news is that Thailand has taken a further step against online IPR infringements. On 11^th January 2021, the Department of Intellectual Property, the Department of Business Development, and the Department of International Trade Promotion of Thailand, some owners of intellectual property rights, and three major e-commerce platforms signed the Memorandum of Understanding on the Protection of Intellectual Property Rights on the Internet (“MOU”).  The parties to the MOU pledge their support and collaboration to stop online sales of counterfeits and pirated goods.  E-commerce platforms will be more accountable for IPR infringement activities committed on their platforms.  Awareness of IPR will be promoted amongst e-commerce platform service providers and their users.

For a detailed report by AsiaIP about the MOU with comments from Kowit Somwaiya, please check: https://asiaiplaw.com/section/news-analysis/thailand-pledges-to-rid-ip-infringement-online-with-new-memorandum-of-understanding.

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