Guideline for Improving Thai Geographical Indication for Entering ASEAN Economic Community

Abstract

Under the framework of the ASEAN Community Cooperation (ASEAN), Thailand and members of the ASEAN community have focused on the protection of geographical indication in which the Department of Intellectual Property, Ministry of Commerce of Thailand has joined other ASEAN member countries to establish the ASEAN Working Group on Intellectual Property (AWGIPC), which has conducted activities on geographical indication in promoting the status of Thailand as a leader in geographical indication protection in Southeast Asia.  This is also in line with the action plan “ASEAN Intellectual Property Portfolios”, however, it should be noted that ten ASEAN countries have different ways to approach geographical indication protection as indicated in their organic law.  For example, products those are protected under the Geographical Indication are also different and the protection system requires either registration or protected automatically. These conditions can obstruct the protection of GI products and services of Thailand and other ASEAN member countries.  In this study, we recognized the limitation of the enforcement of geographical indication law in Thailand in the context of multiculturalism in ASEAN Community.  This research aims to study the problems and obstacles of Thai Geographical Indication Protection Act 2003 in the ASEAN context, along with a comparative study of the geographical indication of ASEAN member states to present guidelines for improving the geographical indication law of Thailand.