Procedures for opposing industrial property registration applications in Vietnam

Procedures for opposing industrial property registration applications in Vietnam (Internet image)

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

Procedures for opposing industrial property registration applications a in Vietnam re prescribed in Decision 3038/QD-BKHCN 2023 as follows:

1. Documents opposing industrial property registration applications in Vietnam

- Document expressing objections;

- Documents or citations of information sources to prove objections;

- Power of attorney (if applying through a representative);

- Copy of fee payment voucher (in case of payment of fees and charges via postal service or direct payment to the Intellectual Property Office's account).

2. Procedures for opposing industrial property registration applications in Vietnam

- Step 1: Receive application

Organizations and individuals submit 01 set of documents opposing the industrial property registration application to the National Office of Intellectual Property.

- Step 2: Appraisal of the objection

+ In case the objection is filed beyond the objection deadline as prescribed in Article 112a of the Law on Intellectual Property, the National Office of Intellectual Property refuses to accept the application at the time of receipt.

+ In case the objection is related to the right to register but there is no clear basis to determine that the applicant does not have the right to apply according to regulations or there is no clear basis to determine the right to file a trademark registration application for signs that are or contain signs that are place names or other signs indicating the geographical origin of local Vietnamese specialties according to regulations, the National Office of Intellectual Property notifies the objector to file a lawsuit with a competent court according to the provisions of civil procedure law. Within 02 months from the date the National Office of Intellectual Property issued the above notice, if the objector does not send the National Office of Intellectual Property a copy of the Court's notice of acceptance of the case, the National Office of Intellectual Property considers the objector to withdraw his objection and continues to process the application as if he had no objection. In the event that the National Office of Intellectual Property receives a copy of the Court's notice of acceptance of the case from the objector within the above time limit, the National Office of Intellectual Property temporarily stops processing the application pending the outcome of the Court's dispute resolution. After receiving the Court's resolution results, the processing of the application will be conducted in accordance with that result

+ In case the objection meets the provisions on the objection deadline as prescribed in Article 112a of the Law on Intellectual Property, the National Office of Intellectual Property shall notify the applicant of the objection, which sets a time limit of 02 months from the date of notification for the applicant to respond in writing (except in cases where the opposed mark is identical to the mark proposed by the opposing party or has a clear basis) to conclude that the opposed mark is confusingly similar or not confusingly similar to the opposing party's mark or the objector's opinion regarding the right to registration).

+ After receiving feedback from the applicant, if deemed necessary, the National Office of Intellectual Property notifies the objector of feedback and sets a period of 02 months from the date of notification for the objector to respond in writing to that feedback.

+ The Intellectual Property Office handles objections on the basis of information, evidence, and arguments provided by the parties (if any) and documents contained in the application and notify the objectors of the results of handling objections along with the results of appraisal of the content of the application.

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