IP Assessment and Dispute Resolution in Vietnam: VIPRI’s Contributions and Statistics

The Vietnam Intellectual Property Research Institute (VIPRI) is a specialized research institution that operates under the Ministry of Science and Technology in Vietnam. The primary mission of VIPRI is to provide expert opinions and assessments related to industrial property infringement cases. In particular, VIPRI focuses on industrial property subject matters such as inventions, industrial designs, designs of semi-conducting closed circuits, trade secrets, marks, trade names, and geographical indications.

As a specialized research institution in Vietnam, VIPRI provides expert opinions and assessments to concerned parties such as Vietnamese enforcement authorities, IPR holders, and alleged infringers.

As of April 2023, VIPRI has only received IPR infringement assessment requests related to 04 following industrial property subject matters: Patents, Industrial Designs, Trademarks, and Geographical Indications.

Our firm, KENFOX IP & Law Office, provides detailed statistics on VIPRI’s IP assessment/expertise opinions, which illustrate the importance of VIPRI’s role in IPR enforcement and dispute resolution in Vietnam. By providing expert guidance and support to both IPR holders and alleged infringers, VIPRI helps to promote fair and effective protection of intellectual property rights in Vietnam.

Satistics about IPR assessment requests filed with VIPRI during 2009-2022

Year	Industrial Property Subject Matter
Year	Patent	Industrial Design	Trademark	Geographical Indication	Total
2009	26	59	107	0	192
2010	24	52	258	0	334
2011	11	81	305	0	397
2012	02	83	376	0	461
2013	22	46	388	0	456
2014	11	84	477	1	573
2015	13	99	600	1	713
2016	21	117	565	0	703
2017	30	147	632	2	811
2018	28	112	687	0	827
2019	23	111	884	0	1018
2020	48	140	904	2	1094
2021	13	110	938	0	1064
2022	22	129	826	2	980
Total	298	1370	7947	8	9623

Implications:

VIPRI – a neutral and trusted source of expertise and guidance in IPR matters

These statistics indicate that VIPRI plays an important role in IPR enforcement and dispute resolution in Vietnam, particularly in relation to trademarks and industrial designs. The fact that VIPRI’s services are sought by both IPR holders and alleged infringers suggests that VIPRI is seen as a neutral and trusted source of expertise and guidance in IPR matters.

VIPRI’s role in IPR enforcement and dispute resolution is particularly important in the context that IPR disputes are, by nature, complicated and most of Vietnamese enforcement authorities in Vietnam need to seek expert opinions from an independent third party. As businesses increasingly rely on their IP assets to drive innovation and growth, effective IPR enforcement and protection becomes urgent. VIPRI’s assessments/expert opinions help to ensure that IPR disputes are resolved fairly and efficiently, and that businesses can have confidence in the mechanism of protection of their IPRs in Vietnam.

Trademark – subject to most infringement

The statistics on IP assessment or expertise opinions provided by VIPRI are important because they provide a comprehensive picture of the trends of intellectual property infringement in Vietnam. The statistics reveal trademarks are most commonly infringed upon, and this is the most prevalent infringement. Thus, IPR holders need to develop more effective enforcement strategies and policies to to protect their IPRs, especially, trademarks in order to minimize and avoid potential infringement risks.

The majority of the IPR assessment requests received by VIPRI over the past 13 years have been related to trademarks, followed by industrial designs and patents. Geographical indications have been the least requested subject matter.

The total number of IPR assessment requests has steadily increased over the years, with a notable jump in 2014 and a consistent increase from 2017 to 2020. However, there has been a slight decrease in the number of requests in 2021 and 2022 due to economic challenges result from Covid-19 pandamic and Rusia-Ukraine war, etc. Trademark infringement assessments have consistently been the most requested service, with a total of 7,947 requests received over the 13-year period. This is more than double the number of industrial design requests and over 25 times the number of patent requests. This may indicate that there is less patent infringement in Vietnam compared to trademarks or industrial designs.

Geographical indication assessments have been the least requested service, with only eight requests received over the 13-year period. This may reflect the relatively low number of geographical indications registered in Vietnam, as well as the limited awareness and understanding of geographical indications among Vietnamese businesses.

The total number of requests for IPR assessments has increased significantly over the past few years, which may reflect the growing importance of intellectual property rights in Vietnam and the increasing awareness of the need for IPR protection when entities are doing business or investement activities in Vietnam.

By Nguyen Vu QUAN

Partner & IP Attorney

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