Vietnam: Who is the representative of the applicant for industrial property registration?

Vietnam: Who is the representative of the applicant for industrial property registration? (Internet image) 

Regarding this issue, LawNet would like to answer as follows:

Who is applicant for industrial property registration?

The applicant for industrial property registration is an organization or individual filing an application to register an invention, layout design, industrial design, trademark, or geographical indication.

When a patent, layout design, industrial design, or trademark is granted, the applicant is recorded as the owner of the protection title. When a geographical indication protection certificate is granted, the applicant is recorded as the registrant of that geographical indication.

(Clause 1 of Article 3 of Circular 23/2023/TT-BKHCN)

Who is the representative of the applicant for industrial property registration?

According to Clause 1 of Article 4 of Circular 23/2023/TT-BKHCN, legal representatives of applicants and complainants as prescribed in Article 89 and Article 119a of the Law on Intellectual Property include the following organizations and individuals:

(1) For applicants and complainants who are organizations and individuals specified in Clause 1, Article 89, and Clause 2, Article 119a of the Law on Intellectual Property:

(i) In case the applicant or complainant is an individual: legal representative or authorized representative of the applicant, complainant, or industrial property representative service organization authorized by the applicant, complainant;

(ii) In case the applicant or complainant is an organization: the legal representative of the applicant, complainant, or a person belonging to the organization represented by the person according to the law of the applicant, the complainant authorizes; organize industrial property representative services as authorized by the applicant or complainant; the head of a representative office or branch in Vietnam or the legal representative of a 100% foreign-invested organization in Vietnam established in accordance with investment laws (if the applicant or complainant is a foreign organization).

In case the object requiring protection is the result of a scientific and technological task using the assigned state budget before the effective date of the Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Intellectual Property dated June 16, 2022, or in the field of security and defense: representative of the state owner; industrial property representative service organization or organization presiding over the implementation of scientific and technological tasks as authorized by the representative of the state owner.

(2) For applicants and complainants who are foreign individuals who do not permanently reside in Vietnam, foreign organizations and individuals who do not have production or business establishments in Vietnam according to the provisions of Clause 2, Article 89, and Clause 2, Article 119a of the Law on Intellectual Property: industrial property representative service organization as authorized by the applicant and complainant.

Responsibilities of the applicant for industrial property registration in Vietnam

The applicant for industrial property registration will have the following responsibilities:

- Applicants, complainants, and representatives of applicants and complainants are responsible for ensuring the truthfulness of information and documents provided to the National Office of Intellectual Property in the process of establishing industrial property rights according to the following regulations:

+ All transaction documents must be self-certified by the applicant, complainant, or representative of the applicant or complainant with his/her signature and the organization's seal (if any).

In cases where the law stipulates that a document needs to be notarized or authenticated, it must be carried out in accordance with such regulations.

+ Any Vietnamese translation of documents made in a language other than Vietnamese must have a commitment from the applicant, complainant, or representative of the applicant or complainant to ensure that the translation is verbatim from that document, unless the Vietnamese translation has been notarized to certify the translation;

+ In case the representative of the applicant or complainant is an industrial property representative service organization, the person representing that organization signing the transaction documents must have an industrial property representative service practice certificate.

- The applicant or complainant must be responsible for all consequences and obligations arising from the applicant's representative in transactions with the National Office of Intellectual Property according to the provisions of the law.

- Representatives of applicants and complainants must be responsible for the applicants and complainants according to the provisions of the law.

(Article 6 of Circular 23/2023/TT-BKHCN)

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