There have been 3 public organizations which provide expertise opinions/ IPR assessment conclusions (IPR analysis services) in Vietnam, namely, (i) Intellectual Property Office of Vietnam (“IP Vietnam”), (ii) Vietnam Intellectual Property Research Institute (“VIPRI”) and (iii) Expertise Center of Copyright, Related Rights (“ECCR”)....
Continue readingA GI owner is entitled to file with the Customs Supervision Department (“CSD”) a request for customs supervision measure (“Request for Supervision”) for a 2-year term, which can be renewed for another 2-year term. This measure is implemented at all Vietnamese border gates to detect any alleged counterfeits/infringing goods (“Alleged Infringing Goods”) imported into Vietnam. The IPR holder can then request for a temporary suspension of customs procedure over such Alleged Infringing Goods once they are detected....
Continue readingA provincial People’s Court is entitled to hear criminal cases related to defendants, crime victims or litigants who live abroad or in connection with property involved in other lawsuits occurring on foreign territories (Article 268.2 (b), Criminal Procedure Code 2015). As regards territorial jurisdiction, a Court, whose location is most adjacent to the scene of a crime, shall have jurisdiction over the criminal lawsuit against that crime....
Continue readingFor IPR cases, proceedings must be commenced in the court for the province where the defendant resides or works or has its head office or if a dispute is relating to compensation for non-contractual damages, the plaintiff may request the Court of the locality in which his/her residence, work place or head office is located or where the case causing damage occurs to hear the matter (Article 40.1(d), Civil Procedure Code 2015). ...
Continue readingGenerally, under trademark-based enforcement practice, the Vietnamese competent enforcement authorities will set up an Inspection Team and may invite representatives from our firm and request local Police to join the inspection to ensure Inspection Team safe during raiding against the alleged infringer. The alleged infringer’s premise/factory/warehouse will be checked/inspected to detect and seize the infringing products. Minutes of administrative violation may be immediately made or a Working Minutes will be made first if necessary to have a meeting/discussion with the alleged infringer later before making a...
Continue readingProtection of collective marks: • Holders are must provide regulations governing the use of a collective mark as soon as possible. • Providing a summary of regulations governing the use of a collective mark is not considered sufficient. • Regulations must be submitted in Vietnamese. • Holders must provide explanations of particular characteristics and the quality of the product bearing the mark (if the to-be-registered mark is a collective mark used for a product with unique characteristics). Protection of certification marks: Holders must provide: • regulations governing use of the mark, • explanation of particular characteristics and the quality of the product bearing the mark (if the to-be-registered mark is a mark for...
Continue readingCircular No. 16/2016/TT-BKHCN amending and supplementing a number of articles of Circular No. 01/2007/TT-BKHCN dated February 14, 2007, guiding the implementation of Decree No. 103/2006/ND-CP dated September 22, 2006 of the Government detailing and guiding the implementation of some of the articles of the Intellectual Property Law on Industrial Property, which was amended and supplemented by Circular No. 13/2010/TT-BKHCN of 30 July 2010, Circular No. 18/2011/TT-BKHCN dated July 22, 2011 and Circular No. 05/2013/TT-BKHCN dated February 20, 2013 consists of 3 Articles containing 49 points providing amendment and supplement of some provisions creating favorable conditions for the applicants in relation...
Continue readingFor copyright infringement matters in Vietnam, the copyright owners may obtain assessment through Expertise Center of Copyright, Related Rights(“ECCR”) which was established in 2016, under Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. We note, however, that as the ECCR has just come into operation, the ECCR’s officials always require to check all documents to be assessed before accepting to receive them for assessment purpose. Under the laws, the following documents are required for copyright infringement assessment: a) The written request for the assessment, including: - The name and address of the individual or organization that requests the assessment; - The ID number or the number of...
Continue readingTrade name is one category of intellectual property rights, which is codified and recognized under Vietnam Intellectual Property Law 2005, revised in 2009 (“Vietnam IP Law”). Per Article 3.2 of Vietnam IP Law, objects of industrial property rights include inventions, industrial designs, layout-designs of semi-conductor integrated circuits, business secrets, trademarks, trade names and geographical indications. A trade name is often a name for a company. Thus, one of the most critical steps in setting up a new business is finding a name for the company. In this sense, under Article 4.21 of Vietnam IP Law, Trade name is a designation...
Continue readingNumber of IP assessment cases in Vietnam Year Assessment subjects Total Invention Industrial Design Trademark Geographical Indication 9-12.2009 26 (3) 59 (5) 107 (14) - 192 (22) 2010 24 (2) 52 (6) 258 (19) - 334 (27) 2011 11 (1) 81 (3) 305 (40) - 397 (44) 2012 2 (0) 83 (5) 376 (45) - 461 (50) 2013 22 (0) 46 (2) 388 (51) - 456 (53) 2014 11 (1) 84 (5) 477 (54) 1 573 (60) 2015 13 (0) 99 (9) 600 (59) 1 (1) 713 (69) 2016 21 (1) 117 (18) 565 (56) - 703 (75) 2017 30 (3) 147 (22) 632 (99) 1 (1) 810 (125) 2018 28 (2) 111 (3) 670 (90) - 809 (95) Tổng 188 (13) 879 (78) 4.378 (527) 3 (2) 5.448 (620) Source: Vietnam Intellectual Property Research Institute, 2018. Remark: The number placed within the bracket is the number of IP assessment cases called by the competent enforcement authorities Number of IP assessment cases called by Vietnamese enforcement authorities No. Enforcement authorities Assessment subjects Total Invention Industrial Design Trademark Geographical Indication 1 Court 5 0 1 - 6 2 People’s Committee - - - - - 3 Customs - - 41 - 41 4 Inspectorate/Department of Science & Technology 5 4 35 1 45 5 Market...
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