Procedures and conditions for trademark registration

     A registrable trademark must be distinctive, not prohibited by law, and not similar or identical to a trademark already registered by another person, with specific characteristics that make it unique. The details are provided below.

1. Memorandum of agreement: If the application or documentary evidence is incorrect or incomplete, the official shall immediately inform the applicant to correct the application or submit the additional document. If the applicant cannot do so at that time, the official shall record the defect of the document or indicate the required additional documentary evidence, as well as indicate that the applicant must correct the document or submit the additional document within 90 days of the application submission date. The receiving official and the applicant shall affix their signatures to the record, by which the applicant shall keep the record's copy as evidence.

     If the applicant fails to submit all additional documents within the specified period, it shall be deemed that the applicant has dismissed the application. The official shall return the application to the applicant and inform the reason for the return and his right to appeal.

2. Request for refund of fees: Any fee paid to the Department of Intellectual Property shall not be refunded in any case, except as follows:

(1) The law stipulates that the fee must be refunded, or

(2) The applicant double-paid or overpaid the fee, by which the faulty payment resulted from the mistake of the state official, not the payer. In this regard, the Department of Intellectual Property shall consider the refund case by case.

3. e-Filing: If the applicant submits the application via the Internet, the applicant shall comply with the Department of Intellectual Property announcement regarding criteria, methods, and conditions for submission of trademark registration applications and other applications.

4. Appointment of an agent or granting of power of attorney or authentication in a normal case: A photograph of the appointment letter or power of attorney and the agent's or attorney's ID card must be submitted together. There are two sub-cases, as follows:  

4.1) If the authorization is done outside the Kingdom of Thailand:

- For certification of signature only, the authorized officer in the Thai embassy or consulate in the country where the authorization or attorney is appointed shall certify the signature;

- For certification of signature and appointment of authorization or power of attorney, the head of the office under the Ministry of Commerce who is stationed in the country where the agent or attorney is appointed, or a person designated by the local law to be a witness to the document, shall certify the signature.

4.2)   If the authorization is done in the Kingdom of Thailand and the principal or power grantor does not reside in the country, the applicant shall submit a copy of the passport or temporary residence certificate of the principal or power grantor, or any evidence indicating that at the time the authorization was made, the principal or power grantor was in Thailand.

5. Appointment of an authorized agent or authority is only allowed in specific cases: In case the trademark owner or the authorized agent/ attorney does not submit the application themselves, as they authorized another person to submit the application, the application submitter shall present a sub-power of attorney or temporary power of attorney so that they are eligible to submit the application and sign in the defective application record on behalf of the trademark owner or agent/ attorney. In this regard, the application submitter must attach a copy of the agent/ attorney's ID card issued by a governmental agency with the paid stamp duty. If the application and the documentary evidence are not correct or incomplete, and the application submitter is not authorized to sign on the said record, the official shall not receive the application.

6.    Supporting documents for application

6.1) If the applicant is required to submit any additional documentary evidence according to the defective application record, the applicant must submit all additional documentary evidence simultaneously;

6.2) In case the applicant submits a copy of the documentary evidence, the applicant must sign the copy of the documentary evidence, to certify it;

6.3) In case that the applicant submits the document in a foreign language, the applicant must submit the document with a Thai translation and the correct translation certification of the translator;

6.4) If the applicant is required to submit the original copy of the document and he submits many applications under the same subject, the applicant will need to submit only one original copy for an application and submit copies for other applications. In this regard, the applicant shall indicate in the copies which application the original copy is attached to.

Information as of 4 April 2023
Source: Digital Government Development Agency
Tel. : +66  2612 6060