A Commerce Ministry-appointed panel has been given one week to finish examining controversial applications for marijuana extract patents as opponents plan a huge rally against decriminalising the drug for certain usages.
Minister Sontirat Sontijirawong said on Thursday he ordered the panel to examine the application process handled by the Department of Intellectual Property, which critics say defied the law.
FTA Watch, a non-governmental body monitoring free trade agreements, insisted on Wednesday the applications, submitted by foreign firms in the US and Japan, broke the law but were still accepted by the department.
As of now a patent cannot be issued for a natural extract taken from a plant or animal, according to Section 9 of the Patent Act.
FTA Watch said Section 28 of the same law gives full authority to the department to reject requests for patents that fail to comply with the law.
"I've kept a close watch on this controversy," Mr Sontirat said, adding if any alleged irregularities were committed during the application process, strict punishments would be meted out.
The department has been plagued by a shortage of staff and experts who are needed to ensure the application documents are all in correct order. This has led to a backlog of applications, Mr Sontirat said.
Previously, officials accepted the applications despite there being no experts to vet them, he said.
In 2016, the government employed more examiners, which helped speed up the scrutiny process. The results of the applications were posted on the department's website for people to read and raise any objections to.
The Government Pharmaceutical Organisation (GPO) is worried about the possible impact this could have on researchers who want to make use of marijuana extracts.
It is one of several local research groups to have poured funds into this area, after having invested 120 million baht for a trial cannabis plantation in Pathum Thani.
The ministry's panel is required to check whether the controversial applications are aimed at winning patents for marijuana extracts. If so, they would be illegal, Mr Sontirat said.
However, if the applications were seeking the right to use the marijuana extract as part of a newly created medicinal formula, the patent may be granted, he said.
Mr Sontirat said it was too early to cancel the patent requests. He said he expected good news would emerge after the panel sends its findings to him within the next week.
The patent requests came on the back of a heated debate over whether Thai researchers and medical staff should be permitted to use marijuana for medical purposes.
On Tuesday, the cabinet approved a draft amendment to the 1979 Narcotics Act.
