Thailand is a first-to-file country. The first person to register your trademark owns it here even if the brand is yours and has been for twenty years. We make sure that person is you.
Trademark registration, patent filing, copyright protection and IP enforcement handled in English, Mandarin and Thai.
Thailand does not care who used a brand first. It cares who filed first.
Under the Thai Trademark Act, rights are granted to the first applicant to register a mark — not to the business that has been trading under it for a decade somewhere else. Foreign companies discover this at the worst possible moment: when their products are already on the shelf, the distributor has already been appointed, and a stranger holds the registration for their own name.
A local partner registers your mark "to protect it for you". When the relationship ends, the mark stays with them, and you negotiate to buy back your own name.
Professional filers monitor foreign brands entering Southeast Asia. Cancellation actions are possible, but they cost time and money you had budgeted for growth.
Without Thai registration, border enforcement against counterfeits is far harder. You cannot ask Customs to stop goods that infringe a right you do not formally hold.
Registration, enforcement and commercial IP work — from a single trademark to a full cross-border portfolio.
Availability searches, Thai and Madrid Protocol filings, office-action responses, oppositions, renewals and watch services.
Invention patents, petty patents and design patents — drafting, filing, prosecution and PCT national-phase entry in Thailand.
Copyright ownership, work-for-hire and assignment agreements, DIP recordation, and takedowns against online infringement.
NDAs, employee confidentiality clauses, and protection of formulas, processes and customer data under the Trade Secrets Act.
Cease-and-desist, criminal complaints, customs recordation, and proceedings before the Central Intellectual Property and International Trade Court.
Licence and franchise agreements, IP transfers, and IP audits in M&A and investment transactions.
A Thai trademark registration gives you the exclusive right to use your mark for the goods and services it covers, the standing to stop copies, and an asset you can licence, franchise or sell.
We handle the process end to end:
Before anything is filed, we search the DIP register for identical and confusingly similar marks — including Thai transliterations of foreign brand names, which is where most conflicts are missed.
Word mark, logo, or both. Which Nice classes you actually need — and which ones you will need in two years when the product line expands.
We respond to examiner objections and office actions, and defend against oppositions.
A Thai trademark runs for 10 years from the filing date and is renewable indefinitely.
Ongoing monitoring for copycat filings, plus customs recordation so infringing goods can be stopped at the border.
How long does trademark registration take in Thailand?
A straightforward Thai trademark application typically takes [VERIFY: 12–18 months] from filing to registration, assuming no objection or opposition. Protection runs from the filing date once granted, so the earlier you file, the earlier your priority is fixed.
Thailand is a member of the Madrid Protocol, so a brand with an existing home registration can extend protection into Thailand through a single international application. It is cheaper across multiple countries — but a national Thai filing is often faster and easier to prosecute when objections arise. We tell you which route fits your portfolio instead of defaulting to the one that is easier for us.
Thailand protects three kinds of technical and design innovation. Choosing the wrong one costs years.
| Type | Protects | Term | Typical use |
|---|---|---|---|
| Invention patent | New, inventive, industrially applicable inventions | [VERIFY: 20 years from filing] | Pharmaceuticals, machinery, chemical processes |
| Petty patent (utility model) | Practical improvements with a lower inventive step | [VERIFY: 6 years + two 2-year renewals] | Product improvements, faster grant, lower cost |
| Design patent | The appearance, shape or pattern of a product | [VERIFY: 10 years] | Packaging, consumer goods, product form |
We draft and file the specification and claims, manage examination and office actions, handle PCT national-phase entry into Thailand, and advise on whether a petty patent will get you commercial protection years earlier than an invention patent will.
Do I need a Thai patent if I already hold one abroad?
Patents are territorial. A US, EU or Chinese patent gives you no rights in Thailand. Protection here requires a Thai filing — either directly or through the PCT national phase.
Copyright in Thailand is automatic. The moment an original work is created — software, designs, marketing content, drawings, film, music — it is protected without registration. That sounds reassuring, and it is exactly why foreign companies get caught out.
Automatic protection is not the same as provable ownership. In a dispute, you have to show what you own, when it was created, and that it was assigned to your company rather than sitting with the freelancer or employee who made it.
Do you have to register copyright in Thailand?
No. Copyright protection is automatic on creation and registration is not required. You can voluntarily record a work with the Department of Intellectual Property, which does not create the right but provides useful evidence of ownership and creation date in a dispute.
Registration is a right on paper. Enforcement is what turns it into leverage.
Thailand has a specialist court for this — the Central Intellectual Property and International Trade Court — with judges who handle IP disputes as their day job. Cases can move on civil, criminal and administrative tracks at the same time, and the right combination depends entirely on what you want: money, a stopped shipment, or a competitor who ceases trading on your name.
Our enforcement work covers:
Cease-and-desist letters and settlement negotiation
Criminal complaints and coordination with police raids against counterfeiters
Customs recordation and border seizures
Civil proceedings and damages claims
Online marketplace and platform takedowns
When enforcement crosses into wider commercial conflict, our commercial dispute resolution team runs it with the same file.
Free search and risk check. You tell us the brand, invention or work. We search the register and tell you honestly whether it is clear, contested, or already gone.
Filing strategy and fixed quote. Classes, routes, and cost — in writing, before anything is filed. No hourly surprises on registration work.
Filing and prosecution. We file, we respond to examiners, we keep you posted in your language.
Monitoring and enforcement. We watch for copycat filings and act when someone crosses the line.
Filing before launch, alongside company registration in Thailand.
Full service in Mandarin and Cantonese, including Thai transliteration strategy for Chinese brand names — a step almost every foreign filer skips.
Patent and design protection, often alongside BOI and foreign investment support.
Trademark portfolios, licensing, and enforcement against copycats.
Marketplace takedowns and protection of listings, images and product designs.
Thepphong Law is a Bangkok firm built around foreign businesses operating in Thailand. Our founder, Thepphong Mangkornngam, is a Thai practising lawyer working at professional level in Thai, Mandarin and English, and the firm is listed in The Legal 500 for Thailand.
What that means in practice:
One firm, one file. IP does not sit in a silo. The same team handles your company registration, contracts, employment agreements and disputes — so your IP is protected by the same documents that run your business.
We work daily with Chinese and international clients on brand protection that has to hold up in more than one jurisdiction.
You get told whether a filing is worth it before you spend money on it, not after.
A local distributor had registered our client's mark across three classes. We filed a cancellation action and secured the mark back in the client's name within [X] months.
Yes. Unlike land ownership, intellectual property in Thailand carries no foreign ownership restriction. A foreign individual or a foreign-owned company can hold Thai trademarks, patents and copyright in its own name, and licence or sell those rights like any other asset.
A straightforward application typically takes [VERIFY: 12–18 months] from filing to registration if no objection or opposition is raised. Protection dates back to the filing date once granted, which is why filing early matters more than filing quickly through the wrong route.
No. Copyright arises automatically when an original work is created. Recording the work with the Department of Intellectual Property is voluntary and does not create the right, but it provides dated evidence of ownership that is valuable in a dispute.
You may be able to challenge the registration through opposition or cancellation, particularly if the mark was filed in bad faith or if you can show prior rights. The available route depends on how long ago the mark was registered. Get a lawyer to review the file before you contact the holder.
An invention patent requires a full inventive step and is examined substantively, giving longer protection. A petty patent covers smaller practical improvements, is granted faster and costs less, but protects for a shorter term.
No. IP rights are territorial. A registration in China, the EU or the United States gives you no enforceable right in Thailand. You need a Thai filing — nationally or through the Madrid Protocol or PCT.
Record your registered rights with Thai Customs so that infringing shipments can be detained at the border, and combine that with criminal complaints and civil action against the importer. Enforcement is far more effective once the underlying right is registered.
Yes. Our team works in Thai, English, Mandarin and Cantonese, including advising on Thai transliterations of Chinese brand names — a common source of conflict for Chinese businesses entering Thailand.
A free search takes a few days and costs nothing. Losing your name in this market costs a great deal more.
