Intellectual property protection abroad for Vietnamese enterprises

The development of international supply chains has become a critical success factor for big companies, and should be seen as important key for products of developing countries to gain entry into high standard market such as USA, European Countries, and Japan. However, many Vietnam companies have experienced problems in shifting their supply chain abroad as well as managed their intellectual property such as geographical indication, trademarks. 

 

Protecting Intellectual Property Rights Abroad for Vietnam Enterprises

On October 24^th, 2017, Vietnam Intellectual Property Association (VIPA) in cooperation with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), International Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property Rights (AIPPI) organized the seminar “Protecting intellectual property rights abroad for Vietnamese enterprises” to provide Vietnam companies value information for protecting their Intellectual Property right in the Fourth Industrial Revolution and global supply chain development.

All the experts have strongly recognized the important role of intellectual property protection abroad for Vietnamese enterprises and introduced:

-Introduction to the International World of Intellectual property

-Protecting a valuable asset- How to protect your Brand with Madrid

-Options to protect an invention: Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) and trade Secrets

-Introduction to the international design System- Hague

-Other WIPO services, Tools and Products

-About International Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property- AIPPI (Association Internationale pour la Protection de la Propriété Intellectuelle) Vietnam is a member of the WIPO and is a signatory to the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property. It has acceded to the Patent Cooperation Treaty and the Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks, and in 2004 joined the Berne Convention. Therefore, the Vietnamese enterprises should file trademarks, patents or industrial designs by international systems for saving cost and managing the registration procedures effectively. However, it is suggested that the international Bureau of WIPO does not decide whether trademarks, patents or industrial designs are eligible for protection or not, and the final decisions must depend on Intellectual Property law of each country i.e. Vietnam. For differences of laws in every country and difficult techniques when preparing Intellectual Property application, applicants should find valuable assistant from Intellectual Property agent.

If you are looking for an experienced IP attorneys to help you with your IP application, you should visit ANT Lawyers.vn - An IP services in Vietnam. Our attorneys have experience with the IP process and will work closely with you as you apply for your IP. We routinely match inventors with experienced IP attorneys for a free consultation on our platform and offer a money back guarantee. 

 

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Benefits of retaining a Real Estate Dispute Lawyers in Vietnam

Why Client Should Retain Real Estate Dispute Lawyers in Vietnam?

Due to changes in law attracting foreigners to come to live, and invest in Vietnam, foreigners have growing interest in investment and acquiring real estate. However, as real estate is valuable assets, the law on real estate ownership and real estate transactions are complicated, especially for foreigners.

 

Under the land ownership regime in Vietnam, land belongs to the entire people with the State acting as the owner’s representative and uniformly managing land. Hence, in Vietnam, the land users will have the land use right without the private ownership of the land.  Land law 2013 does not allow foreigner to have land use rights in Vietnam. It only allows foreign invested enterprises to be permitted to use land through the form of land allocation or lease. 

Although foreigners do not have land use rights in Vietnam, they are allowed to own houses in Vietnam under the Law on Housing. In addition, the Law on Real Estate Business has certain limitations for foreign investors to conduct real estate business in Vietnam and must meet the legal requirements.

Foreign investors investing in Vietnam wish to use the land to conduct business activities, or intend to conduct real estate business in Vietnam, or simply a foreigner wishing to purchase and own real estate in Vietnam should be aware of the legal provisions on conditions of implementation, orders and procedures to of the transactions to minimize risks. The assistance of the lawyers on real estate in Vietnam shall be worthwhile.

Real estate  dispute lawyers in Vietnam would have in-depth knowledge of the Land Law, Law on Housing, Law on Real Estate Business and related regulations. In addition, they would have practical experience in implementing legal procedures, handling disputes, and supporting real estate transactions in Vietnam. The real estate lawyers could explain the restrictions on land use rights of foreign organizations and individuals in Vietnam and the conditions for conducting business in real estate in Vietnam. The lawyers at request could assist the foreigners with the process and procedures to work with state agencies to obtain land use rights for enterprise and home ownership rights for individual more effectively.

When conducting transactions related to real estate such as buying, selling, transferring, renting, leasing, real estate lawyers could also provide assistance in in legal due diligence of the real estate to minimize legal risk to clients. It is important to evaluate the legal status of the property, the owner of property, whether property is in dispute, or subject to additional requirements of government before being sold by the developer and the people eligible for entering into the transaction. In addition, the lawyers in Vietnam can advise clients to draft or review the agreements, sales contract as well as the process to legalize the process to comply with the law in Vietnam.

ANT Lawyers - a real estate dispute law firm in Vietnam with international standard, local expertise and strong international network. We focus on customers’ needs and provide clients with a high quality legal advice and services. For advice or service request, please contact us via email ant@antlawyers.vn, or call us +84 24 730 86 529.

 

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How Can IPR Holder Protect Intellectual Property Rights in Vietnam?

An intellectual property right holder shall have the right to apply the following measures to protect the intellectual property rights in Vietnam of such holder:

 

To apply technological measures to prevent acts of infringement of its intellectual property rights;

To request any organization or individual who commits an act of infringement of the intellectual property rights of the holder to terminate such act, make a public apology or rectification, and pay damages;

To request the competent State body to deal with acts of infringement of its intellectual property rights in accordance with the provisions of this Law and other relevant laws;

To initiate a lawsuit at a court or a claim at an arbitration centre to protect the legitimate rights and interests of the holder.

Organizations and individuals who suffer loss and damage caused by acts of infringement of intellectual property rights or who discover acts of infringement of intellectual property rights which cause loss and damage to consumers or society shall have the right to request the competent State body to deal with such acts in accordance with the provisions of this Law and other relevant laws.

Organizations and individuals who suffer loss and damage or who are likely to suffer loss and damage caused by acts of unfair competition shall have the right to request the competent State body to apply the civil remedies stipulated of IP Law and the administrative remedies stipulated in the law on competition.

Our Intellectual Property Lawyers in Vietnam always follow development in IP Laws to provide client with update.

 

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Subject Matters of Intellectual Property Rights in Vietnam

Subject matters of intellectual property rights in Vietnam is divided into three groups included: subject matter of copyright, subject matter of industrial property rights, subject matter of rights to plant varieties. In details:

 

Protect Intellectual Property Rights in Vietnam

-The subject matter of copyright shall comprise literary, artistic and scientific works; the subject matter of copyright related rights shall comprise performances, audio and visual fixation, broadcasts and satellite signals carrying coded programmes.

-The subject matter of industrial property rights shall comprise inventions, industrial designs, designs of semi-conducting closed circuits, trade secrets, marks, trade names and geographical indications.

-The subject matter of rights to plant varieties shall comprise plant varieties and harvested materials.

Pursuant to Intellectual Property right 2005 (amended in 2009), Intellectual property rights means rights of an organization or individual to intellectual assets comprising copyright and copyright related rights, industrial property rights and rights to plant varieties. For example, software computer program can be protected under Copyright, or name of a product can be protected under Industrial property right that is Trademark or the outward appearance of a car can be protected as Industrial design.

However, intellectual property rights are generated and established based on certain grounds:

Firstly, copyright shall arise at the moment a work is created and fixed in a certain material form, irrespective of its content, quality, form, mode and language and irrespective of whether or not such work has been published or registered. For instance, a musician is about to write a song, however, the idea of the song still bears in mind of the musician and have not written down yet. At that time, copyright of the musician still does not generate.

Secondly, related rights shall arise at the moment a performance, audio and visual fixation, broadcast or satellite signal carrying coded programmes is fixed or displayed without causing loss or damage to copyright. Related right is the right related to copyright. Proceeding to above example, when the musician has finished writing his song and is sung by the singer on stage, the right of the singer to sing the song of the musician is related right.

Thirdly, different grounds for the generation and establishment of industrial property right. As said above, industrial property rights include 7 subject matters: inventions, industrial designs, designs of semi-conducting closed circuits, trade secrets, marks, trade names and geographical indications. These subjects have different grounds for generating and establishing right:

-Industrial property rights to an invention, industrial design, layout design, mark or geographical indication shall be established on the basis of a decision of the competent State body to grant a protection title in accordance with the registration procedures;

-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.

Fourthly, rights to a plant variety shall be established on the basis of a decision of the competent State body to grant a plant variety protection title in accordance with the registration procedures

It is wise to consult the advice of a IP attorneys in Vietnam to help assist you with your patent. We are a legal marketplace with quality lawyers who are knowledgeable in various areas of the law—including patents.

ANT Lawyers is a law firm in Vietnam, recognized by Legal500, IFLR1000. We are an exclusive Vietnam member of Prea Legal, the global law firm network covering more than 150 jurisdictions. The firm provides a range of legal services to multinational and domestic clients.

 

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Regulations on Investment in Telecommunications Services in Vietnam

The field of telecommunications has appeared in Vietnam for more than 30 years and has helped the business environment and social life of Vietnam to develop. The process of liberalizing the telecommunications sector in Vietnam has led to the expansion of the telecommunications network and has become an attractive field for investors to set up company in telecom service, internet service, or join with Vietnamese partner on business cooperation contract in the same fields.

 

Telecommunication Lawyers in Vietnam

Currently, telecommunications services are not just telephones and telex, but variy with many types from simple to complex such as audio, video, data transmission services,… Besides the conveniences brought in life, telecommunications services have really become one of the important infrastructures of the economy. However, Vietnam government also impose certain requirements on foreign investors entering Vietnam in this sector.

Specifically, at present, foreign investors can only participate in investments in the form of joint ventures or business cooperation contracts with Vietnamese enterprises to provide telecommunications services. However, for the provision of services with network infrastructure, the partner in which the investor joins the joint venture must be a licensed telecommunications service provider in Vietnam. In addition, foreign investors are also limited on the percentage of charter capital in joint ventures. Accordingly, for services without network infrastructure, foreign investors own not more than 65% of charter capital and for services with network infrastructure, foreign investors do not own more than 49% legal capital of the joint venture.

On the other hand, foreign investors participating in business cooperation contracts will be able to sign a new agreement or switch to another form of presence with conditions no less favorable than those they are currently receiving. Furthermore, an organization or individual that already owns more than 20% of the charter capital or shares in a telecommunications enterprise may not own more than 20% of the charter capital or shares of another telecommunications enterprise doing business in the same company a market for telecommunications services.

Therefore, if the investor meets the above conditions, the investor will carry out the procedures for establishing an economic organization. Like other foreign-invested organizations, the establishment will go through two stages: investment registration and business establishment. For foreign investment projects in the business of telecommunications services, it is necessary to receive the investment approval of the Prime Minister. Accordingly, the investor submits the application for approval of the investment policy of the investment project to the investment registration agency and within 03 working days from the date of receipt of the complete dossier, the investment registration agency submit the application for appraisal opinions of the Ministry of Information and Communications. Within 15 days from the date of receipt of the dossier, the Ministry of Information and Communications shall give its appraisal opinions on the extent under its state management and send it to the Ministry of Planning and Investment. Within 40 days from the day on which the application is received, the investment registration agency shall organize the appraisal of the dossier and make an appraisal report and submit it to the Prime Minister for approval of the investment policy. After receiving the approval of the investment policy, the investor proceeds to establish the business as domestic entities.

The telecommunication services are subject to strong regulations hence the conditions for foreign investors to invest and set up company in telecommunication services or take part in providing telecommunication services are also relatively complicated. Therefore, investors are suggested to undertake research on telecommunication regulatory specific to their business with the help of telecommunication services lawyers in Vietnam to make the investment effectively.

You could learn more about ANT Lawyers TMT Practice or contact our TMT lawyers in Vietnam for advice via email ant@antlawyers.vn or call our office at (+84) 24 730 86 529

 

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Patent Registration Procedures in Vietnam

Patent ownership of an invention or a utility is only established by the registration procedure, and in accordance with the scope of protection defined in each patent in Vietnam.

 

Register patent in Vietnam

Once a dispute arisen, without other evidences, the patent is the only and the most important proof to prove the ownership. Therefore, it is advised that filing a patent for an invention or a utility model shall be a prior prevention of an infringement.

 Under the laws on Intellectual Property of Vietnam:

“Invention” means a technical solution in the form of a product or process which is intended to solve a problem by application of natural laws.

Unless an invention is common knowledge, it shall be protected in the form of the grant of a utility solution patent (or a utility model) when it satisfies the following conditions:

-It is novel

-And it is susceptible of industrial application.

With highly professional staff and great experience in IP aspect in Vietnam, ANT Lawyers would like to support you in filing a Patent on an invention or a utility in Vietnam.

1. Our services in Patent for invention and Utility model

Our services in Patent field include:

-Searching, provision of professional opinions and advice in relation to registering ability of Patent/Utility model;

-Preparation, drafting the description and necessary documents, filing and prosecution of applications Patent/Utility model;

-Maintenance;

-Amendment;

-License;

-Assignment;

-Opposition against proceedings;

-Appeal;

-Cancellation;

-Invalidation;

2. How to file a patent in Vietnam

Inventors or Organizations or individuals who have supplied funds and material facilities to inventors in the form of job assignment or hiring have the right to file patent application in Vietnam.

An invention shall be protected in Vietnam when it satisfies the following conditions:

-Novelty;

-Inventive step;

-Industrial applicability;

3. Required information and documents

For the purpose of filling the patent application in Vietnam, the following documents will be required:

-Full name and address of applicant(s);

-Full name, address and nationality of inventor(s).

-Original Power of Attorney (POA) from the Applicant(s)

-Copy of the description, drawings and abstract of the patent application in English (in Word format) and/or the amended description, claims (if any);

-Certified document for claiming priority right (if any).

Note: The POA must be signed by the applicant or a duly authorized representative on behalf of the Applicant and no further notarization or legalization is required.

4. Patent Examination Procedure

The patent application will be examined by National Office of Intellectual Property of Viet Nam (NOIP) with Patent Examination Procedure as below:

-Formality examination: Under Intellectual Property Law of Vietnam, the above application will be examined as to form within one [01] month as from the filing date or date entering the national phase. If the invention application meets the requirements as to form, the NOIP will issue a decision of formality acceptance and then the application will be further processed. Publication of the Patent Application is within 02 months from publication date of 19 months from priority date.

-Substantive Examination: Substantive Examination does not automatically proceed from filing, and the applicant must request for substantive examination by 42 months from the priority date, or by 36 months if the request is for a utility model, otherwise the application will be considered as withdrawn.

-Notification of the Substantive Examination Results.

-The Decision of Refusal or Request to pay fee.

-Issuing the Patent of Invention.

5. Patent Term and Maintenance

Invention patents shall each have a validity starting from the grant date and expiring at the end of 20 years after the filing date. The owner of a Patent for Invention or Patent for Utility Model is required to pay annuity fees in order to maintain its validity.

If you are looking for an experienced IP services in Vietnam to help you with your IP application, you should visit ANTLawyers.vn. Our attorneys have experience with the IP process and will work closely with you as you apply for your IP.

 

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How to Register Mobile Application in E-commerce in Vietnam?

The service conducted via mobile applications is no longer a trend, but actually it has become an essential tool for any business that wish to grow and compete in the marketplace.

E-commerce applications on mobile platforms, referred to as mobile applications, are applications installed on networked mobile devices that allow users to access databases of other traders, organizations and individuals to purchase, sell, or use services, including sales applications and e-commerce service applications.

 

Register Mobile Application in E-commerce in Vietnam

Owners of sale applications, including traders, organizations or individuals that have been granted personal tax identification numbers, must notify the Vietnam Ministry of Industry and Trade of sale applications. Traders or organizations owning applications providing e-commerce services must carry out the registration procedures with the Vietnam Ministry of Industry and Trade. When announcing or registering a mobile application, traders and organizations should comply with the principles when using the mobile application with both sales and e-commerce service delivery functions, register with the Ministry of Industry and Trade according to regulations; and with a mobile application, traders, organizations and individuals only perform the notification or registration procedure once for different versions of the application.

In particular, notification of sales applications includes: application name; storage address or application download address; types of goods and services introduced on the website; registered name of trader, organization or name of website owner; the address of the trader, organization or permanent address of the individual; serial number, date of issue and place of issue of business registration certificate of the trader, or number, date of issue and unit issuing the decision on establishment of the organization; or an individual’s tax code; name, title, identity card number, telephone number and email address of the representative of the trader or person responsible for e-commerce website.

For registration of applications providing e-commerce services, registration documents include: an application for registration of e-commerce service provision; authenticated copy of establishment decision (for organizations), enterprise registration certificate, investment registration certificate (for traders); scheme of providing e-commerce services; operation management regulations of applications providing e-commerce services; form of service contract or cooperation agreement between traders and organizations owning applications providing e-commerce services and traders, organizations or individuals participating in the purchase, sale or auction, promotion for goods or services on that application; general trading conditions applicable to activities of purchase, sale, or auction, promotion of goods and services on applications (if any).

The process of notification of sales applications shall comply with the process of notification of sales e-commerce websites; The process of registering e-commerce service provision applications is similar to the process of registering e-commerce service websites at the E-commerce operation management portal. After the individual or organization has completed the mobile application registration procedure and it has been certified by the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the application will be allowed to conduct e-commerce activities.

If the owner of the sale application fails to notify the competent state management agency as prescribed, a fine of between VND 10,000,000 and VND 20,000,000 will be imposed. Besides, traders or organizations that set up e-commerce service applications without registering with competent state management agencies shall be subject to a fine of between VND 20,000,000 and VND 30,000,000.

Above is the brief on mobile application registration except for mobile applications in the fields of banking, credit, insurance, trading, money, gold, crypto currency and foreign exchange applications and other means of payment, payment applications, payment intermediary services and financial services, online game applications, betting applications or prize-winning games. Traders, organizations and individuals that own mobile applications in such special areas should pay attention to comply with regulations of laws in such areas to avoid violations to the laws of Vietnam or should consult with English speaking lawyers in Vietnam for advice.

ANT Lawyers - a Law firm in Vietnam with international standard, local expertise and strong international network. We focus on customers’ needs and provide clients with a high quality legal advice and services. For advice or service request, please contact us via email ant@antlawyers.vn, or call us +84 24 730 86 529

 

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