Commerce OK with using Article 44 to speed up patent approvals

 Commerce Minister Apiradi Tantraporn said more than 36,000 patent applications were being held up by the Intellectual Property Department’s scrutiny process. Article 44 could be used to allow patent approvals to be based partly on the scrutiny already done by foreign jurisdictions.
She said that if the patent applications waiting for consideration were approved quickly, Thailand’s economy and businesses would benefit and respond the government’s “Thailand 4.0” policy focusing on innovation and technological development.
Initially, the Intellectual Property Department would take advantage of the work done in other countries such as Australia, Singapore and Malaysia to expedite approval of patent applicants that have been waiting for a long time. 
Thai inventors will benefit from faster registration of their patents, Apiradi said.
However, any streamlining under Article 44 would be short-term. For the longer term, the department is in the process of amending the Patent Act BE 2522 (1979) to allow faster and more efficient patent inspection. A public hearing on the planned amendment is expected midyear.
Apiradi said the work of the Intellectual Property Department had always been constrained by the lack of patent inspectors with knowledge and expertise in specific technology fields. At present, the department has only 24 patent inspectors in those fields, while the number of patent applications has been increasing. 
Some non-governmental organisations have objected to the use of Article 44 to rush approval of drug patents, fearing this could raise the price of some medicines. But the ministry insisted the move would not affect existing drugs.
If a drug-patent application gains approval, the new drug cannot be marketed instantly, as the manufacturer is required to register with the Food and Drug Administration first, Apiradi said.