'Annul rice trade mark' - Thailand

Thailand will request that the United States trade mark office revoke a trade mark under the name "Jasmati" used by an American firm on its rice product to prevent public misunderstanding that the products contain Thai jasmine rice.

Anand Dalodom, director-general of Agriculture Department, said the request would be submitted by November this year and the process would cost between US$75,000-150,000.

But he believed it would be worth it in the long run because it would prevent a similar practice from occurring again.

US-based Rice Tec Inc has recently been granted the trade mark. The action outraged Thai officials, academics and development activists who claimed the trade mark would mislead consumers to believe the company's rice was a hybrid of Thai jasmine fragrant rice and the Indian basmati rice.

US and company officials have argued that the trade mark applied to the company's unique milling process of an Italian species of rice which gave it soft texture.

Agriculture officials recently sent the request to the company but were turned down. The company argued the name had nothing to do with the Thai rice.

Mr Anand believed the request to the US trade mark office would yield a positive outcome as suggested by the US-based consultant company, Adduci, Mastriani & Schaumberg LLP.

"We've asked the Thai embassy in Washington DC to forward the request to the US Patent and Trade Mark Office," he said.

Thailand will also patent the name "Hom Mali" to ensure that the world associate jasmine fragrant rice with the country to prevent private companies from exploiting the name.

The effort arose out of an incident in 1990 when Dougeut Rice Milling Co tried to patent a publicly-owned variety of rice called "85" and the words "jasmine fragrant". The company's application, however, was turned down.

Mr Anand said the patenting process would be realised soon and cost no more than US$2,000.

He said the department chose not to pursue legal action against RiceTec, as India and Pakistan had done, because he feared a diplomatic repercussion and the lawsuit would cost at least US$250,000.

"We can sue the company because the name is obviously misleading but the expense could reach up to US$500,000," he said.

However, Niphon Wongtra-ngan, the chairman of Thai Ricemill Association, doubted whether Thailand could win the issue in court. "Any one can name his product whatever he wants," he said.