IP Enforcement in Thailand After the Thailand-China Pact

The agreement sits inside a broader package of cooperation documents signed during the visit. Customs, trade, agriculture and transnational crime featured alongside intellectual property. That context matters, because it signals where enforcement attention is heading next.

What the Thailand-China pact on IP enforcement actually covers

The instrument links China’s State Administration for Market Regulation with Thailand’s Ministry of Commerce. Thailand’s Department of Intellectual Property acts as the domestic coordinating agency. In broad terms, the two sides committed to five workstreams:

• Regular dialogue between enforcement authorities
• Improved information sharing on infringement patterns
• Practical cooperation on cases arising in domestic markets and on online platforms
• Joint training and capacity building for enforcement officers
• Further activities the two sides may agree later

Why the memorandum does not change Thai law

A memorandum of understanding is a cooperation instrument. It is not a treaty, and it is not a statute. It creates no private rights. Moreover, it grants brand owners no new causes of action, no new remedies and no new filing routes. The text conditions cooperation on each country’s existing domestic law.

Four channels that drive IP enforcement in Thailand

Register first, enforce second

Thailand operates a first-to-file trademark system. Therefore, an unregistered mark leaves you arguing passing off instead of infringement. That route is slower, costlier and much harder to prove. Foreign brands entering the market often discover that a local applicant already holds their name. Our guide to trademark squatting in Thailand explains how this happens and how owners recover.

Customs recordation: the underused lever

Thai Customs operates an online IP rights recordation platform. Trademark and copyright owners now record directly with the Customs Department, following Customs Notification No. 106/2565, which took effect on 29 July 2022. Once a right is recorded, officers may impound suspect consignments and notify the owner. The importer then has a short window to object before the goods are treated as infringing. In border-heavy trade lanes, recordation therefore delivers far more disruption per baht than litigation does.

Criminal complaints and the specialist IP court

Counterfeiting a registered mark carries imprisonment of up to four years, a fine of up to THB 400,000, or both. Section 108 of the Trademark Act B.E. 2534 sets that exposure. Imitation attracts lower penalties under section 109. Importing or distributing infringing goods is separately punishable under section 110. Criminal raids therefore remain the fastest route to clearing stock from a market. Meanwhile, civil claims and interim relief run through the Central Intellectual Property and International Trade Court. Our note on securing a preliminary injunction in Thailand sets out the standard a court applies.

Platform takedowns and website blocking

Online listings usually reappear faster than they are removed. Accordingly, experienced owners pair platform notices with court-ordered blocking under section 20 of the Computer Crime Act. Thai courts have granted blocking orders in trademark matters, not only in copyright cases. Our overview of the content takedown rules in Thailand explains the evidence a court expects.

How the pact changes the calculus for cross-border sellers

Three shifts deserve attention at board level.

• Evidence now travels. A Thai seizure can support an investigation upstream in China, and the reverse also applies. Build case files that satisfy both regimes from the outset.
• Marketplace exposure rises. Platforms serving Thai consumers already carry notification duties under the local digital services framework. Our summary of Thailand’s digital platform rules covers those obligations.
• Dual registration becomes standard. Rights remain strictly territorial. Cooperation between agencies never cures a missing registration, so file in both markets where your supply chain touches both.

There is a sequencing point here too. Enforcement budgets usually go first to the most visible infringer. In practice, however, the most visible seller is rarely the most valuable target. Tracing a parcel back to a repeat consolidator or a single factory yields a far better return. Cross-border information channels make that tracing work more realistic than it was.

A practical checklist for IP enforcement in Thailand

Before the next enforcement cycle, work through the following steps:

1. Audit your Thai trademark portfolio against the products you actually sell today.
2. File defensively for Thai-script transliterations and common misspellings of your brand.
3. Record your marks and copyrights with the Customs Department, then keep the record current.
4. Appoint a single Thai counsel of record so raids, seizures and notices route to one desk.
5. Maintain a test-purchase log with invoices, packaging and courier data for every market.
6. Map your Chinese manufacturing and logistics partners, because upstream leverage beats downstream cleanup.

Frequently asked questions on IP enforcement in Thailand

The commercial takeaway

The Thailand-China memorandum is a signal, not a shortcut. It shows that both governments intend to treat online counterfeiting as a shared enforcement problem. Nevertheless, each outcome will still turn on the groundwork. Did the owner register early, record with customs and preserve usable evidence? Owners who prepare now will benefit first when the cooperation channels begin producing referrals.