24 November

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Patent Specification – How a Single Connector Word Can Decide the “Life or Death” of a Patent?

[vc_row triangle_shape="no"][vc_column][vc_column_text] Download If you believe that the phrase “at least one of A, B, and C” in a patent specification always means “A or B or C”, it may be time to reconsider. In U.S. patent practice, the interpretation of this seemingly simple expression has sparked a debate lasting more than two decades - a debate that remains far from settled today. The controversy originates from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit’s landmark 2004 decision in SuperGuide Corp. v. DirecTV Enters., Inc. In SuperGuide, the court interpreted the phrase to mean “at least one of A, and at least...

10 November

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HAICNEAL vs. HAINOZAL: Stopping a Copycat Shampoo Line, Forcing Destruction of Labels and Printing Equipment, and Blocking a Trademark Hijacking

Posted by Dương Thúy

in Notable Articles, Trademark, Uncategorized, Vietnam

[vc_row triangle_shape="no"][vc_column][vc_column_text] Download 1.Snapshot of the Case KENFOX IP & Law Office acted for Kunming Dihon Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (China), owner of the HAICNEAL medicated shampoo brand (), and its exclusive Vietnamese distributor, Dong A Pharmaceutical Trading Co., Ltd., after a Vietnamese company (ASEM VINA JSC) began producing and commercializing a shampoo using packaging that closely imitated HAICNEAL’s trade dress while marketing it under “HAINOZAL” (). Because “HAICNEAL” and “HAINOZAL” are not confusingly similar as trademarks, and because HAICNEAL’s box/label had not been registered as an “industrial design” in Vietnam, a conventional “trademark infringement” theory was not strong. We shifted the focus of...

10 November

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Infringement ov er the trademark “SPY”: Tracking the Importer, Forcing Infringing Detergent off the Market, and Locking in Customs Protection

Posted by Dương Thúy

in Notable Articles, Trademark, Vietnam

[vc_row triangle_shape="no"][vc_column][vc_column_text] Download 1. Snapshot of the Case Importer Identified, VIPRI Infringement Finding Secured, Multi-Agency Pressure Applied, Infringing Goods Removed from Market, Customs Protection Activated. KENFOX IP & Law Office represented MASSCO JSC, a leading Vietnamese chemical and cosmetics manufacturer and the registered owner of the “SPY” trademark (No. 231175), after an unauthorized seller began advertising “SPY” washing liquid on ZALO (a popular Vietnamese messaging / social commerce platform). Our investigation suggested that the products were imported from Thailand, so we moved immediately to identify the source. Through coordination with a customs officer at the General Department of Customs, we obtained official customs data...

07 November

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Trade Name Rights Defeat Trademark Squatting: LChau Pharmaceutical Company Keeps Its Brand and the Squatter Loses Registration in Court

Posted by Dương Thúy

in Notable Articles, Trademark, Viet Nam

[vc_row triangle_shape="no"][vc_column][vc_column_text] Download 1. Snapshot of the Case KENFOX IP & Law Office has secured a major victory for LChau Pharmaceutical Company in a complex trademark-trade name lawsuit over the name “LChau”. This challenging case in Vietnam, which began in 2020 and spanned nearly 04 years, is not just a win for us; it's a significant victory for our client, a leading pharmaceutical giant in Vietnam with a network of nearly 2000 drug stores across the country. Back in 2016, our client acquired a series of 04 pharmacies in Ho Chi Minh City, aiming to establish a comprehensive pharmacy ecosystem to meet the growing...

06 November

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Justice for “Foellie”: How KENFOX Invalidated a Bad-Faith Filing & Halted a Retaliatory Campaign of IP Abuse?

Posted by Dương Thúy

in Notable Articles, Trademark, Viet Nam

[vc_row triangle_shape="no"][vc_column][vc_column_text]Download 1. Snapshot of the Case Case brief: KENFOX IP & Law Office recently resolved a four-year dispute surrounding the “Foellie” brand, acting for Laorganic Co., Ltd. (Korea), the legitimate owner of the Foellie mark and logo. Lưu Ngọc Anh, a Vietnamese individual - Director of La Pharma Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. applied to register the mark “FOELLIE” for the goods in Class 03 in 2020. Notably, our client, Laorganic had used their mark “” in Vietnam since 2018. In July 2022, our client filed an opposition against Lưu Ngọc Anh’s applied-for trademark “FOELLIE” with the Trademark Examination Centre (TEC) of the IP...

05 November

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RULE ONE: Forcing VIPRI to Reverse Itself, Establishing Trademark Infringement, and Shutting Down Unauthorized Online Sales

Posted by Quyen Nguyen

in Notable Articles, Trademark, Vietnam

[vc_row triangle_shape="no"][vc_column][vc_column_text] Download 1. Snapshot of the Case KENFOX IP & Law Office represented RULE ONE PROTEINS LLC (“RULE ONE”), a-US based company, the registered owner in Vietnam of the “RULE 1 PROTEINS” () trademark (Registration No. 408163), in an action against Muscle Up Joint Stock Company, a Vietnamese seller that was advertising, offering for sale, and promoting nutritional supplements in Vietnam using “RULE 1 PROTEINS”, “RULE 1 R1 PROTEIN”, and “RULE ONE” across websites and Facebook pages without authorization. We first secured Bailiff’s Certification to capture irrefutable evidence of infringement across Muscle Up’s online channels. We then requested an “Expert Opinion” (in...

05 November

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From Online Camouflage to Physical Crackdown: KENFOX’s Legal Strategy in the LACTOMASON Case

Posted by Quyen Nguyen

in Notable Articles, Trademark, Viet Nam

[vc_row triangle_shape="no"][vc_column][vc_column_text]Download 1. Snapshot of the Case In July-August 2025, KENFOX IP & Law Office executed a coordinated anti-counterfeiting operation in Hanoi on behalf of a leading South Korean pharmaceutical company, holder of the registered “LACTOMASON” trademark in Vietnam. The infringer was not a “street-level counterfeiter”, but a sophisticated entity constructed to project lawful legitimacy. Operating under the guise of “Lacto Mason Vietnam Co., Ltd.”, the infringer built a complete façade of brand authenticity by copying nearly the entire identity ecosystem of our client - including product packaging, labeling, corporate name, website, social-media presence, and promotional collateral - and then deploying a digital-only...

05 November

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“L@TTITUDE” vs. “LATTITUDE”: How KENFOX Reversed a Refusal & Secured Protection in Vietnam?

Posted by KENFOX IP

in Notable Articles, Trademark

For many international brand owners, receiving a provisional refusal from the Intellectual Property Office of Vietnam (IP Vietnam) can feel like a dead end. Vietnam is one of ASEAN’s fastest-growing markets – but also one of its most rigorous trademark examination systems, where non-traditional marks face heightened examination, prior cited marks may block registration even with market differences, examiner discretion remains conservative compared to other Madrid members, consent letters are not automatically accepted, stylized, digital-era brand identities (e.g., symbols such as “@”) are often misunderstood under traditional distinctiveness rules A refusal in Vietnam is not merely an administrative hurdle – it...

04 November

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Trademark Enforcement Beyond Products: Forcing a Vietnamese Company to Change Its Name and Surrender a Confusing Domain to the US trademark holder

Posted by Quyen Nguyen

in Notable Articles, Trademark, Viet Nam

Download 1. Snapshot of the Case IMOST Action Forces Name Change and Domain Transfer Despite Prior-Use and Coexistence Defenses KENFOX IP & Law Office represented CVX Pharmacy, a U.S. retail pharmacy chain with registered trademarks in Vietnam covering pharmaceutical products (Class 05) and medical apparatus (Class 10), in an action against a Vietnamese company (“CVX Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.”) that had adopted a company name highly similar to CVX’s mark and registered a matching domain/website to present itself as if affiliated with CVX. The matter was complicated by the presence of another Vietnamese company (“CVX Medicine Trading Co., Ltd”) whose almost identical company name...

04 November

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Lacoste: Disrupting Wholesale Counterfeit Supply in Hanoi’s Old Quarter – 1,073 Items Seized, Factory-Scale Source Neutralized, Administrative Fine Imposed

Posted by Vu Thu Uyen

in IPR enforecement, Notable Articles, Trademark in Vietnam, Vietnam

KENFOX IP & Law Office represented Lacoste in a coordinated anti-counterfeiting action targeting two apparel shops in Hanoi’s Old Quarter that, following pre-raid investigation, were confirmed to be operating as upstream wholesalers of counterfeit Lacoste garments. After compiling evidence that these locations were supplying fake “LACOSTE” and crocodile-logo apparel into the broader Hanoi retail network, we escalated the case to the Inspectorate of the Ministry of Science & Technology (IMOST) for administrative enforcement. IMOST conducted raids on the identified premises, seizing 1,073 counterfeit garments and imposing administrative fines totaling VND 183,360,000 on the two wholesalers. The seized inventory was ordered...