The destruction ceremony was organized by the Department of Intellectual Property together with other agencies including Internal Security Operations Command, Royal Thai Army, Royal Thai Police, Customs Department, Department of Special Investigation (DSI).
The Ceremony was presided over by General Prawit Wongsuwan, the Deputy Prime Minister, and Chairman of IPR Violation Suppression Sub-Committee. The event was well-attended by government officers as well as representatives from diplomatic corps, intergovernmental agencies, and media.
During his opening speech, the Deputy Prime Minister stressed that “The Thai government steps up its effort in strengthening the national intellectual property system through effective rights enforcement and public awareness campaign.”
The destroyed counterfeits were those seized by Customs, DSI and Economic Crime Police as IPR violations in cases in which the decisions are now final. The seized goods destroyed at the event include a wide variety of copyright and trademark infringing goods such as bags, clothing, watches, mobile phones and their accessories, electronic appliances, and CDs.
A total of 3,639,679 items of infringing goods were destroyed. 2,915,525 items were seized by Customs, 447,511 were seized by DSI and 276,643 items were seized by Police. Destruction of the goods help ensure that they are removed from all channels of commerce.
We hope that the Thai government and other enforcement units continue to step up their efforts to protect intellectual property rights in Thailand. If you would like to learn more about how we can assist you with your intellectual property enforcement needs in Thailand, please feel to contact us at satyapon@satyapon.com.