What is the subject matter of industrial property rights in Vietnam? What is included in an application for registration of industrial property rights in Vietnam?
What is the subject matter of industrial property rights in Vietnam?
Subject matter of industrial property rights specified in Clause 2, Article 3 of the 2005 Law on Intellectual Property in Vietnam shall comprise:
- Inventions
- Industrial Designs
- Designs of semiconducting closed circuits
- Trade Secrets
- Marks
- Trade names
- Geographical indication
What is the subject matter of industrial property rights in Vietnam? What is included in an application for registration of industrial property rights in Vietnam?
How are industrial property rights established?
Industrial property rights specified in Article 6 of the 2005 Law on Intellectual Property in Vietnam (amended and supplemented by Clause 1, Article 2 of the 2019 Law on amendments to some articles of Law on Insurance Business and Law on Intellectual Property) shall be established as follows:
- Industrial property rights to inventions, industrial designs, layout designs and trademarks shall be granted on the basis of decisions on granting protection issued by competent authorities in accordance with registration procedures specified in this Law or on the basis of recognized international registration granted accordance with international agreement to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a signatory.
+ Industrial property rights to well-known trademarks shall be granted on the basis of their use instead of registration.
+ Industrial property rights to geographical indications shall be granted on the basis of decisions on granting protection issued by competent authorities in accordance with registration procedures specified in this Law or international agreement to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a signatory.
- Industrial property rights to a trade name shall be established on the basis of lawful use thereof;
- Industrial property rights to a trade secret shall be established on the basis of lawful acquirement of the trade secret and maintaining confidentiality thereof;
- The right to prevent unfair competition shall be established on the basis of competitive activities in business.
What are the components of an application for industrial property registration in Vietnam?
According to the provisions of Article 100 of the 2005 Law on Intellectual Property in Vietnam (added in Clause 32, Article 1 of the 2022 Law on amendments to some articles of Law on Intellectual Property), an industrial property registration application includes:
(1) An industrial property registration application shall contain the following documents:
- Declaration for registration, made on the stipulated form;
- Documents, samples and information identifying the industrial property object registered for protection as specified in articles 102 to 106 inclusive of the 2005 Law on Intellectual Property in Vietnam;
- Power of attorney, if the application is filed through a representative;
- Documents evidencing the registration right, if such right is acquired by the applicant from another person;
- Documents evidencing the priority right, if such right is claimed;
- Documents describing the origin of the genetic resource or traditional knowledge about the genetic resource, applicable to inventions that are directly derived from the genetic resource or traditional knowledge about the genetic resource;
- Receipt for payment of fees and charges.
(2) Industrial property registration applications and source documents of transactions between an applicant and the State administrative body for industrial property rights shall be made in Vietnamese, except for the following documents which may be made in another language but shall be translated into Vietnamese at the request of the State administrative body for industrial property rights:
- Power of attorney;
- Documents evidencing the registration right;
- Documents evidencing the priority right;
- Other documents supporting the application.
(3) Documents evidencing the priority right in an industrial property registration application shall include:
- A copy of the first application(s) certified by the receiving office;
- Deed of assignment of priority right if such right is acquired from another person.
What are the procedures for registration of industrial property protection?
Step 1: Submit an application for registration of establishment of industrial property rights in Vietnam
Regarding the method of filing an application for registration of the establishment of industrial property rights specified in Clause 3, Article 89 of the 2005 Law on Intellectual Property in Vietnam, supplemented by the 2019 Law on amendments to some articles of Law on Insurance Business and Law on Intellectual Property, whereby the application for registration of industrial property rights shall be submitted in the written form:
+ Paper form to the state management agency in charge of industrial property rights or
+ Electronic form according to the online application system.
Step 2: State management agencies receive industrial property registration applications
Step 3: State management agencies examine the form of industrial property registration applications
Step 4: Publication of industrial property registration application
- Patent applications are published within the 19th month from the filing date or from the priority date for applications enjoying priority rights or at an earlier time at the request of the applicant.
- An industrial design registration application, a trademark registration application or a geographical indication registration application shall be published within 2 months from the date the application is accepted as a valid application. Industrial design registration applications may be published at a later time at the request of the applicant at the time of filing but not later than 07 months from the filing date.
Nguyễn Thị Hồng Nhung
