ประเภท ”ทรัพย์สินทางปัญญา” คนทำธุรกิจไม่รู้ มีหนาวTypes of “Intellectual Property”: Business People Should Be Aware

Nowadays, the terms that we are familiar with and frequently mention include “copyright,” “patents,” “trademarks,” “trade secrets,” “trade names,” or are often collectively referred to as “copyright.” However, did you know that all of these are part of the category of “intellectual property,” which refers to works arising from the invention, creativity, and original invention stemming from our intellect, including even concepts?

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Currently, the issue of intellectual property infringement continues to be an ongoing problem, both in the form of copyright infringement and counterfeit products or copy products. Especially when a product becomes successful and well-known, intellectual property infringement is undoubtedly bound to occur, which causes damage to businesses and affects the economic value of the country.

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Do readers believe that each month and year, there are numerous cases of intellectual property infringement? The Department of Intellectual Property has revealed significant statistics on the crackdown on intellectual property infringement in Thailand, with a comparison of data between the years 2022 and 2023, from January to September, from the Royal Thai Police, the Department of Special Investigation, and the Customs Department, in both case and evidence forms, as shown in the table below.

To protect innovations and mitigate the impact on businesses from infringing or being infringed upon by others’ intellectual property, business operators, entrepreneurs, or even startups must first understand how many types of intellectual property exist and what they protect. Here's a summary:

1. Copyright (Copyright) refers to the exclusive right to perform any actions regarding works created by the creator using their intellect, knowledge, skills, and effort, without plagiarizing others' works. The works created must fall under the category protected by copyright law, and the creator is afforded protection immediately upon creation without the need for registration.

Works protected by copyright law comprise 9 categories as stipulated by the law, including:

Literary works such as books, pamphlets, publications, speeches, software, etc.; Dramatic works such as dance routines, movements, etc.; Artistic works such as paintings, sculptures, prints, photographs, applied art, etc.; Musical works such as melodies and lyrics, etc.; Audio recordings such as CDs; Audiovisual materials such as VCDs, DVDs containing images or both images and sounds; Cinematic works; Broadcasting works of any kind in the fields of literature, science, or arts.

Generally, the duration of copyright protection (Copyright Act B.E. 2537) takes effect immediately upon the creation of the work. In principle, it adheres to Section 19, which stipulates a 50-year protection period after the creator's death.

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2. Industrial Property as per the Department of Intellectual Property, refers to human creativity related to various industrial products. This creativity may involve inventions, which can be processes or techniques for production that have been improved or newly invented, or the design of industrial products as representative features and shapes of the products. Additionally, it includes trademarks, trade secrets, plant variety protection, layout designs of integrated circuits, and geographical indications, among others. Industrial property is divided into 6 types that need to be known as follows:

1. Patent provides two types of protection: protection for creative inventions concerning inventions (Invention) and protection for industrial design (Industrial Design). Patents are further subdivided into 3 categories:

• Invention Patent (Section 35) has a protection period of up to 20 years from the date of filing the patent application and is protected only in the country where the application is filed. The criteria for obtaining an invention patent must involve a novel invention, demonstrate a higher level of inventive step, and be industrially applicable.

• Petty Patent (Section 65) has a protection period of 6 years from the filing date and is protected only in the country where the application is made. The right holder can renew this for 2 additional terms of 2 years each but not exceeding a total of 10 years. The criteria for obtaining a petty patent are less stringent than those for an invention patent but must still involve a novel invention and be industrially applicable.

• Design Patent (Section 62) has a protection period of 10 years from the filing date and is protected only in the country where the application is made. This protects only the appearance, design, or colors of the industrial design and does not cover usage or utilitarian benefits. The criteria for obtaining a design patent must also involve a novel invention and must be applicable in industry or craftsmanship.

2. Layout-Design of Integrated Circuits provides protection for the layout design of integrated circuits for a period of 10 years from the date of filing the application or from the date of the first commercial utilization, whether in Thailand or abroad, using the earlier date. The protection shall not exceed 15 years from the date of completion of the creation of the layout design (Section 19).

3. Trademark is a sign, symbol, or mark used with goods or services, commonly referred to as a logo, brand, or trademark. Types of trademarks include Trademark, Service Mark, Certification Mark, and Collective Mark. The consequences of registration and the duration of protection (1) The trademark owner has the exclusive right to use their trademark on the registered goods. The date of application for trademark registration is considered the date of registration of that trademark (Sections 42 and 44). (2) The duration of trademark protection is 10 years from the date of registration (Section 53). (3) It can be renewed within 3 months before the expiration date or within 6 months after the expiration date, with an additional fee (Section 54). If the trademark owner fails to apply for renewal within the stipulated time, the trademark shall be deemed revoked (Section 56).

4. Trade Secret is business information intended to be kept confidential from commercial disclosure. Once disclosed, the protection period ceases. The owner of the trade secret can transfer their rights in the trade secret to another party; such transfer, unless otherwise stipulated, must be in written form signed by both the transferor and transferee. If a term is not defined in the transfer agreement, it is deemed to have a duration of 10 years (Section 5).

5. Tradename is the name established for business activities, serving as the full name of the business organization, such as Company A Ltd. This tradename is what differentiates the unique identity of each organization.

6. Geographical Indication indicates from which geographical source a product originates, representing goods known for quality, reputation, or specific characteristics of the locale, such as Ayutthaya cotton candy roti, Songkhla mango, or Lampang rooster brand bowls, etc. Applications for geographical indications must include details about the quality, reputation, or other characteristics of the product, and the geographical source (Section 10). In cases involving foreign geographical indications, evidence of legal protection in the country of origin and proof of use until the application date in Thailand must be presented (Section 6).

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Nevertheless, the works that have been invented, created, and developed must be protected under the law. If business operators, entrepreneurs, and startups wish to know more about registering intellectual property or what to do when their goods are subject to intellectual property infringement, they can contact the Intellectual Property Department hotline at 1368, or report instances of intellectual property infringement to the Intellectual Property Infringement Suppression Center, Royal Thai Police (SOPP), at 0-2205-3184, 0-2191-9191 ext. 4444, 4999.

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Thanks to the sources:

– Department of Intellectual Property, Ministry of Commerce

– IDG (Intellectual Design Group Co., Ltd.)