Trade Dress Protection on the Overall Appearance of Stores in Thailand

Abstract

The design of the appearance of stores has become a crucial factor for the business because good design could make the visitors differentiate the certain store from another. Consequently, the company must not want any competitor to easily copy the successful stores’ appearance.

The United States is the country that firstly provides protection to the overall appearance of stores. The protection is provided under trademark doctrine because it is capable to distinguish the products or services in which it provided from others’ products and services provided in another store as same as trademark.  The U.S. recognizes the overall appearance of stores as ‘trade dress’.

Thailand, currently, has no specific provision in order to protect the overall appearance of stores. However, although the overall appearance stores play a role as trademark does, it does not fall into the definition of the mark under the Trademark Act. Therefore, the owner cannot exploit any benefits or rights provided under the act. Accordingly, it is important to amend the relevant provisions of Trademark Act in order to cover the protections of the overall appearance of stores.