Symposium on “Balancing IPR Protection: Rightholders and public interests”, 30 November – 1 December 2006, Bangkok

In connection with the 60th anniversary of HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej's accession to the throne and on the occasion of the 9th anniversary of the Thai Central Intellectual Property and International Trade Court (CIPITC), the CIPITC organised a symposium supported by ECAP II, JETRO Bangkok and BSA. This event, held in Bangkok on 30 November to 1 December 2006, titled “Balancing IPR Protection: Right holders and Public Interests”, focused on Thai & international experiences and latest developments on IPR enforcement. 

The forum was opened by Mr. Suwat Watthanahathai, President of Intellectual Property and International Trade Division of the Supreme Court of Thailand, Mr.Jean-Jacques Bouflet, Minister Counsellor, European Commission Delegation to Thailand, Mr.Yoichi KATO, President, JETRO Bangkok and Mr.Tarun Sawney, Business Software Alliance.  

During the opening ceremony, Mr. Jean-Jacques Bouflet said, “The balance between research and creation and the legitimate wish to make innovation and culture freely available to all is […] an important issue. It is also equally important to ensure that IPRs remain supportive to public health objectives, to innovation and technology transfer in order to balance IPRs protection in the respect of both the rights-holders and public interests…”.

IP experts from ASEAN, Europe and Japan shared their views with some 200 participants on how to balance the interest of all parties in different IP fields including plant varieties, genetic resources, business software & business methods patents, performers’ rights and sound recordings.

This was also the first time that Intellectual Property (IP) was associated to the Philosophy of Sufficiency Economy initiated by HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand. The topic was explained by Prof. Jaran Pukditanakul, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Justice of Thailand.

Another feature of the forum was highlighted by the presentation of academic reports on IP by researchers and students.  Topics of these reports were Freedom of Expression and Copyright Law in the UK, Responsibility of Internet Service Providers in Thailand, and Copyright Infringement: Re-Examining the United States Court’s application of the “Filtering Method” as a tool to determine “Substantial Similarity”.

During this event, the  ECAPII/CIPITC  online Thai IP cases database was launched. For more information please click here.