Preventing trade name infringement in Vietnam

Trade 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...