Vietnam: Inadequacies in trademark rights protection and enforcement

Inadequacies in trademark rights protection and enforcement, Inadequacies in trademark rights protection, Inadequacies in trademark rights enforcement, The history of infringement in Vietnam, The need to have a more stable and precise legal system in Vietnam

Vietnam: Inadequacies in trademark rights protection and enforcement

On May 26, The Rice Trader organization warned that Viet Nam might lose the right to participate in “World’s Best Rice” – the world’s best rice contest because some businesses infringed intellectual property rights.

The Rice Trader (TRT) announced that Ho Quang Tri – a private enterprise – is the first and only Vietnamese business to be legally recognized for using the symbolic award “Best Rice in the World” purely for marketing and business purposes.

However, in fact, about 10 Vietnamese companies are using this brand logo to print on packaging for business purposes in the market without TRT’s permission or approval. This is a violation of intellectual property rights and the terms of the award logo “best rice in the world”.

Not only jeopardizes the exclusive trademark owner’s rights and interests but this behavior also has ramifications for the whole Vietnamese rice sector. According to a TRT representative in Vietnam: If there is no reasonable solution for this action, In addition to publishing the identity of the infringing firm, the organization will consider cut off the right to participate  in the contest for the nation where the violations are present.

This is a situation that worries the public since the battles for trademark protection between Vietnamese businesses and international businesses have not yet abated, and businesses in the country are still fighting a “civil war” with opportunists, who lack transparency, and fairness in commercial rivalry.

The history of infringement in Vietnam

In the past, there have been many trademark infringement conflicts in the domestic market, such as the dispute over the trademarks of “Hao Hao” and “Hao Hang” noodles; the Asano trademark infringement lawsuit against Asanzo. Copyright dispute for the comic “Than dong dat Viet”;…

Or like the dispute for the “Truong Sinh” trademark, which occurs between the plaintiff, Foremost Vietnam Company (Foremost Company), and the defendant, Truong Sinh Industrial Company Limited (Truong Sinh Company).

On the plaintiff’s side, Foremost Company claims that the introduction of the soya milk product “Truong Sinh” to the market has reduced its reputation and resulted in lower sales of other goods on the market due to customer confusion. As a result, this business filed a lawsuit against Truong Sinh Company in Ha Noi’s People’s Court to require to end the infringement of industrial property rights for the “Truong Sinh” trademark and compensate for damage caused by the infringement.

On the defendant’s side, Truong Sinh Company raised new arguments, claiming that these are two distinct goods that cannot be confused by customers, the term “Truong Sinh” is just coincidental, and it cannot harm Foremost Company.

Based on the above example and the difficulties that exist in reality, numerous experts feel that the legal system in intellectual property management has many flaws that lead to the aforementioned situation.

Expert opinions

According to Attorney Nguyen Trong Hiep, Director of HPVN Law Firm, Article 226 of the 2015 Penal Code states: “Whoever intentionally infringes upon industrial property rights to a protected mark or geographical indication in Vietnam whose subject is counterfeit goods of trademarks or geographical indications on a commercial scale or illegally profiting from…”. In terms of the phrase “commercial scale,” it is the scientific term used in the TRIPS agreement, and Article 61 of that agreement mandates criminal penalties at the very least in situations of deliberate counterfeiting of a commercial scale trademark. While no legal papers define the idea of “counterfeiting trademark,” it must be deduced from the concept of “counterfeiting products.”

According to Lawyer Hiep, Article 213 of the 2005 Intellectual Property Law states, “Goods forged in terms of intellectual property under the provisions of this Law include counterfeit trademark goods and counterfeit geographical indications following regulations specified in Clause 2 of this Article, as well as pirated goods specified in Clause 3 of this Article.”

Lawyer Hiep further clarifies: “Counterfeit trademark goods, on the other hand, are goods or packages of goods affixed with trademarks or signs that are identical to or difficult to distinguish from the protected trademark or geographical indication used for the same item without the permission of the trademark owner or the organization in charge of the geographical indication.”

“When compared to Article 129 of the 2005 Intellectual Property Law, which prohibits activities that infringe on the trademark, trade name, or geographical indication rights, it is clear that the acts specified in Article 129 are deemed acts of industrial property rights infringement. The term “sign that is difficult to distinguish from the mark being protected” also needs to be considered  because all signs deemed to be infringing marks, geographical indications are generally difficult to distinguish (nondistinguishable) from a protected trademark or geographical indication.”

The need to have a more stable and precise legal system in Vietnam

Perhaps from legal deficiencies, many businesses today continue to disregard the infringement of trademark rights, brazenly infringing, notwithstanding the rights of the subjects covered by the trademark.

The fact also shows that the treatment of infringement of trademark rights is also extremely limited. Apart from the issue of aluminum Viet Phap Shal, the case of Sabeco being infringed on the trademark of Saigon Vietnam beer, recently, the violation file for the case of counterfeiting of the Tran Phu electric wire trademark was handed to the investigative agency by the authorities in Vinh Phuc province.

In light of the foregoing realities, trademark protection and enforcement are more important than ever in promoting, establishing, and maintaining business order, and in fostering a healthy competitive environment. As a result, authorities and management agencies must play a more active role in order to prevent inflicting harm to honest enterprises.

(Source: diendanphapluat)

*** 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]

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