Thailand to continue crack down on intellectual property rights violation

BANGKOK, April 15 (TNA) -- Thailand vows to continue its crack down on intellectual property rights infringement after the country has been moved up on the list of US Chamber of Commerce’s Global IP Centre (GIPC). Director General of the Intellectual Property Department Thosapone Dansuputra said the GIPC’s IP Index put Thailand on 40th spot among the 45 economies, indicating the country’s IP protection had improved with a score of 9.35. The move came as Thailand expects its status would be upgraded from the US Priority Watch List (PWL) to the Watch List (WL), due to its efforts to protect intellectual property rights. Mr Thosapone said all government agencies had and would continue to make strong efforts to raise IPR awareness and enforce related laws. The government has developed IPR protection standard, as well as increased awareness and our own innovation under the policy to promote digital economy and support innovation. It introduced new copyright protection regulations last year. The government has also drawn up a plan to suppress IPR violation. To raise awareness among traders, the department had provided a manual on IPR for merchant, he said. (TNA)