Thail brand owners urged to protect their rights in Asean

       As Thai brands grow in popularity in neighbouring countries, their producers should move to protect their intellectual property and register trademarks abroad,suggests the Department of Export Promotion (DEP).
       Piramol Charoenpao, deputy directorgeneral, said Thai products were gaining popularity and were positioned as premium brands in Burma, Laos and Cambodia, but the brand owners are unaware of their intellectual property rights in these markets.
       "In Burma alone, there are 65 Thai brands and none of them have their trademarks registered there. We're worried that these products will get copied soon or may have been copied already. We want the brand owners to do something before it's too late," she said.
       The department will assist Thai product owners to register their trademarks in Burma as a pilot project. It will work closely with the Intellectual Property Department and the Consular Affairs Department to provide them advice.
       Ms Piramol said Thai producers should consider investing in Burma or Laos as they can gain benefits from lower labour and material costs and receive investment privileges as well.
       "Burma is not awful like we thought.Forget about the junta and political problems as business has to continue. If you have a production plant there, you can serve the Burmese market and ship some products back to Thailand," she said.
       She said some big companies had gone abroad to set up production years ago, and a number of mid-sized firms are interested now. Lampang Food, for example, has invested in Burma for almost 10 years to produce canned food that is exported back to Thailand.
       The DEP today will hold an export clinic at Central Plaza Lat Phra to provide consultancy services for exporters wishing to explore business opportunities in the world market. Exporters will get updates about trends and demand in different countries by trade representatives.
       The DEP will also work with the Tourism Authority of Thailand to stage a midnight sale in two of Bangkok's famous trading areas, Pratunam and Worachak.Pratunam is well-known for its wholesale fashion garments while Worachak is the centre of second-hand auto parts.
       "We hope this event will become popular and attract tourists as well. It can create trade as some product sellers in the two areas have never known how to export products, so we will help bring potential customers to them," Ms Piramol said.