S&O activities: Destruction Ceremony of Intellectual Property Rights Infringing Goods

By Jessica Sangiumpun and Dan Greif

On September 12, 2019, the Thai Department of Intellectual Property (“DIP”) held a counterfeit goods destruction ceremony at the 1st Anti-Aircraft Artillery Regiment at Don Mueang, Bangkok.

DIP counterfeit destruction ceremonies were introduced in 2009 and have been held sixteen times. The September 2019 Destruction Ceremony was joined by the Customs Department, the Department of Special Investigations (“DSI”), the Royal Thai Army and the Internal Security Operations Command.

On behalf of our clients, S&O IP attended the event to identify and report on the destroyed counterfeit products that violated our clients’ intellectual property rights. The destroyed products were products determined as counterfeit in final prosecuted decisions against counterfeiters.

To ensure these products don’t appear again in Thai markets, the destruction ceremonies have been organized in accordance with Thailand’s obligations under the World Trade Organization’s Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights. Additionally, these destruction ceremonies provide the opportunity for the public to view the results of the Thai Government’s positive efforts to reduce counterfeits in Thailand.

The goods destroyed included: garments, belts, shoes, watches, mobile phones, CDs/DVDs, glasses, cosmetics, cigarettes, etc. In total 10,620,825 items were destroyed with a value worth 550 million Baht; the values of the products were calculated from the price of the genuine products that were counterfeited. 251,019 items confiscated by the Royal Police were destroyed, 9,818,358 items confiscated by Customs were destroyed, and 551,448 items confiscated by DSI were destroyed.

Various methods were used to destroy the counterfeit goods.  Because the Thai Government is aware burning products could lead to pollution and damage to the environment, many goods such as garments, bags, shoes and cigarettes were destroyed in incinerators.

The Thai Government continues to take positive steps to fight counterfeits. The periodic destruction ceremonies are an integral part of the Thai Government’s efforts to protect consumers and brand owners against the adverse effects of counterfeits.