Provision of evidence and burden of proof are considered as one of the basic principles in civil procedures. The involved parties have the right and obligation to provide evidence and prove to protect their rights and interests as well as to provide the Court with sufficient evidence to resolve civil cases objectively, accurately and lawfully....
Continue readingThe specific rules of the internet stipulate that if the IP-protected material is uploaded without the consent of the right holder, the ISP can request, in writing, the removal of the infringing work from the ISP or removal from the network and disableness of access to the copyrighted material from the respective website. This form of written alert is called a "take-down notice". The general rule is that if the ISP removes the infringing content following a “take-down notice”, it will not be held liable for any further compensation. For a successful take down action, you will need to provide...
Continue reading1. We have registered our trademark in some ASEAN countries, is it valid in Vietnam? Do we need to register our trademark in Vietnam? Your trademark registration in some ASEAN countries does not provide protection in Vietnam. Generally, trademarks are territorial in nature, which means that a trademark registration in one or several countries are not automatically protected and enforceable in another, and therefore registrations in multiple countries may be necessary....
Continue readingThe competitive advantage of an entity partially depends on its ability to protect its valuable proprietary information. You may have patentable designs, inventions or trade secrets giving your business a competitive advantage. In cases where you need to employ a freelancer, you may wonder how you can protect IPR from content generated by their work for you, and how you can protect/secure access to your company's patents, patents, and other proprietary information. Generally, when working with employees or a potential business partner, two following important points should be brought into consideration: (i) always use written contracts whenever possible and ensure...
Continue readingThe IP Vietnam has issued Notice No. 7638/TB-SHTT dated June 5, 2020 on the implementation of Circular No. 45/2020/TT-BTC dated May 26, 2020 of the Minister of Finance Implementing Directive No. 11/CT-TTg dated March 4, 2020 of the Prime Minister on urgent tasks and solutions to overcome difficulties for production and business, ensure social security in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, on 26 May 2020, the Minister of Finance issued Circular No. 45/2020/TT-BTC stipulating the rates of collection and payment of registration fee (to confirm) for using foreign barcode and industrial property fees (hereinafter referred to as "Circular No. 45/2020/TT-BTC"). The...
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Overview of the Madrid System of International Registration: The Madrid system of international registration is governed by two treaties: (i) the Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks, which dates from 1891, and (ii) the Protocol Relating to the Madrid Agreement, which was adopted in 1989, entered into force on 01 December 1995, and came into operation on 01 April 1996. Cambodia is party only to the Protocol, not to the Agreement. The Madrid Protocol became effective in Cambodia on 05 June 2015. ...
Continue readingExpertise opinions/IP assessment in IPR enforcement proceedings in Vietnam and several notable obstacles 1. Expertise opinions/IP assessment in IPR enforcement in Vietnam In recent years, despite improvements in IPR enforcement with joint efforts made by multiple Vietnamese government authorities, generally, the IPR infringement has still been omimous and prevalentl in various areas of Vietnam, with an increase in the number of infringement products and a high level of seriousness. The most common modes of IPR infringement, in trademark rights for instance, include: ...
Continue readingOn 22 May 2020, the Intellectual Property Office of Vietnam (IP Vietnam) issued Notice No. 7108/TB-SHTT regarding its receipt of request for accelerating examination of patent applications under the PPH program (PPH request) between the IP Vietnam and Japan Patent Office (JPO) in 2020. According to this Notice, as at the end of 4 May 2020, the IP Vietnam had sufficiently received 100 PPH requests for the period from 1 April 2020 thru 30 September 2020....
Continue readingA substantive trademark Office Action is issued by the Intellectual Property Office of Vietnam (“IP Vietnam”) to indicate an issue with an applied-for trademark. While a substantive trademark Office Action shows that an applied-for trademark has been rejected, it is usually possible to file a response thereto that either corrects a defect identified by the IP Vietnam or that explains to the IP Vietnam why the applied-for trademark should be allowed. ...
Continue readingThe following intellectual property (“IP”) rights can be used, depending on the nature of the brand or products, to protect the business interests under the laws of Vietnam: Trade dress/get-up: Generally, trade dress may consist of one or more elements (e.g. color, size, and/or shape of packaging); or it may be the overall image or concept of a product, packaging and/ or decoration that may reflect the full look and feel of a business including signs, logos, uniforms, merchandising, websites and labels. Therefore, trade dress refers to the manner in which a product is “dressed up” to go to market. In Vietnam, trade-dress falls within the scope of “unfair competition” as provided in Article 130, Vietnam IP Law. ...
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