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Opinion Exchange with Mr. Suphat, Deputy Director General DIP Thailand

On June 27, 2016, Mr. Suphat Saquandeekl, Deputy Director General of the Department of Intellectual Property (DIP), Ministry of Commerce of Thailand, and Ms. Vaowdao Damrongphol, Head of Legal Group visited the JIPA Tokyo Office. With them, JIPA members had an opinion/information exchange meeting. From JIPA, a total of 12 members including Mr. Hideo Kumagai (TOSHIBA), Vice President, Mr. Tomonori Bekku (Nissan), Managing Director, and members from the Asia PJ, the International Affairs Committee, the Trademark Committee, and the Fair Trade Committee participated in the meeting.

In this meeting, Mr. Suphat and Mr. Kumagai exchanged greetings, and then the Asia PJ and the Fair Trade Committee, who will visit Thailand this year, introduced themselves in advance. In the exchange of opinions on IP in Thailand, Thai members introduced information such as the planned increase in the number of examiners and the status of examination in PPH, which started in 2013. For the training of examiners, they asked for support in technical explanation and visits to factories.

On the other hand, JIPA commented about our cooperation in the invention-related events in Thailand for raising awareness of IP, and introduced transfer of technology (WIPO GREEN). Furthermore, the Trademark Committee asked questions about the revision of laws, and the Fair Trade Committee inquired about laws on trade secret, and the Thai side answered them.

Mr. Suphat answered our questions in fluent Japanese as he had graduated from a Japanese university and lived in Tokyo and Osaka. Furthermore, Ms. Vaowdao had previously investigated topics including legal systems and patent practices, and thus the discussion was smooth and amicable throughout the meeting.

[Update 2016-07-13 ]