‘No kratom patent protection here’
The Intellectual Property Department has not allowed any researchers to register patents on kratom, a well-known Southeast Asian medicinal plant, in Thailand, the Commerce Ministry has confirmed.
Meanwhile, the government has called for the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) to provide information on how Thailand could benefit legally from commercialisation of its plants.
The department was responding to a rumour that Japanese researchers had asked for patent protection in Thailand on kratom-based painkillers. The agency insisted there was no such case.
