CHAPTER II PATENT FOR INVENTIONS
PART I APPLICATIONS FOR PATENTS
Section 5 Subject to Section 9, a patent may be granted only for an invention in respect of which the following conditions are satisfied:
(1) the invention is new;
(2) it involves an inventive step; and
(3) it is capable of industrial application.
Section 6(1) An invention is new if it does not form part of the state of the art.
The state of art also includes any of the following inventions:
(1) an invention which was widely known or used by others in the country before the date of application for the patent;
(2) an invention the subject matter of which was described in a document or printed publication, displayed or otherwise disclosed to the public, in this or a foreign country before the date of the application for a patent;
(3) an invention for which a patent or petty patent was granted in this or a foreign country before the date of application;
(4) an invention for which a patent or petty patent was applied in a foreign country more than eighteen months before the date of the application and a patent or petty patent has not been granted for such invention;
(50 an invention for which a patent or petty patent was applied for in this or a foreign country and the application was published before the date of application.
A disclosure which was due to, or made in consequence of, the subject matter having been obtained unlawfully, or a disclosure which was made by the inventor, or made in consequence of, the inventor displaying the invention at an international exhibition or an official exhibition if such disclosure was done within twelve months before the filing of an application for the patent, shall not be deemed to be a disclosure under subsection (2) above.
Section 7 An invention shall be taken to involve an inventive step if it is not obvious to a person ordinary skilled in the art.
Section 8 An invention shall be taken to be capable of industrial application if it can be made or used in any kind of industry, including handicrafts, agriculture and commerce.
Section 9(1) The following inventions are not protected under this Act:
(1) naturally occurring microorganisms and their components, animals, plants or extracts from animals or plants;
(2) scientific or mathematical rules or theories;
(3) computer programs;
(4) methods of diagnosis, treatment or cure of human and animal diseases;
(5) inventions contrary to public order, morality, health or welfare.
Section 10(2) The inventor shall have the right to apply for a patent and to be named as such in the patent.
The right to apply for a patent may be assigned or transferred by succession.
The assignment of the right to apply for a patent must be in writing and shall require the signatures of the assignor and assignee.
Section 11 The right to apply for a patent for an invention made in the execution of an employment contract or a contract for performing a certain work shall belong to the employer or the person having commissioned the work, suless otherwise provided in the contract.
The provision of the first paragraph shall apply in the circumstance where an employment contract does not require in employee to exercise any inventive activity, but the employee has made the invention using any means, data or report that his employment has put at his disposal.
Section 12 In order to promote inventive activity and to give o fair share to the employee in the circumstances provided for in the first paragraph of Section 11, the employee-inventor shall have a right to remuneration other than his regular salary if the employer benefits from the invention.
In the circumstances provided for in paragraph 2 of Section 11, the employee-inventor shall have a right to remuneration.
The right to remuneration any not be prevented by any contractual provision.
A request for remuneration under paragraph one and paragraph two of this Section shall be submitted to the Director-General in accordance with the rules and procedures prescribed in the Ministerial Regulations. The Director-General shall have the power to fix such remuneration as he deems fit taking into account his salary, the importance of the invention, benefits derived and expected to be derived from the invention and other circumstances and prescribed by the Ministerial Regulations.
Section 13 In order to promote inventive activity among government officials and employees of the government organization or enterprises, an government official or an employee of a government organization or enterprise shall have the same right as that of the employee under Section 12, unless otherwise provided by the Rules or Regulations of such department of the government or organization or enterprise.
Section 14(1) An applicant for a patent shall possess one of the following qualifications:
(1) being a Thai national or a juristic person having its headquarters located in Thailand;
(2) being a national of a country party to a convention or an international agreement on patent protection to which Thailand is also a party;
(3) being a national of a country which allows Thai nationals or juristic persons having their headquarters to apply for patents in that country;
(4) being domiciled or having a real and effective industrial or commercial establishment in Thailand or a country party to a convention or an international agreement on patent protection to which Thailand is also a party.
Section 15 When an invention is made by two or more persons jointly, they shall apply for a patent jointly.
If a joint inventor refuses to join in an application for a patent or cannot be found or reached or is not entitled to make an application for a patent, the application may be made by the other inventor on behalf of himself.
A joint inventor who did not join in an application for a patent may subsequently make a request to join in the application at any time before a patent is granted. Upon receipt of such request, the competent officer shall notify the applicant and the joint inventor of the date on which an investigation will take place. The applicant and each of the joint applicants shall be furnished with a copy of the request.
In the investigation under the preceding paragraph, the competent officer may require the applicant and joint applicants to appear before him and answer any question or hand any document or other items to him. After such investigation and when the Director-General has made his decision, the applicant and the joint inventor shall be notified of such decision.
Section 16 If two or more persons have separately and independently made the same invention and each of them has made an application for a patent, the applicant who is the first to file shall be entitled to a patent. If the application have been filed on the same date, the applicants shall agree whether a patent should be granted to one of them or all of them jointly. If no agreement has been reached within the period prescribed by the Director-General, they shall bring the case to the Court within ninety days after the expiration of the prescribed period. If they fail to do so within such period, they shall be deemed to have abandoned their applications.
Section 17(1) The application for the patent shall comply with the rules and procedures as prescribe in the Ministerial Regulations.
The application for a patent shall contain:
(1)the title of the invention;
(2) brief statement of its nature and purposes;
(3) a detailed description of the invention in such full, concise and clear and
exact terms as to enable any person ordinarily skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the invention and setting forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor to carry out his invention;
(1) one or more clear and concise claims;
(2) other items prescribed in the Ministerial Regulations
In cases where Thailand acceded to an international agreement or cooperation on patents, the patent application which is in compliance with the requirements of such international agreement or cooperation shall be deemed to be a patent application under this Act.
Section 18 The application for patent shall relate to only one invention or to a group of inventions which are so linked as to form a single inventive concept.
Section 19(1) A person who has exhibited his invention in an exhibition which has been sponsored or authorized and held in Thailand by the government and applies for a patent for such invention within twelve months following the opening date of that exhibition shall be deemed to have filed his application on the opening date of the exhibition.
Section 19 bis(2) A person under Section 14 who has filed a patent application for an invention in a foreign country may claim the first foreign filing date as the filing date in the country if the application is filed in the country within twelve months following the first filing date in the foreign country.
Section 20 The applicant may amend his application for a patent in accordance with the rules and procedures prescribed in the Ministerial Regulations, provided that such amendment does not enlarge the scope of the invention.
Section 21(1) All officers whose duties are connected with patent applications shall refrain from disclosing any detailed description of the invention or permitting any person to inspect to make a copy of the detailed description of invention by any means before the publication of such application under Section 28, unless it is authorized in writing by the applicant.
Section 22(2) Before the publication of a patent application under Section 28, all persons who know that the application has been filed shall refrain from disclosing any information contained in the detailed description of the invention or committing any act which is likely to cause damage to the applicant, unless it is authorized in writing by the applicant.
Section 23 When secrecy is required for inventions which in the opinion of the Director-General are of interest to the national security, the Director-General shall order the applications for patents therefore to be kept in confidence unit it is otherwise ordered by him.
All persons, including the applicant, who know that the application has been ordered by the Director-General to be kept in confidence under the preceding paragraph, shall refrain from disclosing the subject matter or the detailed description of the invention to any other person, unless it is authorized by law.