USTR puts Thailand on Watch List for IP protection, but praises govt efforts
The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) recently published its annual report on the adequacy and effectiveness of US trading partners’ protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights.
“USTR put Thailand among 23 countries on its Watch List, or countries that merit bilateral attention to address underlying IP problems,” said Wuttikrai Leeveeraphan, director-general of the Department of Intellectual Property.
“Other countries on the Watch List include Vietnam, Brazil and Mexico.”
Nine countries -- Argentina, Chile, China, India, Indonesia, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Ukraine, and Venezuela -- are on the Priority Watch List, or countries that present most significant concerns regarding insufficient IP protection or enforcement, or actions that otherwise limited market access for persons relying on intellectual property protection.
“USTR admired the Thai government and the Ministry of Commerce for continued effort in protection of intellectual property and transparent communication between the government and the private sector overseas,” he added.
“However, it raised concerns that Thailand still lacked proper protection of intellectual property in certain channels, such as via the internet.”
Wuttikrai added that Thailand was planning to enter the Hague Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Industrial Designs and the World Intellectual Property Organisation Copyright Treaty to improve the country’s intellectual property system to an international level.
“We will work together with related authorities in the US to draw up an efficient work plan regarding intellectual property in order to remove us from the USTR Watch List in the future,” he added.