Parallel Import Enforcement in LAOS

In Laos, legal doctrines and judicial interpretation of laws are extremely limited. There is no stance regarding the national exhaustion doctrine, which is a concept that is not represented in Lao law. There are also no references in the Lao constitution to intellectual property or its protection. The main law framing intellectual property in Laos is the Law on Intellectual Property, as amended on November 15, 2017. This law does contain provisions that prevent parallel imports, but in practice they are difficult to enforce because the authorities, including the Department of Intellectual Property (DIP), generally view parallel imports as beneficial to consumers by lowering the price of goods in the Lao market.

Registration of an authorization to use a trademark renders it enforceable in Laos, whereupon the authorized party can act on behalf of the trademark owner to protect the mark in Laos. Such an authorization (or a franchise agreement) should be registered with the DIP, as stipulated by the Decision on Trademarks and Trade Names No. 2822/MOST, dated December 7, 2019. Product labels need to include Lao language—a requirement restated in Announcement Department of Internal Trade. Moreover, the Law on Consumer Protection stipulates that any business operator supplying goods that are not labeled or that contain incorrect information will have their business license suspended. 1285 from the Ministry of Industry and Commerce’s.

Remedies

The typical remedies in Laos are mediation, administrative remedies, arbitration through the Economic Dispute Resolution Center, and court actions. Mediation is an effective way to resolve a dispute in a timely manner and at a low cost. It is a culturally popular dispute resolution mechanism, and people have often involved the local authorities as a neutral third party. However, the experience of mediators and arbitrators regarding parallel imports is limited. Administrative remedies most effective for disputes that cannot be solved via mediation and require immediate action from the local authorities (e.g., raid actions, seizure of counterfeits, etc.). For high-value disputes, filing a complaint with the Lao People’s Court may be the most effective solution, although this option has seldom been used. Mediation and administrative remedies remain more popular and tend to be more efficient than filing a complaint with the Lao People’s Court, including for disputes over parallel imports.

According to the Law on Intellectual Property, brand owners have the primary responsibility for protecting their rights by inspecting the use of the brand. Furthermore, brand owners are responsible for providing information about violations of its brand rights to the relevant governmental agency. In doing so, the brand owner may ask to exercise its rights to prevent and protect against the unauthorized use of its brand.

The Ministry of Industry and Commerce is the primary ministry responsible for intellectual property matters—from registration to enforcement of IP rights—and the Economic Police and the Ministry of Public Security can also field trademark infringement complaints. According to the Penal Code (2017), unfair practices, manufacturing, and trading of counterfeits are subject to fines and imprisonment.

According to the Decision on Trademarks and Trade Names, the licensor or the licensee must notify the DIP of unauthorized distribution. This notification gives the licensee the right to act on behalf of the trademark owner in Laos. Although there is an obligation to notify the authorities of any agreement relating to the use of a trademark in Laos, there are no penalties for failing to notify. In addition, the use of the trademark by an unregistered licensee does not disqualify the trademark use.

By Dino Santaniello, Tilleke & Gibbins, Laos, a Transatlantic Law International Affiliated Firm. 

For further information or for any assistance please contact laos@transatlanticlaw.com

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