The government is preparing to extend trademark protection to cover sounds and smells but insists the protection is a matter of trademarks, not patents.
Malee Choklumlerd, director-general of the Intellectual Property Department, said the department and the Council of State were studying draft amendments to the Trademark Act.
The amendments call for trademark protection to cover the sounds and smells of products and a reduction of registration procedures.
The Commerce Ministry previously proposed the amendments for cabinet consideration in 2006, but House dissolution occurred before debate.
Ms Malee said the objective of the amendments was not only to reduce the registration process for companies but also to ensure the Act complied with Thailand's plans to meet Madrid Protocol requirements. Next year Thailand will become a Madrid Protocol member for registering trademarks worldwide, the third Asean member to do so after Singapore and Vietnam.
Trademark registration for companies takes 18-24 months now, she said. The government plans to cut th period to 12 months.
"The amendments were not made in haste or secretly," Ms Malee said.
"We discussed the issues with all stakeholders including the Public Health Ministry and studied similar laws in the US, EU, New Zealand and Singapore."
Ms Malee said registered sounds must be unique and distinctive, not directly descriptive of the character or quality of the goods, the natural sound of a product or services or a sound arising from the functionality of a product or service.
Likewise, the smell must be distinctive and not directly descriptive of the character or quality of the goods, a natural scent or the scent of goods.
Trademarks are marketing tools that enable customers to recognise the products or services of a company. Traditionally such marks have been visual such as photographs, designs, names, combinations of colours, shapes or configurations of objects, or a combination of one or more of these things.
The US was the first to provide registration of sound marks, with the NBC network's chime during its radio broadcasts. Other examples there include the MGM lion's roar, Homer Simpson's shout of exasperation, the Looney Tunes theme song and the 20th Century Fox introduction jingle.