Vietnam is among the world's largest exporters of farm produce and seafood, but few foreign consumers know they're using products from Vietnam...
Continue readingIn a recent landmark decision, the China Supreme People’s Court (“SPC”) overturned its previous views of the last decade and held that branded products produced through OEM may constitute trademark infringement if a third party owns the registered trademark in China....
Continue readingThe loose rules on exports and imports as well as the easy-going penalties for violations make for a hotbed for blatant origin fraud, with fake household electronics labelled Toshiba, Goldsun, and Sunhouse flooding the market. Kim Hara reports. With the Lunar New Year coming, goods are being imported to Vietnam in increasing volumes – and while original goods are also seeing a spike, the market is growing chock-full of fake versions of larger brands like Toshiba, Sunhouse, Goldsun, and others. Most recently, Binh Duong Customs seized a batch of 3,472 Toshiba-branded electric rice cookers at a total value of VND2.1 billion ($91,000)...
Continue readingVietnam’s new Competition Law 2018 was passed by the National Assembly of Vietnam on 12/6/2018 and came into force on 01 July 2019, replacing its Competition Law 2004...
Continue readingIn the year 2018-2019, Vietnam entered two international important trade deals, which require, inter alia, higher standard for IP protection in Vietnam. The first one is the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (“CPTPP”), which was signed in March 2018, and then approved by the National Assembly of Vietnam in November 2018. The CPTPP officially came into force as from 14 January 2019. The second one is the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (“EVFTA”), which was signed in June 2019. ...
Continue readingThe Civil Code 2015, Law on Science and Technology 2013, Decree 08/2014/ND-CP dated 27 January 2014 detailing and guiding the implementation of a number of articles of the Law on Science and Technology, Law on Technology Transfer 2017, Decree 76/2018/ND-CP dated 15 May 2018 providing guidelines for certain articles of the Law on technology transfer, the Law on Intellectual Property, etc. form a relatively complete legal framework and are expected to contribute to strongly promote technology transfer activities in Vietnam....
Continue readingFor owners of industrial property objects, filing their applications for registration of such objects abroad is not less important than filing in Vietnam. If one obtains industrial property rights in Vietnam, the right does not extend to foreign countries. You need to file applications in each and every country in which you desire to hold the industrial property right. Moreover...
Continue readingKENFOX: Yes, it is possible for a third party file an opposition in Laos. The New IP Law No. 38/NA of 2017 introduces an opposition procedure in Laos. Previously, when a trademark owner registered his/her trademark, there was no publication procedure available to inform and allow interested third parties to oppose to a pending trademark. The interested third party was only able to file a cancelation request with the Department of Intellectual Property of Laos (“DIP”), once the trademark certificate was issued and the trademark was registered with the DIP. Under the old IP Law of Laos, it was only...
Continue readingAnnouncement on Adopting the Vietnamese Version of the Nice Classification of Goods and Service 11-2018 from January 01, 2018. As of 01 January 2018, The Vietnamese version of the Nice Classification 11th Edition - version 2018 (NCL 11-2018), translated by the IP Office of Vietnam (“IP Vietnam”) from the English version published by WIPO, will be applied to the classification of goods and services for trademark registrations....
Continue reading