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Thailand joins the Madrid System
As part of the Intellectual Property Rights Action Plan 2011 – 2015, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member states agreed to accede to the Madrid Protocol by 2015[1].
This goal is of significant importance to trade mark owners as, taken as a single entity, ASEAN represents the world’s third largest market with a combined population in excess of 638 million people[2].
While reaching the above goal is still a work in progress, as of 7 November 2017, Thailand will join six other ASEAN members (Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Philippines, Singapore and Viet Nam) as a member of the Madrid system for the International Registration of trade marks.
This means that trade mark owners will be able to designate Thailand in their new international application, or owners of existing international registrations can apply to subsequently designate Thailand to add it to the existing registration.
Of the ten ASEAN member states, only Indonesia, Malaysia and Myanmar, which encompass around 53% of the population of ASEAN countries[3], are yet to join the Madrid system.
Elena Szentivanyi - 8 August 2017
