Government sustains intellectual protection effort

BANGKOK, Jan 22 (TNA) -- Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha was pleased after receiving news of Thailand's exclusion from the US's list of notorious IP-infringing markets and stressed that the effort must be maintained, according to the government spokesman. Lt Gen Sansern Kaewkamnerd, spokesman for the government said Gen Prayut's pleasure in receiving news of the US Trade Representative's (USTR) latest review of Notorious Markets for 2017 from which Thailand has been removed for the first time in 10 years. These include both physical and online markets. Lt Gen Sansern said that the USTR had praised Thailand for its commitment to Intellectual Protection which has produced concrete results as of January 2017. Prior to this, the USTR had upgraded Thailand from its Priority Watchlist to Watchlist. Taken in conjunction with the recent announcement, it is clear that Thailand a has come a long way in Intellectual Protection. The government want to maintain Thailand's image that so as to foster increased investments in innovation in the country in which Intellectual Protection will play a a major role. As a result of the good news, the Prime Minister expressed his thanks to the general public and businesses in cooperating with the official effort allowing Thailand to improve its stature and acknowledged for our achievements. There remain a few operators who are still opposed to the move but overall the public is becoming more conscious of the need for Intellectual Protection and accepting the importance of avoiding contraband goods or fake products. (TNA)