VZCZCXRO6824
OO RUEHCHI RUEHCN RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHBK #2984/01 3280925
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 240925Z NOV 09
FM AMEMBASSY BANGKOK
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 9065
INFO RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC IMMEDIATE
RUEHRC/DEPT OF AGRICULTURE WASHINGTON DC IMMEDIATE
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHINGTON DC IMMEDIATE
RUEAWJL/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHINGTON DC IMMEDIATE
RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS IMMEDIATE
RUEHCHI/AMCONSUL CHIANG MAI IMMEDIATE 7332

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 BANGKOK 002984 
 
STATE FOR EAP/MLS, EEB/IPE FOR JURBAN 
STATE PASS TO USTR FOR BWEISEL, BKLEIN, AND RBAE 
COMMERCE FOR EAP/MAC/OKSA FOR JKELLY 
COMMERCE PASS TO USPTO 
SINGAPORE FOR FINATT BLEIWEIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958:N/A 
TAGS: ECON ETRD KIPR PREL TH
SUBJECT: FOCUSED ON SPECIAL 301: ALONGKORN PROMOTES THAILAND'S 
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AGENDA 
 
REF: A. BANGKOK 2848 (PREPARING FOR LOCKE-ALONGKORN MEETING) 
¶B. BANGKOK 2768 (PRIME MINISTER MEETS APCAC) 
¶C. BANGKOK 1338 (NEW INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY STRATEGY) 
¶D. BANGKOK 1203 (PATPONG RAID) 
¶E. BANGKOK 379 (RIGHT MOVES ON IPR) 
 
BANGKOK 00002984  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: In a meeting on November 9, Deputy Commerce 
Minister Alongkorn Ponlaboot and new Director General of 
Intellectual Property Pajchima Tanasanti emphasized to emboffs, 
visiting USTR official Rachel Bae and State Department IP official 
JoEllen Urban that the Abhisit Administration remains very serious 
about strengthening the protection and promotion of intellectual 
property rights through its "Creative Thailand" strategy -- ever 
hopeful that USTR will seriously consider moving Thailand off of the 
Special 301 Priority Watch List in 2010. Alongkorn trumpeted 
Thailand's September 24 accession to the Patent Cooperation Treaty, 
detailed a set of proposed amendments to the Copyright and Trademark 
Acts, and signaled the government's intent to implement an 
anti-camcording law. Alongkorn lamented the challenges he has had 
with the Ministry of Public Health when discussing IPR but agreed 
that the government needs to establish a better mechanism to improve 
its dialogue with the pharmaceutical industry. END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2. (SBU) COMMENT: The Abhisit government appears to be more 
committed to IPR protection than any previous Thai Government in 
recent history, and is laying the foundations for positive long-run 
changes in Thailand's perception of the importance of IPR. While we 
applaud Alongkorn's initiative and dedication overall, concerns 
remain that the RTG may not be taking sufficient concrete steps to 
respond to complaints by a number of U.S. industry groups. END 
COMMENT. 
 
Rising Up Through the Ranks 
--------------------------- 
 
¶3. (SBU) Deputy Commerce Minister Alongkorn Ponlaboot introduced 
Pajchima Tanasanti, the new Intellectual Property Director General 
in a November 9 meeting with Rachel Bae, Director for Intellectual 
Property and Innovation at the Office of the U.S. Trade 
Representative. In an unusual personnel shift, Pajchima Tanasanti, 
who most recently was the Deputy Director General for Enforcement at 
the Department of Intellectual Property (DIP), was hand-selected by 
Alongkorn to replace Puangrat Asavapisit, who retired on September 
30 after reaching the mandatory retirement age of 60. According to 
several contacts, Alongkorn strongly pushed for Pajchima's candidacy 
as Director General, even though under the Ministry of Commerce 
traditions a Deputy Director General is rarely promoted to become 
the Director General of the same department. (NOTE: Deputy Director 
General Wiboonlasana Ruamraksa, who has been an important contact of 
the Embassy and USTR during her five year tenure at the Department 
of Intellectual Property, was recently transferred to the Department 
of Foreign Trade. Duangporn Rodphaya, formerly a DDG at the 
Department of Foreign Trade, replaced Wiboonlasana at DIP. END 
NOTE.) 
 
¶4. (SBU) Foreign and Thai rights holders have indicated that they 
are pleased with Pajchima's promotion to Director General. Pajchima, 
who has spent the majority of her career at the Department of 
Intellectual Property, began as an examiner more than 20 years ago 
and has since served as the Director of the Copyright Office, the 
Director of the Trademark Office, and most recently, the head of 
DIP's enforcement operations. 
 
Thailand (Finally) Accedes to Patent Cooperation Treaty 
--------------------------------------------- ---------- 
 
¶5. (U) Alongkorn proudly described to Bae, Urban and emboffs his 
September 24 trip to Geneva to deposit Thailand's instrument of 
accession to the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT). The PCT is a 
mechanism for inventors to seek patent protection simultaneously by 
filing a single international patent application that can be used in 
all PCT signatory countries. The PCT also enables patent authorities 
to conduct an international patent search for documents that may 
affect the patentability of a particular invention. Thai and foreign 
patent owners have long sought Thailand's accession to the PCT as it 
saves the patent filers money and time when submitting their 
applications. Thailand's membership in the PCT will also greatly 
improve the ability of a Thai inventor to seek patent protection 
around the world. The Department of Intellectual Property plans to 
 
BANGKOK 00002984  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
open its PCT Receiving Office on December 24. USPTO provided 
assistance to help Thailand join the PCT and is in the process of 
determining the scope of future assistance. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Alongkorn added, "The next step will be to accede to the 
Madrid Protocol." Similar to the PCT, the Madrid Protocol provides a 
mechanism for a trademark owner to seek protection in multiple 
countries by filing one application directly with the national 
trademark office. While Alongkorn noted the importance of Madrid, 
Thailand's potential accession will face domestic pressures from the 
legal community, as it may lead to a significant loss of revenue for 
the law firms who file trademarks for domestic and international 
owners. 
 
Promotion and Protection Go Hand in Hand 
---------------------------------------- 
 
¶7. (SBU) Alongkorn emphasized that the key to success of Thailand's 
"Creative Thailand" campaign (ref C) will be a stronger intellectual 
property regime. Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva launched the 
government's Creative Thailand campaign on August 31 to promote the 
country's creative and innovative industries. Abhisit allocated 
approximately $590 million from a recent stimulus package to support 
these projects over the next three years with the goal of boosting 
the economic contribution of Thailand's creative industries from the 
current 12 percent of GDP to 20 percent by 2012. 
 
¶8. (SBU) Alongkorn remarked that while "promotion" is the focus of 
the Creative Thailand campaign, "protection" is the flipside of the 
coin. He elaborated on the government's six-month plan on the 
prevention and suppression of IPR violations, a plan approved by 
Cabinet in July (ref C). The plan focuses on six areas: law 
enforcement, judicial processes; patent registration process; 
internet piracy; legal amendments; and improved cooperation with the 
private sector. (NOTE: We will report septel about specific 
developments under each of these areas. END NOTE.) 
 
¶9. (SBU) Alongkorn also highlighted that the latest Department of 
Intellectual Property data show an increase in enforcement 
operations in 2009. The Department of Intellectual Property has 
since provided data that demonstrates between January and August the 
government made 5,521 arrests on IPR-related charges, a reported 40 
percent increase over the same period in 2008. More than 4 million 
items were seized in raids over this same period, a reported 16 
percent increase over 2008. Alongkorn presided over the destruction 
of more than 120 tons of these counterfeit and pirated goods in a 
ceremony on September 29. The goods, with an estimated street value 
of 621 million baht (approximately $18 million), were seized in 
raids by the Royal Thai Police, the Customs Department, and the 
Department of Special Investigations. (COMMENT: The government's 
data indicating an increase in enforcement this year does not track 
with what we hear from U.S. rights holders and IP law firms. We will 
continue to review this data closely and will report septel on any 
developments. END COMMENT.) 
 
Legal Improvements On Track 
--------------------------- 
 
¶10. (SBU) Alongkorn described his proposed landlord liability 
amendments to the Copyright and Trademark Acts (ref C). The existing 
copyright and trademark laws only stipulate punishment for persons 
who manufacture, distribute, obtain for distribution, or import 
counterfeit products. Buyers and landlords are both overlooked. 
Alongkorn had hoped to push a buyer liability provision alongside 
the landlord liability amendment, but he has since given up after 
even the Prime Minister urged him to "review the issue more 
carefully." In early October, Abhisit returned the draft amendments 
to the Ministry of Commerce, stating that law enforcement should 
focus on the producers and distributors of pirated and counterfeit 
goods, rather than those who purchase the items on the streets. 
 
¶11. (U) The landlord liability amendments will broaden the scope of 
punishable offences to include those who own or rent a building or 
space to support the manufacturing, storage, or sale of infringing 
goods. Alongkorn pointed out this provision could also be used to 
prosecute website owners who operate or provide e-commerce services 
for pirated goods. Under the most recent draft of the trademark 
amendments, the penalty for landlord-related offenses would be a 
fine ranging from 50,000 to 200,000 baht (approximately $1,500 to 
 
BANGKOK 00002984  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
$6,000). This penalty provision varies slightly under the copyright 
amendments, which impose fines between 30,000 and 300,000 baht 
(approximately $900 to $9,000). Alongkorn plans to resubmit the 
amendments to Cabinet within one month, after which drafts will be 
sent to the Council of State for additional scrutiny. The amendments 
could be presented to Parliament by early 2010. 
 
Supportive of Anti-Camcording Law 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶12. (SBU) After several years of advocacy by USG and the Motion 
Picture Association of America, the Thai government now appears 
supportive of legislation that would criminalize the act of illegal 
camcording of films. Alongkorn told Bae that the Department of 
Intellectual Property would present a study on the anti-camcording 
laws of the U.S., Canada, and Hong Kong, as well as recommendations 
for a Thai law, at a seminar on November 23. (NOTE: We spoke with 
several attendees of the November 23 event who told us that, based 
on the study, the Ministry of Commerce now plans to draft a specific 
anti-camcording law that will be separate from the Copyright Act and 
other IP laws. END NOTE.) 
 
¶13. (SBU) According to Motion Picture Association of America 
investigations, between January and August 2008, Thailand was 
reported to be the source of 32 illegal camcords of Hollywood films. 
However, over that same period in 2009, only one such case was 
reported. MPA remains concerned about the illegal capture of Thai 
language audio recordings at theaters in Thailand. These audio 
recordings are then combined with videos from other sources. In the 
first eight months on 2009, MPA noted 12 audio-only recordings of 11 
Hollywood films in Thailand and on Thai internet sites. While the 
number of camcords of Hollywood titles appears to have dropped 
significantly, nearly 70 percent of all Thai film titles released 
between January and August of this year were reported to have been 
camcorded, packaged, sold in pirated goods markets in Thailand. MPAA 
has joined arms with the Federation of National Film Association of 
Thailand which is also strongly advocating for an anti-camcording 
law. 
 
PhRMA: Still No Seat the Table 
------------------------------ 
 
¶14. (SBU) Rachel Bae expressed concern that the Pharmaceutical 
Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) still does not have a 
meaningful dialogue with the government on pharmaceutical and health 
issues affecting their industry, despite some gestures in recent 
years. Alongkorn stated that the Prime Minister remains committed to 
a stronger dialogue with the pharmaceutical industry, but 
unfortunately, NGOs and many at the Ministry of Public Health "still 
have hostile views" toward PhRMA. He jokingly likened the process to 
the Six-Party Talks on North Korea, remarking that coordination with 
all the related agencies, NGOs, and industry groups is not an easy 
task. However, he agreed that the government needed to improve the 
consultative dialogue with PhRMA. 
 
¶15. (U) This cable was cleared by USTR and EEB/IPE. 
 
JOHN