Tougher penalties in store for purveyors of fake products

“Fake goods such as seasoning sauces, shampoos, soaps, lotions, fragrances, coffee and alcoholic beverages are easily available at market fairs and bazaars. Not only do they cause huge losses for businesses, but the also harm buyers’ health,” Pajchima Tanasanti, director-general of the department, said yesterday.
The penalty – a maximum fine of Bt400,000 and/or four years in jail – is expected to be implemented early next year, since the Cabinet has already approved the draft law.
The current Trademark Act does not include an explicit penalty, so traders in bogus goods are not afraid of the law.
The department has asked for police cooperation to inspect and suppress pirated goods at fairs and shops nationwide, Pajchima said.
It has found that fake goods producers normally use old, original bottles of branded goods and then put their fake products in the containers. Consumers should destroy containers properly to prevent unscrupulous traders from reusing them, she said.
Deputy Commerce Minister Poom Sarapol will next Monday meet with landlords such as the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, the Crown Property Bureau and the Treasury Department as well as modern traders to call for their cooperation in not allowing traders in fake goods to rent space from them.
The National Police, the Department of Special Investigation and the Customs Department reported that 6,342 cases involving intellectual-property infringements were dealt with and 4.07 million illegal products were seized during the first eight months of this year.
Thailand will next year become a Madrid Protocol member for registering trademarks worldwide, the third country from Asean to do so after Singapore and Vietnam.