FAQs

After or when receiving protection certificate, the holder does not need proof of use for trademark in Vietnam. However, the trademark must be used practically and when having a request, the owner is required to prove their use of trademark in Vietnam by proving that the holder has carried out trading actions with their trademark such as advertising, establishing business locations and especially providing customers with their items/services. If the trademark has not been used by its owner or the licensee of the owner without justifiable reason for five consecutive years, the effectiveness of the trademark shall be terminated upon request of other third party.

In conclusion, although the owner does not need to prove the use of their trademark, they must use their trademark in fact. When they do not use it for five consecutive years, if having evidences, a third party could terminate the rights to their trademark in Vietnam.

In order to receive trademark certificate in Vietnam, it will take about 20 months from the filing date of Vietnam trademark application which is applicable in a straight forward case. Trademark certificate in Vietnam shall have design as follows:

English translation of Vietnam trademark certificate is hereafter provided:

CERTIFICATE OF TRADE MARK REGISTRATION NO.: 2778

Trademark:

Color:

Classification: Normal

Other Content:

List of Goods/ Services covered by the Trademark:

Class 05: Candy for medical purposes; pharmaceutical preparations; medicines for human purposes;  medicinal  herbs;  medicinal  drinks;  syrups  for pharmaceutical purposes.

* OTHER NOTES *

You can also check the Fee of Trademark In Vietnam here. 

– Regarding the required documents of trademark in Vietnam, you can see here.

– You could visit here to see Procedure of Vietnam Trademark Registration.

– Other questions of trademark in Vietnam here.

– You could also check the trademark fees in ASEAN countries here. All with affordable fees.

– You could also check the trademark fees in ASIA here. All with affordable fees. 

Today, an increasing number of individuals and organizations are granted certificates for their trademark in Vietnam. However, after receiving certificates, the holder needs to know which rights they have and how they can use the trademark and settle the infringement with the trademark.

In Vietnam, the holder’s trademark is protected in 10 years from the time of filing the trademark application. Moreover, the holder may renew the protection certificate for unlimited times with 10 years per time with necessary documents including power of attorney and original certificate of registration. In case of that the renewable date has expired, 6 months is a grace period for registration renewal.

In addition, the trademark holder has rights to use their trademark in Vietnam, oppose the subsequent conflicting application, bring a cancellation action against a subsequent conflicting registration, sue for infringement against confusingly similar third party trademark use, license other third parties to use the trademark, apply for seizure by customs authorities for importation of counterfeit goods and obtain damages for infringement.

Therefore, knowing which rights they have after having certificates is very important for individuals and organizations to protect their rights and settle the infringement related to their trademark.

In general, the Intellectual Property Law of each nation is quite different, so the procedure of trademark registration is not the same in particular. Hence, knowing the procedure of trademark registration in Vietnam is very necessary to help individuals and organizations register their trademark in Vietnam easily.

In Vietnam, before filing a trademark application, the holder should conduct trademark search in Vietnam to undertake that they have a good chance to register their trademark successfully. After, they should register that trademark in Vietnam as soon as possible and the approximate time frame for Vietnam trademark registration is from 18 to 24 months without an opposition.

However, within the time from when the application is published on gazette by Trademark Office, others can file an opposition against the holder’s trademark if having legitimate reasons. Finally, after the Vietnam trademark is registered successfully without opposition, the holder is granted a protection certificate.

In conclusion, knowing exactly the procedure of trademark registration in Vietnam is an important factor for the owner to register a trademark successfully.

With global economic integration, that trademarks of international individuals and organizations enter into Vietnam is an indispensible element. Hence, Vietnam takes part in global Agreement and Treaties to create convenient conditions for their trademark registration.

In addition to the provisions of Vietnamese law, with the integration, the law on trademark in Vietnam is regulated by Treaties, Conventions, Bilateral and Multilateral Agreements which are Trips, Paris Convention, Madrid Agreement, Protocol Relating to the Madrid Agreement, Nice Agreement, Vienna Agreement, Vietnam-US Bilateral Agreement, etc. to protect international trademark as well as Vietnamese trademark is protected in other countries.

Therefore, thanks to the integration, the Vietnamese intellectual property Law is more and more enhanced to protect the trademark of international individuals and organizations.

Today, trademark rules of almost nations across the world are “first to file” and “first to use” which are the basis to have rights of a trademark of the owner. Hence, knowing the trademark rule of a nation is very essential with the owner of a trademark to determine the time when they have rights.

Vietnam applied the rule “first to file”, which is the same with many countries such as Laos, Cambodia, South Korea, Canada, Thailand, China, the EU, Indonesia, Japan, Philippines, meaning that the person, who files a Vietnam trademark application firstly, shall have prior rights with that trademark, no matter how long others use it. Hence, the use for a trademark is not the evidence to prove that you have rights for such trademark.

Therefore, individuals and organizations must file trademark applications in Vietnam as soon as possible to enjoy rights with their trademark.

Today, with economic integration, the law on the intellectual property in Vietnam is more and more developed and an increasing number of trademark applications are filed to Trademark Office in Vietnam. Hence, understanding what the trademark is are very essential so that a trademark of an individual or an organization can be protected in Vietnam.

In Vietnam, trademark means any sign used to distinguish goods or services of different organizations or individuals and trademark in Vietnam shall be eligible for protection when it satisfies the following conditions: “It is a visible sign in the form of letters, words, drawings or images including holograms, or a combination thereof, represented in one or more colours; It is capable of distinguishing goods or services of the trademark owner from those of other subjects.” When a trademark of an individual or an organization is protected, they shall have rights to deal with others who violate such trademark.

Therefore, the owner wants their trademark to be protected, at least it must meet above conditions to have protection in Vietnam.