The EU Intellectual Property Office rejected a patent application for the plastic clog brand in 2016. EU rules state that a patent cannot be provided if the design has been made public for more than a year before the application has been submitted.

Crocs first made its public appearance in 2002 at a Florida boat show; it then applied for legal protection in 2004. A French retailer argued against the global brand from obtaining a patent as anyone “could have accessed the design”.

A spokesperson from the law firm Gowling WLG, says the case should be a reminder to designers to apply for legal protection early in terms of their products. The brand has both its critics and advocates. It was named in 2010 as one the world’s worst inventions, yet is sported by the likes of Michelle Obama and Prince George.

Current legal issues are discussed in the Thailand Family Law Center by Thailand family lawyers.   

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Image: Colorful Crocs

The bill is an attempt to deter copyright infringers

Photo by Chris Breeze

TF reports that a Digital Economy Bill has been introduced in parliament in which the prison sentence for piracy has been raised four fold from the previous two years to a staggering ten years.

This bill has been introduced to deter UK citizens from breaking copyright infringement laws bringing them to line with other offenses such as counterfeiting.

Chaninat & Leeds attorneys in Thailand specialize in Thai intellectual property law including copyright law in Thailand

According to TF, the government had even launched public consultation, during which majority of the public urged the authorities not to raise the prison sentence. However, the lawmakers decided otherwise.

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Commercial social media users will need to start being careful, with new copyright law meaning anyone using social media for commercial purposes MUST always give proper credit to the owners of images or video clips shared, reports Thai PBS.

Failing to comply could mean a jail sentence ranging from three months to two years, and receive a fine from Bt 50,000 to Bt 400,000.

Government spokesman Maj-Gen Sansern Kaewkamnerd has explained that the law aims to protect the creators of media works.

Thailand Copyright Attorneys Chaninat and Leeds have decades of experience in Copyright law and disputes over intellectual property

If a commercial entity uses an image or a video and does not cite proper ownership, they may face legal action for copyright violations. This new law will be enforced from August 4th.

Maj-Gen Kaewkamnerd suggests that anyone unsure of whether they are complying should seek permission from the owner of the works.

It is hoped that this change to copyright law will encourage greater digital innovations, with people safe in the knowledge that they will always be credited for their work.

Deputy government spokesman Sansern Kaewkamnerd says, “This new law will incentivize internet innovators and pave the way for new digital products and innovations, which will coincide with the government’s digital economy plans.”

Go to ThaiPBS for the full story.

See here for more on Copyright Law in Thailand.

Internet users who look at copyrighted material online aren’t breaking copyright by doing so, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) declared on Thursday reports Gigaom.

Before you splutter “Well duh” at your screen, note that this judgement finally ends a very long-running and somewhat stupid legal debate over rights relating to online newspaper clippings. This is a useful ruling that will apply across the EU, much to the chagrin of certain publishers.

Business Lawyers in Thailand Chaninat & Leeds are experts in business law and company registration in Thailand  

All this relates to the British Meltwater case. Meltwater is a Norway-founded media monitoring service that sent out daily digests including the headlines and “ledes” – the first bit of the article — of the newspaper stories, together with links to the full online articles. It did not pay for these snippets. The company found itself sued in both the U.S. and the U.K., with the suits covering the same basic activity but diverging significantly in what happened next.

Read more here 

In 2008, TV star Usanee “Nok” Wattana, did a photo shoot with magazine shoot and one of the images has now ended up on the front of the book “Thai Hookers 101″ reports The Malaysian Chronicle.

According to the Malaysian Chronicle, Nok did not, directly or indirectly grant permission for the photos to be used anywhere else, let alone on the cover of “Thai Hookers 101 – What You Must Know about Sex and Prostitutes before Coming to Thailand”.

Chapter headings include “The 4 Types of Thai Women, “Thai Bar Girls 101″ and “Sex with Massage Girls”.

Chaninat & Leeds specialize in defamation law in Thailand 

Nok yesterday filed a criminal complaint with the Royal Thai Police Technology Crime Suppression Division against the American author, identified only as “Seven”.

On filing the complaint, Nok said “I’m not particularly angry about the photo on the cover because this isn’t the first time my photo has been abused for commercial purposes. What makes me furious is the text on the cover and the content, which greatly insult Thai women.”

There has been no response so far from the book’s author.

Read the full report here