Puangrat Asavapisit, director-general of the Intellectual Property Department, said the letter would explain that Thailand realised the importance of intellectual property and would seriously deal with any violation.

The US has noted that Thai officials have failed to crack down on counterfeiting and smuggling of intellectual property, particularly related to drug-licensing and copyright violations. It says the private sector in the US lost about US$308 million (Bt10.78 billion) in 2005 as a result of intellectual property-rights violations in Thailand.

The US has called on Thailand to respect data exclusivity, which requires Thailand to respect drug patents for at least five years and ask for a drug manufacturer's approval before imposing any compulsory licensing.

However, the department will state that Thailand insists on following World Trade Organisation commitments about compulsory licensing of drug patents registered in the country.

Puangrat said the US comment went beyond the Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights. Thailand will explain that it will not make any commitment that goes beyond the WTO agreement.

She was optimistic that Thailand would remain on the USTR "watch list", despite comments about Thailand's violation of intellectual property.

If Thailand is put on the "priority watch list'', it will face difficulties when the USTR considers the country's status in the US Generalised System of Preferences and in terms of trade-retaliation practices.

The USTR has categorised its 63 trading partners into four main groups, priority foreign country, priority watch list, watch list and monitoring list. Thailand has been on the Watch List as making limited progress in suppressing intellectual-property violation since 1994. The USTR will announce its revision of the grouping of the 63 countries, including Thailand, by the end of this month.

In its letter to the USTR, the department will also explain that the enforcement of intellectual-property laws has become more effective.

The government will cooperate with police to stringently suppress any violation of intellectual-property rights such as patents on satellites and copyrights on optical media, books and trade marks, said Puangrat.

The department will also pass on the USTR comments to the Public Relations Department, the National Police and the Public Heath Ministry in the hope of increasing the government's cooperation on intellectual-property rights enforcement.

Petchanet Pratruangkrai

The Nation