Section 17⁽¹⁾ The application for the patent shall comply with the rules and procedures as prescribe in the Ministerial Regulations.

The application for a patent shall contain:

     (1) the title of the invention;

     (2) brief statement of its nature and purposes;

     (3) a detailed description of the invention in such full, concise and clear and

exact terms as to enable any person ordinarily skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the invention and setting forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor to carry out his invention;

     (1) one or more clear and concise claims;

     (2) other items prescribed in the Ministerial Regulations

In cases where Thailand acceded to an international agreement or cooperation on patents, the patent application which is in compliance with the requirements of such international agreement or cooperation shall be deemed to be a patent application under this Act.

Section 18 The application for patent shall relate to only one invention or to a group of inventions which are so linked as to form a single inventive concept.

Section 19⁽¹⁾ A person who has exhibited his invention in an exhibition which has been sponsored or authorized and held in Thailand by the government and applies for a patent for such invention within twelve months following the opening date of that exhibition shall be deemed to have filed his application on the opening date of the exhibition.

Section 19 bis⁽²⁾ A person under Section 14 who has filed a patent application for an invention in a foreign country may claim the first foreign filing date as the filing date in the country if the application is filed in the country within twelve months following the first filing date in the foreign country.

Section 20 The applicant may amend his application for a patent in accordance with the rules and procedures prescribed in the Ministerial Regulations, provided that such amendment does not enlarge the scope of the invention.

Section 21⁽¹⁾ All officers whose duties are connected with patent applications shall refrain from disclosing any detailed description of the invention or permitting any person to inspect to make a copy of the detailed description of invention by any means before the publication of such application under Section 28, unless it is authorized in writing by the applicant.

Section 22⁽²⁾ Before the publication of a patent application under Section 28, all persons who know that the application has been filed shall refrain from disclosing any information contained in the detailed description of the invention or committing any act which is likely to cause damage to the applicant, unless it is authorized in writing by the applicant.

Section 23 When secrecy is required for inventions which in the opinion of the Director-General are of interest to the national security, the Director-General shall order the applications for patents therefore to be kept in confidence unit it is otherwise ordered by him.

All persons, including the applicant, who know that the application has been ordered by the Director-General to be kept in confidence under the preceding paragraph, shall refrain from disclosing the subject matter or the detailed description of the invention to any other person, unless it is authorized by law.

Part II Grant Of Patent

Section 24 Before granting a patent to the applicant, the competent officer shall:

     (1) examine the application as to its conformity with Section 17; and

     (2) examine the application as to its conformity with Section 5,in accordance with the rules, procedures and conditions prescribed in the Ministerial Regulations.

Section 25 In order to facilitate the examination of a patent application, the Director-General may request any government department, unit or organization or any foreign or international patent office of organization, to examine the application as to its conformity with Section 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9, or the detailed description of the invention as to its conformity with Section 17 (3). The Director-General may treat such examination as having been done by the competent officer.

Section 26 In the examination of an application if it appears that the application relates to several distinct inventions which are not so linked as to form a single inventive concept, the competent officer shall give a notice to the applicant requiring him to separate the application into a number of applications, each of which relates to a single invention.

If the applicant files any of the separated applications within one hundred and eighty days following the receipt of such notice under the preceding paragraph, he shall be deemed to have filed that application on the filing date of hid first application.

The application shall be separated in accordance with the rules and procedures provided by the Ministerial Regulations.

If the applicant does not agree with the requirement to separate the application, he shall appeal to the Director-General within one hundred and twenty days. The decision of the Director-General shall be final.

Section 27 In the course of examination of an application, the competent officer may instruct the applicant to appear before him in order to answer any question, or to hand over to him any document or item.

If the applicant has filed on application for a patent in any foreign country, he shall submit a report of the examination of the application in accordance with the rules and procedures prescribed by the Ministerial Regulations.

If any document to be filed is in a foreign language, the applicant shall file such document accompanied by translation in Thai.

If the applicant fails to comply with the instruction of the competent officer under the preceding paragraph, or fails to submit the examination report within ninety days in accordance with the second paragraph of this Section, he shall be deemed to have abandoned his application. In case necessity, the Director-General may extend such period as he deems appropriate.

Section 28⁽¹⁾ Where the competent officer has submitted the examination report to the Director-General,

     (1) if it appears to the Director-General that the provisions of Section 17 have not been complied with, or the invention is not patentable under Section9, the Director-General shall reject the application and the competent officer shall notify the applicant of the rejection by a return registered mail or by any other method prescribed by the Director-General within fifteen days from the date of rejection by the Director-General; or

     (2) if it appears to the Director-General that the provisions of Section 17 have been compiled with and it is not an unpatentable invention under Section 9, the Director-General shall, in accordance with the rules and procedures in the Ministerial Regulations, order the application to be published. Before the publication is made, the competent officer shall, by any method prescribed by the Director-General or by a return registered mail, notify the applicant to pay the publication fee. If the applicant fails to pay the fee within sixty days from the date of receipt of the notice, the competent officer shall once again notify the applicant by a return registered mail. If the applicant fails to pay the publication fee within sixty days from the date of receipt of such notice, he shall be deemed to have abandoned his application.

Section 29 After the publication of the application under Section 28, the applicant may request the competent officer to proceed with the examination as to its conformity with Section 5 either within five years after the publication of such application or, in cases where there is an opposition and an appeal is taken, within one year after the final decision has been made, depending on which period expires last. If the applicant fails to make such a request within said period, he shall be deemed to have abandoned his application.

If the Director-General requests any governmental department, unit or organization or any foreign or international patent office or organization to examine the application under Section 25, and there is some expense derived from such examination, such expense shall be paid by the applicant within sixty days after he has been notified by the competent officer. If the applicant fails to pay the expense within the said period, he shall be deemed to have abandoned his application.

Section 30 Where an application for a patent has been published under Section 28, if it appears that it does not comply with the provisions of Section 5, 9, 10, 11 or 14, the Director-General shall refuse the grant of a patent. The Director-General shall refuse the grant of a patent. The applicant as well as the other party to the opposition proceedings under Section 31 shall be notified of such decision. The decision of the Director-General shall be published in accordance with the rules and procedures prescribed by the Ministerial Regulations.

Section 31⁽¹⁾ Where an application for a patent has been published under Section 28, any person who thinks that he, not the applicant, is entitled to a patent, or that the application does not comply with the provisions of Section 5, 9, 10, 11 or 14 may give notice to the competent officer of opposition to such application within ninety days following the publication of the application under Section 28.

Where an opposition has been made in accordance with the preceding paragraph, the competent officer shall send a copy of such notice to the applicant. The applicant shall file with the competent officer a counterstatement within ninety days following the receipt of the copy of the notice. If the applicant fails to file such counterstatement within said period, he shall be deemed to have abandoned his application.

A notice of opposition and counterstatement shall be supported by buttressing evidence.

Section 32 In an opposition proceeding, the opposing party and the applicant may introduce any evidence or make any additional statement to support the ground on which they rely in accordance with the procedures prescribed by the Director-General.

Where the Director-General has made his decision under Section 33 or Section 34, the applicant and the opposing party shall be notified of the decision with the reasons on which it is based.

Section 33 Where a request for examination is made under Section 29 by the applicant for an examination and the competent officer has made examination under Section 24, the competent officer shall submit his examination report to the Director-General.

When the Director-General has considered the examination report and sees no reason to refuse the grant of a patent, and there has been no opposition under Section 31 or there has been an opposition but the Director-General has decided that the invention belongs to the applicant, the Director-General shall order that the invention is to be registered and granted to the applicant. The competent officer shall notify the applicant that the fee must be paid for the grant of a patent within sixty days from the receipt of such notice.

When the fee has been paid in accordance with the preceding paragraph, the invention shall be registered and a patent granted to the applicant within fifteen days following the payment of the fee, but not before the expiration of period prescribed in Section 32. If the fee is not paid within the period prescribed in the preceding paragraph, the applicant shall be deemed to have abandoned his application. The patent shall be in the form prescribed by the Ministerial Regulations.

Section 34 Where there is an opposition and the Director-General has decided that the invention belongs to the opposing party, the Director-General shall reject the application.

Where the decision of the Director-General rejecting the application is not appealed by the applicant or is appealed and the Board or the Court has made a final decision, if the opposing party has filed an application for a patent within one hundred and eighty days after the rejection by the Director-General or from the date on which the final decision is made, as the case may be, he shall be deemed to have filed his application on the filing date of the applicant, and the publication of the application for a patent of the applicant made under Section 28 shall be deemed to be the publication of the application of the opposing party. In the latter case, no person may oppose the application of the opposing party on the ground that he has better rights in the invention than the opposing party.

Before granting a patent to the opposing party, the competent officer shall examine the application is accordance with Section 24. The provisions of Section 29 are also applicable to the application of the opposing party.

Part 3