DIP: New Facility Checks the Status of Corporate Trademark Owners
A new due-diligence link:
The Department of Intellectual Property (DIP) has added a corporate-status check to its IP Search system. When a trademark record names a legal entity as owner, users can follow a link to the Department of Business Development’s DataWarehouse+ system to check the entity’s status, including whether it has been dissolved, liquidated, or struck off. The facility uses the DBD’s corporate records and is intended to help users identify risks when dealing with someone claiming rights in a company’s trademark.
What the facility means for transactions:
The link is an administrative service; it does not change the rules governing trademark ownership, assignment, or licensing. It gives buyers, licensees, business partners, and enforcement teams a useful first check when reviewing a trademark portfolio or a person’s authority to act for a corporate owner.
A dissolved company’s status should not, by itself, be treated as proof that its trademark rights have disappeared. Thai law provides that a company continues to exist to the extent necessary for liquidation, during which its affairs are settled and assets distributed. The trademark’s status therefore requires a closer review of the liquidation and asset-distribution records, any transfer documents, and the person’s authority to act.
Key takeaways:
- Check the DBD status when a Thai trademark is registered to a company.
- Treat the result as a due-diligence flag, then verify the company’s liquidation and asset records.
- Before signing or enforcing, confirm the current owner and the other party’s authority to deal with the mark.
Author: Panisa Suwanmatajarn, Managing Partner.
Other Articles
- DIP: WIPO GRATK Study Puts Genetic Resource Records in Focus
- FDA: Building a Telepharmacy Platform—What Developers Need to Address
- DIP: New Facility Checks the Status of Corporate Trademark Owners
- Thailand’s Revenue Department Launches Public Consultation on Draft Departure Tax Act: Key Proposed Principles and Implications
- PDPA: Research Consent, Lawful Bases and the Use of Personal Data in Research
- Thailand–Canada Free Trade Agreement (TCAFTA): Cabinet Approves Negotiating Framework