From 20 July 2021, the Department of Intellectual Property of Thailand (DIP) is closed to the public due to the surge of COVID-19 cases. This follows the government's recent emergency decree in response to recent outbreaks of COVID-19 cases around Thailand. The DIP will remain closed to the public until further notice.
At the time of writing (20 July), all deadlines for trade mark matters will still apply and will not be postponed. For office actions in relation to patents, designs and petty patents, deadlines falling between 12 July 2021 and 31 August 2021 will be treated as falling on 31 August 2021. Responses to these office actions can be filed until 30 September 2021 without missing the 31 August deadline.
Online filing and responses to trade marks, patents, designs and petty patents can still be done through the DIP's E-filing system via their website www.ipthailand.go.th. Due to the very short notice of closure, the DIP has maintained a skeleton staff operating at reduced capacity that will accept physical files from the public for urgent deadlines. It is not clear how long the skeleton staff will remain to accept physical files.
The DIP allows extension of deadlines under very limited circumstance and subject to submission of proof of impact from COVID-19 resulting in the inability to respond. The extension is entirely at the examiner's discretion and we recommend requesting such extensions only in extreme situations where such documentation is available to show physical restrictions throughout the period leading up to the deadline e.g. official government lockdown/stay at home order. If you require such assistance, please let us know.
Rouse is remains capable of filing all IP applications and responses to all office actions through the E-filing system. If you have any concerns or require any assistance during these extraordinary times, please do not hesitate to contact us at tmg_thailand@rouse.com for trade mark matters or patent_thailand@rouse.com for patents or design matters.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
