Replica Goods Offering as Unfair Commercial Practice

Abstract

Replica goods offering is a commercial practice which can be found in daily life. In many instances this commercial practice causes deception of purchasers regarding the commercial origin of goods. In certain cases it can unreasonable exploit or impair goodwill of original goods as well. Occasionally it associates with dishonest acquisition of the knowledge from original goods producers. Replica goods offering in aforementioned circumstances could cause damages to producers of original goods. Nonetheless, it may not be considered as infringement of intellectual property rights for particular reasons, e.g., expiration of intellectual property rights of original goods. This leads to the question whether there is any other law which could prevent and compensate for such damages.

The research, which is the groundwork of this research article, suggests that Section 57 of the Trade Competition Act B.E. 2560, which prohibits unfair commercial practices, can prevent replica goods offering in abovementioned circumstances. That research also proposes guidelines on the application of Section 57 of the Trade Competition Act B.E. 2560 to this commercial practice and recommendations on revision of the Trade Competition Act B.E. 2560 in order to prevent such commercial practice appropriately.