The Department of Intellectual Property (DIP) has rejected all requests submitted by foreign pharmaceutical companies to patent marijuana extracts, while at the same time opening the door for companies to appeal the decision.
The decision was made in response to an order issued by the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), No.1/2562, which came into effect on Monday.
The NCPO used the all-powerful Section 44 to issue the order, which it hoped would address public concerns that major pharmaceutical companies may end up with a monopoly on the development of medical marijuana after Thailand allowed its cultivation and use for medical and/or research purposes.
The order instructed the DIP to immediately reject all request to patent natural marijuana extracts, said Thosapone Dansuputra, the DIP director-general, on Friday.
"Parties who submitted the requests have two months to appeal the decision," he said. "If an appeal is not filed within the time period, the rejection will then be considered final and binding."
Deputy Commerce Minister Chutima Bunyapraphasara said the patent row offers future investors a lesson -- that their research must not go against the law.
"These pharmaceutical companies submitted their request when marijuana was still considered a narcotic plant by the state," she said.
Biodiversity Sustainable Agriculture Food Sovereignty Action Thailand (Biothai), a civic group that has been spearheading a campaign for the termination of these marijuana patent requests, welcomed the move but said it would remain vigilant.
Writing on its Facebook page, Biothai said it would wait until Wednesday to see if the DIP would actually reject all seven requests submitted by GW Pharma and Otsuka Pharmaceuticals.
These patent requests deal with the use of some marijuana extracts in medical treatment and therapies for certain health conditions, which include cancers, epilepsy and some mental conditions.
So far, the DIP has terminated 10 patent requests for marijuana extracts since civic groups and local researchers voiced their concerns and launched their campaign in November last year.
Biothai said it would continue to closely monitor whether these companies will appeal against the rejection of their patent requests as permitted by the NCPO's order, as well as the DIP's response to such appeals.
