18 March

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Coping with counterfeit trading on e-commerce websites/platforms in Vietnam

The e-commerce market is growing in Viet Nam, but it is also used to trade counterfeit goods with increasingly sophisticated activities online. Counterfeit trading on e-commerce websites/platforms is largely seen nowadays in Vietnam. The consumers who have changed their traditional shopping habits recently and switched to online more over the past years, especially after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in floods of fake websites and/or online counterfeiting ...

16 March

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Invalidating a bad-faith trademark registration in Vietnam

Posted by kenfoxasia

in Viet Nam

Bad-faith trademark registration has largely seen in Vietnam nowadays, especially when foreign investors are shifting production from China to Vietnam following a recent US-China trade war. Trade marks in Vietnam are generally awarded on a “first to file” basis, resulting in floods of trademark applications, many of which imitate/ mimic foreign reputed brands that have yet to expand into the Vietnamese market. Invalidating a trademark registered in bad faith in Vietnam is not always easy as Vietnam IP Law does not define or contain specific provisions on bad faith. However, Snap Inc., a US-based company, has won a significant victory...

27 February

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Amendments to the Regulations under the Protocol Relating to the Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks in force as from February 1, 2021

Posted by kenfoxasia

in Viet Nam

1. At its fifty-third (23rd ordinary) and fifty fourth (31st extraordinary) sessions, the Madrid Union Assembly adopted amendments to Rules 3, 9, 21, 25 and 36 of the Regulations under the Protocol Relating to the Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks (hereinafter referred to as “the Regulations”) that will enter into force on February 1, 2021....

29 December

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Geographical indication protection of “Hàm Yên” for orange

Posted by kenfoxasia

in News, Viet Nam

On 07 October 2020, Intellectual Property Office of Vietnam (IP Vietnam) has issued Decision No. 4010/QĐ-SHTT on granting Geographical indication registration certificate no. 00086 for “Hàm Yên” orange. People’s Committee of Tuyên Quang province is the organization in charge of managing this Geographical indication (GI)....

14 December

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Vietnam released a draft of the IP Law for public comments

Posted by kenfoxasia

in News, Viet Nam

A draft of the amended IP Law of Vietnam has been released recently by the Ministry of Science and Technology of Vietnam and published in its website in November 2020 for public comments. The recent signing of big trade pacts, such as the European Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (“EVFTA”), the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (“CPTPP”), the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (“RCEP”), the world’s largest trading bloc have triggered the comprehensive amendment of Vietnam’s IP Law that enacted in 2005. While a lot of progressive provisions have been introduced to this third amendment of Vietnam IP Law, some...

10 December

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Announcement on Adopting the Vietnamese Version of the Nice Classification of Goods and Services 11-2021

Posted by kenfoxasia

in News, Viet Nam

The Intellectual Property Office of Vietnam (IP Vietnam) announces the adoption of the Vietnamese version of the Nice Classification 11-2021 Edition (NCL 11-2020) from January 1, 2021....

30 November

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Stricter requirements adopted for documents submitted to Vietnam IP Office

Posted by kenfoxasia

in News, Viet Nam

The Intellectual Property Office of Vietnam (IP Vietnam) issued Notice No. 13822/TB-SHTT dated 23 November 2020 on the application of regulations concerning persons with legal status to sign documents on behalf of the applicant in the registration procedure for establishment of industrial property rights and the related procedures. The Notice No. 13822/TB-SHTT has the following noteworthy points:...

19 October

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MOVING ANNOUNCEMENT

Posted by kenfoxasia

in News

Download MOVING ANNOUNCEMENT To whom it may concern, We are very pleased to announce that in order to expand our operations and to effectively manage our corporate growth, on 01 November 2020, we will be moving from the current address: Suite 219, 2nd Floor, Five-Floor Building, Lane 109, Truong Chinh, Thanh Xuan, Hanoi to open our doors in our more spacious and efficient office at the following new address: Building No. 6, Lane 12/93, Chinh Kinh Street, Nhan Chinh Ward, Thanh Xuan District, Hanoi, Vietnam whereas our telephone, fax numbers and e-mail addresses remain unchanged as follows: Tel.: (84) 24 3724 5656 Fax: (84) 24 3724 5885 E-mail: info@kenfoxlaw.com kenfox@kenfoxlaw.com On...

21 September

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Responding to trademark refusal in Laos – Some takeaways

Posted by kenfoxasia

in Laos

Under Laos IP Law, a mark cannot be merely descriptive. The idea behind preventing people from obtaining trademark protection for descriptive marks is that that individuals or commercial entities should not be allowed to claim exclusive trademark rights in descriptive words that competitors may need to use when describing their own goods/services. As a result, trademarks that comprise commonly descriptive (or generic) words are usually prohibited from being registered by the Laos IP Office. In practice, there are not uncommon instances where trademark applications face refusal/rejection based on an alleged descriptiveness of goods/services. However, those marks are not, in fact,...