Section 273: Counterfeiting a registered trademark
Statutory text (Thai original)
ผู้ใดปลอมเครื่องหมายการค้าของผู้อื่น ซึ่งได้จดทะเบียนแล้ว ไม่ว่าจะได้จดทะเบียนภายในหรือนอกราชอาณาจักร ต้องระวางโทษจำคุกไม่เกินสามปี หรือปรับไม่เกินหกหมื่นบาท หรือทั้งจำทั้งปรับ หมายเหตุ: [อัตราโทษ แก้ไขเพิ่มเติมโดยมาตรา ๔ แห่งพระราชบัญญัติแก้ไขเพิ่มเติมประมวลกฎหมายอาญา (ฉบับที่ ๒๖) พ.ศ. ๒๕๖๐]
English translation
Whoever counterfeits the trademark of another person which has been registered, whether registered within or outside the Kingdom, shall be liable to imprisonment not exceeding three years, or a fine not exceeding sixty thousand baht, or both.
This English translation is provided for reference only and has not yet been firm-verified. Always rely on the Thai original.
Firm annotation
The offence sits in the Title on Offences Relating to Trade and protects registered trademarks specifically, extending protection to marks registered outside Thailand. Its elements are: counterfeiting (making a mark essentially identical so as to pass as the genuine mark), of a trademark, that has been registered. It is distinct from Section 274, which covers mere imitation intended to mislead the public and carries a lighter penalty, and it links to Section 275, which punishes importing, selling, or offering for sale goods bearing a mark counterfeited under this section. In practice these Penal Code offences are usually charged together with the specific offences under the Trademark Act B.E. 2534.
Why this matters in practice
A trademark owner facing counterfeiting should note that criminal charges are typically brought both under this section and under the Trademark Act, and such cases are heard in the Central Intellectual Property and International Trade Court. Penalty exposure here is up to three years imprisonment plus a fine, and courts often impose fines with confiscation of the infringing goods. Because the fine ceiling under the Penal Code is lower than under the Trademark Act, the specific statute usually drives sentencing. A business owner unsure how to combine criminal and civil enforcement should consult a Thai lawyer before filing.
Supreme Court decisions interpreting this section
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Supreme Court Judgment No. 2662/2559 (2016)
Distributing goods that bear a counterfeited trademark is a separate offence under Section 275 in conjunction with Section 273, apart from the counterfeiting itself.
The defendant pleaded guilty to trademark offences. The Court treated the act of selling goods bearing the counterfeit mark as a distinct offence under Section 275 in conjunction with Section 273, separate from the underlying counterfeiting, and imposed a fine reduced by half for the confession.
Curated decisions with case numbers verified against the Supreme Court database. English renderings are the firm's editorial translation for study.
Cited in 49 Supreme Court decisions (1957 to 2025)
Selected citing decisions
- Decision 2662/2559 (2016)
- Decision 3377/2558 (2015)
- Decision 127/2556 (2013)
- Decision 9798/2555 (2012)
- Decision 9797/2555 (2012)
- Decision 1835/2545 (2002)
- Decision 1719/2545 (2002)
- Decision 1718/2545 (2002)
This list is selected automatically, weighted towards judgments that turn on this section rather than ones that merely recite it when passing sentence. It has not yet been reviewed by the firm.
Most often cited alongside
- Section 272 29
- Section 275 24
- Section 91 22
- Section 29 22
- Section 30 22
- Section 33 18
Sections that appear in the same judgments as this one most often. The figure is the number of decisions.
Counted across the firm's corpus of 83,652 Supreme Court decisions, 1921 to 2026. The count is complete; the stated year range trims rare outliers so it describes where the citations actually sit. These figures are computed by us and are not official court statistics. How we count these, and what we measured
Frequently asked questions
Does Section 273 protect trademarks registered outside Thailand?
Yes. The section applies to counterfeiting of a registered trademark whether the mark was registered inside or outside the Kingdom.
What is the difference between counterfeiting and imitating a trademark?
Counterfeiting under Section 273 means making a mark that essentially reproduces the registered mark, while imitation under Section 274 means creating a similar mark to mislead the public, and it carries a lighter penalty.
Related guides on ThaiLawOnline
Cite this section
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Plain citation
Penal Code, s. 273 (Thailand) -
Academic citation
Penal Code (Thailand), s. 273. ThaiLawOnline, https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-273/ (accessed 17 August 2026). -
Thai citation
ป.อ. มาตรา 273 -
Permalink
https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-273/ -
Embed on your site
<blockquote cite="https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-273/"><p>Whoever counterfeits the trademark of another person which has been registered, whether registered within or outside the Kingdom, shall be liable to imprisonment not exceeding three years, or a fine not exceeding sixty thousand baht, or both.</p><footer>Penal Code, s. 273 (Thailand) — <a href="https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-273/">ThaiLawOnline</a></footer></blockquote>
The Thai text is authoritative. The English is an unofficial translation by ThaiLawOnline, free to reuse with attribution.