Thailand’s trademark registration work is fully managed by the Department of Intellectual Property (DIP) under the Ministry of Commerce, following the Trademark Act B.E.2534 revised in 2016. Many overseas merchants confuse Thailand’s registration flow with that of Japan and other Southeast Asian countries, ignoring unique localized formalities such as mandatory Thai translation requirements, royal pattern pre-screening, separate filing of three-dimensional marks, and differentiated priority document review standards. This article fully disassembles the whole registration process from pre-application preparation, formal filing, examination stage, opposition procedure to registration certification issuance, and sorts out exclusive operation rules only applicable to Thailand’s trademark registration system, avoiding overlap with the previous legal provision interpretation article. Four official open-access links are embedded for applicants to download forms, search trademarks and check progress.
Before submitting a trademark application to DIP, applicants must complete standardized material sorting that differs from most global trademark authorities.
All overseas corporate or individual applicants without a local Thai residence or business premise must sign a notarized Power of Attorney (POA) with a DIP-licensed Thai IP agent; unnotarized proxy documents will directly lead to application suspension during formal review. The POA must clearly mark the agent’s full authorized scope, including responding to office actions, filing opposition defenses, and applying for trademark renewal. Unlike other ASEAN nations, Thailand requires the original hard copy of the notarized POA instead of scanned digital versions.
Static word marks and graphic marks need only one clear high-resolution specimen, while three-dimensional, sound and color combination trademarks must submit 6-angle physical photos, audio files or color chromatogram attachments respectively, with extra official fees charged for special mark types. Thailand fully adopts the 45-class Nice Classification, yet DIP releases an independent localized acceptable goods and service term list. Generic vague descriptions copied directly from international Nice databases are prohibited; applicants must adjust wording to match Thailand’s local commodity naming standards.
Any foreign-language supporting files such as business licenses, overseas registration certificates and priority documents under the Paris Convention must be accompanied by certified Thai translations issued by DIP-recognized translators. Priority claims must be submitted within 6 months from the filing date of the original overseas trademark; late priority applications will be completely rejected with no supplementary correction opportunity. Applicants who intend to claim priority need to attach the original certified copy of the first filing receipt issued by foreign IP bureaus.
Applicants can choose offline paper filing at DIP headquarters in Bangkok or online electronic filing via the official DIP e-service platform; Madrid international designation is excluded in this procedural introduction to avoid content repetition.
Paper applications are submitted in person or mailed to DIP’s trademark division. All paper forms must be printed with DIP unified templates, handwritten forms are invalid. The official template download entry: https://www.ipthailand.go.th/en/form-download
DIP’s online trademark filing platform only accepts applications operated by licensed local Thai agents; individual foreign applicants cannot register platform accounts to submit applications independently. Online filing enjoys a 10% discount on basic official fees, and the electronic receipt can be downloaded instantly after successful payment, which greatly shortens the formal review waiting cycle compared with offline mail submission. After online submission, agents can track real-time application progress through the official trademark inquiry system.
The examination is divided into formal examination and substantive examination, each with fixed statutory time limits set by DIP.
Examiners verify the completeness of application materials, validity of proxy documents, compliance of trademark specimens and accuracy of goods descriptions. If materials are defective, examiners issue an official correction notice, granting applicants a 60-day correction period. Failure to complete supplementary materials within the statutory correction period results in automatic abandonment of the entire trademark application without appeal channels.
Substantive examiners focus on two core checks: trademark distinctiveness and absolute prohibited grounds review. A unique pre-screening link exclusive to Thailand is added in this stage: automatic royal pattern recognition audit. Any trace of Thai royal emblems, royal portraits, royal monograms or royal symbolic elements in the trademark will trigger immediate substantive rejection, and applicants are not allowed to modify the graphic for resubmission; a brand new application must be refiled instead. Examiners will also search the national trademark database to check conflicts with prior identical or similar registered marks; if conflicting prior rights exist, a provisional refusal letter will be issued to the agent for defense within 60 days. Applicants can search pre-existing trademarks to avoid conflicts via the official database link: https://search.ipthailand.go.th/en
Applications passing substantive examination will be published on Thailand’s Official Trademark Gazette for a statutory opposition period.The official opposition period for domestic direct-filed trademarks lasts 60 calendar days counting from the gazette release date; any natural person, enterprise or organization with legitimate interest can submit opposition grounds and evidence to DIP within this window. Opposition evidence must include Thai translation if sourced from overseas. If no opposition is filed after the window closes, the application proceeds to registration certification procedures. If opposition is raised, both sides need to submit written statements and evidence, and the DIP Trademark Board will issue an opposition ruling within 120 working days. The latest trademark gazette can be browsed at: https://www.ipthailand.go.th/en/trademark-gazette
After clearing the opposition stage, applicants pay the final registration official fee to obtain the official Thai trademark registration certificate.The registration certificate is issued in both Thai and English bilingual versions, with the 10-year protection term calculated starting from the gazette publication date, different from Japan’s rule of counting from registration issuance date. After obtaining the certificate, trademark owners need to reserve full sets of commercial use evidence locally in Thailand to cope with potential three-year non-use cancellation requests. Six months before the 10-year protection expires, agents can submit renewal applications through online or offline channels; a 6-month grace period is available for overdue renewal with double fees.
Many overseas brands face application failure due to unfamiliarity with Thailand’s exclusive registration rules. First, never incorporate any royal-related visual elements into trademark designs; second, avoid overly broad commodity terms which trigger substantive refusal; third, entrust qualified local agents only, as unlicensed intermediaries cannot complete formal filing or respond to office actions legally. All registration fee standards, processing cycle tables and policy updates are released on DIP’s official English homepage: https://www.ipthailand.go.th/en/trademark-service
Thailand’s trademark registration procedures feature strict localized material standards, royal element pre-audit, agent-only online filing and a 60-day opposition cycle, forming obvious procedural differences with Japanese and other ASEAN registration mechanisms. Foreign enterprises should strictly follow the whole workflow from pre-application material preparation to post-registration renewal, and utilize the four official hyperlinks provided to download forms, search prior marks, browse trademark gazettes and check the latest service policies, effectively reducing registration rejection risks caused by procedural non-compliance.
1.IPcrossark:https://www.ipcrossark.com/en/trademark_detail/6.html
2.DIP Official Trademark Application Form Download Page: https://www.ipthailand.go.th/en/form-download
3.Thailand National Trademark Prior Right Search Database: https://search.ipthailand.go.th/en
4.Official Trademark Gazette Online Browsing Portal: https://www.ipthailand.go.th/en/trademark-gazette
5.DIP English Trademark Registration Service Main Page: https://www.ipthailand.go.th/en/trademark-service
