🇹🇭 Thailand · reviewed 2026-10-09
Trademarks and IP for franchisors in Thailand
Thailand is unusually strict about trademark licences. A licence that is not registered with the Department of Intellectual Property is void, and recording it through the international Madrid system does not count.
Registering the mark
- Trademarks are protected through registration under the Trademark Act 1991, as amended in 2016. Thailand joined the Madrid Protocol with effect from 7 November 2017. Official · WIPO, Thailand joins the Madrid System, 2017-08-07
Registering the licence
- A trademark licence must be in writing and registered with the Department of Intellectual Property under section 68 of the Trademark Act. Thai courts have held an unregistered licence void. Registered licensee use counts as the owner's use against cancellation for non-use. Secondary · Tilleke & Gibbins on trademark licence registration
- Thailand has declared that licences recorded in the international Madrid register have no effect in Thailand, so the licence must be registered locally, with a Thai translation. Secondary · Tilleke & Gibbins on trademark licence registrationSecondary · Tilleke & Gibbins, ICLG Franchise 2025: Thailand, 2024-11-01
Checklist before you sign a Thai partner
- File the word mark, logo and any Thai-script version of the brand in your own name before partner talks become public.
- Prepare a short-form trademark licence for registration with the Department of Intellectual Property, alongside the full franchise agreement.
- Register the licence locally even if the mark itself came in through the Madrid system.
- Keep the licence registration current when the franchisee, master franchisee or scope changes.
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