Kritsana Mingtongkhum and Shantanu Ajit Tambe of Satyapon & Partners review crucial Thai case law which indicates a long-awaited departure from a conservative approach to trademark non-use cancellation
Trademark cancellation petitions in Thailand based on the ground of non-use are quite common; however, actually succeeding in cancelling the registered trademark due to its non-use is a massive challenge faced by petitioners. There is a plethora of reasons for an extremely low percentage of successful non-use cancellation decisions, including proving that the petitioner is an interested person, stringent evidentiary hurdles for the petitioner, as well as the conservative nature of the Trademark Board in cancelling registered marks.
The legal provision for non-use cancellation is provided under Section 63 of the Thai Trademark Act, stating: “Any interested person or the Registrar may petition the Board to cancel a trademark registration if it is proved that, at the time of registration, the owner of the trademark had no bona fide intention to use the trademark with the goods for which it was registered and there was no bona fide use whatsoever of the trademark for such goods or that during the three years prior to the petition for cancellation there was no bona fide use of the trademark for the goods for which it was registered unless the owner can prove that such non-use was due to special circumstances in the trade and not to an intention not to use or to abandon the trademark for the goods for which it was registered.” Read more