Design

In today’s highly competitive marketplace your design is critical in differentiating your products from competitor’s and there is always someone willing to capitalize on someone else’s investment in a successful design. At Satyapon & Partners we recognize the significance of your design’s originality and contribution to your business’ success and are passionate about fiercely protecting our client’s often significant investment in designing products with universal appeal to the public. Integrating design patent protection into your IP portfolio management strategy is critical. From design patent prosecution to enforcement, whether against blatant counterfeiters or less obvious copycats trying to free-ride on the goodwill of your design we can help you defend your rights in Thailand and the surrounding region particularly in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam.

Our firm is a powerhouse in luxury fashion goods, being entrusted by many of the most recognizable names in fashion on the planet to enforce their design rights in the Kingdom. In addition, we have major clients in every conceivable consumer goods category including notable clients in toy manufacturing, jewelry, watches, cosmetics, medical devices, heavy machinery, automotive parts and accessories, and house fixtures and materials. In addition to the goods themselves we are heavily involved in packaging protection which can be key for products with a limited range in the product design itself.

Whether you are taking a local product international or bringing a foreign product into the region through Thailand we can help incorporate design patents into your overall IP protection strategy.

The Design Patent Process in Thailand

Design Patents are governed by the Patent Act B.E. 2522 (1979) as amended by Patent Act (No. 2) B.E. 2535 (1992) and Patent Act (No. 3) B.E. 2542 (1999).

Multiple design applications are not presently available. Each design is considered distinct if they have different appearances even though they appear on the same or related articles. We would have to file a separate application for each design.

We are required to submit a notarized power of attorney at the time of filing, or within 90 days of the filing date.

To claim priority, an application must be filed in Thailand within 6 months from the first foreign filing date (priority date).

Unlike invention patents we do not need to request examination for a design. The Examiner will conduct substantive examination.

Annuities start after grant or after the fourth anniversary of the filing date, whichever is later. Annuity may be paid on a yearly basis or as a lump sum. The total maximum term of protection for a design patent is 10 years from the filing date.