Processing Procedures for Industrial Ownership Registration and Protection Certificate Issuance in Vietnam

Vietnam is a rapidly developing country in the fields of industry and innovation. To safeguard the rights of inventors and businesses, the process of industrial ownership registration and issuance of protection certificates is crucial. Below is a guide on this procedure in Vietnam.

Receiving Industrial Ownership Registration Applications, Submission Date

The state management agency for industrial ownership rights only accepts industrial ownership registration applications if they contain at least the following information and documents:

a) Application form for patent, industrial design, layout design, trademark, geographical indication, including sufficient information to identify the applicant and the trademark model, product category, services labeled with the trademark for trademark registration applications;

b) Description, including the scope of protection for patent registration applications; a set of photos, drawings, descriptions for industrial design registration applications; a description of the specific characteristics of the product with geographical indications for geographical indication registration applications;

c) Payment receipts for fees and charges.

The submission date is the date the state management agency for industrial ownership rights receives the application or the date of international submission for applications submitted under international conventions.

Applications for secret patents are processed according to government regulations.

Formal Examination of Industrial Ownership Registration Applications

The formal examination of industrial ownership registration applications is conducted to assess the validity of the application.

An industrial ownership registration application is considered invalid in the following cases:

a) The application does not meet formal requirements;

b) The subject stated in the application is not eligible for protection;

c) The applicant has no right to register, including cases where the registration right belongs to multiple organizations or individuals, but one or some of them do not agree to submit the application;

d) The application is submitted contrary to the regulations on submission procedures stipulated in Article 89 of the Intellectual Property Law;

e) The applicant does not submit the required fees and charges as regulated;

f) Patent registration applications are submitted contrary to the security control regulations for patents stipulated in Article 89a of the Intellectual Property Law.

Publication of Trademark Registration Applications, Announcement of Industrial Ownership Registration Applications

Trademark registration applications that have not been accepted as valid by the state management agency for industrial ownership rights are publicly disclosed immediately upon receipt.

Industrial ownership registration applications that have been accepted as valid by the state management agency for industrial ownership rights are announced in the Industrial Property Gazette.

Patent registration applications are announced in the nineteenth month from the filing date or from the priority date for applications entitled to priority, or at an earlier time as requested by the applicant.

Industrial design registration applications, trademark registration applications, geographical indication registration applications are announced within two months from the date the application is accepted as valid. Industrial design registration applications may be announced later upon the applicant’s request at the time of submission but no more than seven months from the filing date.

Layout design registration applications are published in a form that allows direct retrieval at the state management agency for industrial ownership rights but cannot be copied. Only the authorized agency and relevant parties involved in the process of invalidation of protection certificates or the process of handling infringement of new rights are allowed to access confidential information in the application.

Third Party Opinion on the Granting of Protection Certificates

From the date an industrial ownership registration application is published in the Industrial Property Gazette until the date a decision is made to grant a protection certificate, any third party has the right to express their opinion to the state management agency for industrial ownership rights regarding the granting or non-granting of a protection certificate for that application. The opinion must be documented and accompanied by evidence or citations to support it.

The document expressing the third party’s opinion is considered as a reference for the processing of the industrial ownership registration application.

Opposition to Industrial Ownership Registration

Before the decision to grant a protection certificate, within the following periods, any third party has the right to oppose the granting of a protection certificate:

a) Nine months from the date a patent registration application is published;

b) Four months from the date an industrial design registration application is published;

c) Five months from the date a trademark registration application is published;

d) Three months from the date a geographical indication registration application is published.

Opposition opinions must be documented and accompanied by evidence or citations to prove, and a fee must be submitted.

The state management agency for industrial ownership rights is responsible for handling opposition opinions following the procedures and regulations set by the Minister of Science and Technology.

Request for Examination of the Content of Patent Registration Applications

Within forty-two months from the filing date or from the priority date in the case of applications entitled to priority, the applicant for a patent registration or any third party may request the state management agency for industrial ownership rights to examine the content of the application, provided that a fee for examining the content is submitted.

The deadline for requesting an examination of the content of a patent registration application with a request for granting an Exclusive Certificate of Useful Solution is thirty-six months from the filing date or from the priority date for applications entitled to priority.

If there is no request for an examination of the content within the specified period, the patent registration application is considered withdrawn at the end of that period.

Examination of the Content of Industrial Ownership Registration Applications

The following industrial ownership registration applications are subject to content examination to assess the possibility of granting a protection certificate for the stated subject under the specified protection conditions and determine the corresponding scope of protection: a) Patent registration applications that have been recognized as valid and have a request for content examination as regulated; b) Valid industrial design registration applications, trademark registration applications, geographical indication registration applications.

Refusal to Grant Protection Certificate

Patent, industrial design, trademark, and geographical indication registration applications may be refused a protection certificate in the following cases:

a) There are grounds to assert that the subject stated in the application does not fully meet the protection conditions;

b) There are grounds to assert that the applicant has no right to register the industrial ownership subject or to register a trademark with malicious intent;

c) The application meets the conditions for granting a protection certificate but is not an application with a priority date or the earliest filing date under the cases stipulated in Clause 1 and Clause 2 of Article 90 of the Intellectual Property Law;

d) The application falls under the cases stipulated in Clause 3 of Article 90 of the Intellectual Property Law without the unanimous consent of all applicants;

e) Amendments or supplements to the application that expand the scope of the disclosed subject or alter the nature of the subject requested for registration.

Granting of Protection Certificate, Registration

Industrial ownership registration applications not falling under the cases of refusal as stipulated in Clauses 1, 1a, and 2, Point d, Clause 3 of Article 117 of the Intellectual Property Law, or for which the applicant has reasonable objections to the intended refusal as regulated in Point a, Clause 3 of Article 117 of the Intellectual Property Law, are processed as follows:

a) Notify the result of the content examination, specifying the intention to grant a protection certificate for the entire or part of the subject that meets the protection conditions and set a deadline for the applicant to submit fees or have objections to the result of the content examination;

b) Decide to grant a protection certificate and record it in the National Register of Industrial Ownership if the applicant submits fees.

In case of objections to the result of the content examination, the corresponding industrial ownership registration application is re-examined on the objected issues.

Complaints and Resolution of Complaints Regarding Industrial Ownership Procedures

Applicants and organizations, individuals directly related to decisions or notifications related to the processing of registration applications establishing ownership rights, maintenance, extension, amendment, termination, or invalidation of protection certificates for industrial ownership, or registration of contracts transferring industrial ownership rights issued by the state management agency for industrial ownership rights have the right to file complaints with the state management agency for industrial ownership rights or initiate lawsuits at the court as regulated by the Intellectual Property Law and other relevant regulations.

Vietnamese organizations, individuals, foreign individuals permanently residing in Vietnam, foreign organizations, individuals with production or business establishments in Vietnam may file complaints directly or through legal representatives in Vietnam.

Foreign individuals not permanently residing in Vietnam, foreign organizations, individuals without production or business establishments in Vietnam may file complaints through legal representatives in Vietnam.

*** Other Articles***

– You could visit here to see the Trademark Registration in Vietnam.

– You can also check the Vietnam Trademark Law: Detailed Guide And Legal Notes.

– You could check Questions of filing trademark in Vietnam: POA, Trademark requirement and trademark fee in Vietnam.

Contact AAA IPRIGHT: Email: [email protected]

Or sending your inquiry by filling the form: