Govt tell SMEs to heed US copyright law - The Nation

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

PETCHANET PRATRUANGKRAI
THE NATION November 29, 2012 1:00 am

The Intellectual Property Depart-ment has suggested that to reduce their IPR-related costs, companies - in particular small and medium-sized enterprises - should cooperate with fellow businesses with a view to increasing their bargaining power when purchasing software. Speaking at yesterday's "How to Export to the US by Not Violating Unfair Competi-tion Act", Pajchima Tanasanti, director-general of the department, said Thai enterprises needed to be more aware of the need to use legal software and respect copyright in their trading, as well as in other operations or |activities.

Otherwise, she said, they could lose trading opportunities in the United States and other markets after implementation of the Unfair Competition Act (UCA) in the US in June 2010.

The law is currently enforced in only three US states - Washington, Louisiana and Massachusetts - but is likely to be implemented in another 36 states and three territories soon.

Pajchima said that if enterprises continued to use illegal or unlicensed goods, they could face difficulties and huge losses for violating IPR law and the UCA.

"If Thai enterprises are more aware about using legal software, they will also get a competitive edge for accessing Asean markets under the upcoming Asean Economic Com-munity," she added.

Moreover, companies should be aware of developments concerning the use of child labour, as the United States is also considering including this under the UCA.

In its effort to alert Thai businesses to these dangers, the department recently wrote to the Board of Trade of Thailand and the Thai Chamber of Commerce, as well as to the Federa-tion of Thai Industries, asking them to raise their members' awareness.

The warning comes after a Thai seafood producer and exporter was fined US$10,000 (Bt307,000) last month by a Massachusetts court for using unlicensed software at its plants, which produce items for the US market.

Pajchima said the government had over the past two years organised seminars to educate enterprises on the need to use licensed software. How-ever, many businesses still fail to comply with the law, which is why some are getting into difficulties with the authorities.

That said, the cost of legal software may be prohibitive for many SMEs, so they should cooperate with one another to increase their bargaining power and buy more cheaply, she said.

According to the department, the software industry in Thailand was worth Bt60 billion last year.

The software violation rate stood at a high level of 72 per cent, compared with an average of 42 per cent |globally.

The US authorities claim that companies based in that country lost Bt9.77 billion as a result software violation in Thailand last year.

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Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/business/Govt-tell-SMEs-to-heed-US-copyright-law-30195225.html

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