A proper brand protection strategy is a compulsory requirement for Vietnamese companies to survive and develop their products in the context of domestic brand names being registered by overseas competitors. Nguyen Vu Quan, trademark and copyright manager at KENFOX IP & Law Office, writes about the needs for domestic firms to register their brand names internationally....
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O.S GmbH is a multinational lighting manufacturer headquartered in Munich, Germany ("the plaintiff"). The plaintiff is the owner of a series of OSRAM trademark for lighting apparatus, especially electric lamps and luminaires; parts of the aforesaid goods; light-emitting diode lamp modules, being protected in Vietnam. The plaintiff detected that two ccTLD (osram.com.vn) and (osram.vn) ("Disputed Domain Names") were registered in 2014 by a natural person in Vietnam, N.D.T ("the defendant") and were resolved to the defendant's active websites. The websites under the Disputed Domain Names were promoting and offering for sale of the plaintiff's products bearing the "OSRAM" mark. ...
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Bad-faith trademark registration is largely seen in Vietnam nowadays, especially since foreign investors are shifting production from China to Vietnam following the recent US-China trade war. Trademarks in Vietnam are generally awarded on a “first-to-file” basis, as opposed to a "first-to-use" system, resulting in floods of trademark applications, many of which imitate or mimic foreign reputable brands that have yet to expand into the Vietnamese market. Invalidating a trademark registered in bad faith in Vietnam is not always easy, as the country's IP Law does not define or contain specific provisions on bad faith. However, Snap Inc., a US-based company,...
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IPR infringements are becoming increasingly sophisticated, pervasive, and continuing to grow at an alarming rate in Vietnam, much like mushrooms growing after rain. Waiting for years for a trademark/ID to be granted protection in Vietnam is not an effective therapy. It will definitely expose you/your business to irreparable risks and damage. Meanwhile, in Vietnam, initiating anti-unfair competition proceedings requires a very heavy burden of proof. Therefore, at this current stage, a time-efficient and fast IPR protection strategy, in our opinion, should be: prioritizing all necessary resources for copyright registration in addition to the registration of trademark/ID (if applicable) as soon...
Continue readingOn 27 November 2019, a Memorandum of Cooperation (MOC) was signed between the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS) and the Department of Intellectual Property (DIP), the Ministry of Science and Technology of Laos. The MOC has allowed Singapore patents to be re-registered in Laos in an expeditious way....
Continue readingHave you ever wondered if using the mark in a manner other than that for which it was registered entails any risks? What are those risks? Is it mandatory to use the mark exactly as registered? What can be done to mitigate the risks associated with using the mark in a form different from the one registered? This article provides some useful information on the above topic....
Continue readingHave you ever been accused of patent infringement while conducting manufacturing and business operations in Vietnam? If you're unsure how to respond to a patent infringement allegation, you may be tempted to panic and worry about the worst-case scenario. You're probably wondering if your goods are illegal and thus subject to seizure on the market or at the border; if you'll be held liable for future items allegedly infringing a patent; if your business will face expensive lawsuits for damages; if consumers will turn against you and/or your business will likely attract negative media attention, and so on. ...
Continue readingGenuine Charles & Keith items are always crafted from delicate, exquisite, and crisp leather; the needle lines are always extremely meticulously handled; there are no signs of fraying or thread defects; and the stitch spacing is always extremely even....
Continue readingTo avert the escalating problem of brand and trademark infringement, the Inspector of the Ministry of Science and Technology initiated an inspection of a number of petrol stations in Thai Binh province on August 22, 2012. ...
Continue readingYou do not need to apply for copyright registration to enjoy copyright protection in Vietnam. In compliance with the Berne Convention to which Vietnam is a signatory, Vietnam Copyright Law provides that “Copyright shall arise at the time a work is created and fixed in a particular material form, regardless of its content, quality, form, mode, or language, and regardless of whether such work has been published or registered." As such, statutorily, copyright is an automatic right that does not require registration, which means that the author or creator acquires copyright immediately upon completion of the original work. However, IPR...
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