- Asian
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trademark law
On November 29, 2005, Vietnam promulgated a unified Intellectual Property Law, which came into effect on July 1, 2006. On January 15, 2018, the fourth amendment to Vietnam's intellectual property law came into effect. The content of this amendment resolved many issues and doubts, and aligned Vietnam's intellectual property law with the international intellectual property system, creating favorable conditions for applicants to obtain intellectual property in Vietnam.
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official language
Vietnamese
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Duration
Vietnamese trademarks follow the principle of "application first", and it takes about 1-2 years to register successfully, with a protection period of 10 years. If a registered trademark is not used for five consecutive years, anyone can apply for its revocation.
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Trademark Renewal
The renewal period for Vietnamese trademarks is 6 months before expiration. There is a six-month grace period, but there is a penalty.
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Trademark classification
Although Vietnam is not a member of the Nice Agreement, according to the Nice classification, generally selecting standard Nice goods/services can be accepted.
When applying for a trademark in Vietnam, each category is limited to 6 goods/services, and additional fees will be incurred for exceeding the limit. -
Special precautions
Pure Chinese trademarks in Vietnam are often rejected on absolute grounds of lack of distinctiveness, and it is recommended to apply in combination with other English characters. Trademarks that usually contain the name of a country cannot be approved for registration.
At the appeal stage, new facts/details are not accepted in the application, but according to the request of the applicant or the appellant, the China National Intellectual Property Administration of Vietnam can review these new facts/details again. If the appeal case has a certain degree of complexity, the appeal resolution body is allowed to seek the opinion of independent experts.
Vietnam is a member state of Madrid, and can choose to file a separate trademark application in Vietnam or apply for a trademark through Madrid designated Vietnam.
Both companies and individuals can apply for trademark registration in Vietnam.
After submitting an application for a trademark in Vietnam, a formal examination is usually conducted, which takes 1-3 months. If the examination meets the formal requirements, the official will issue a decision to accept the trademark registration application. If the examination does not meet the formal requirements, the official will issue a "Notice of Examination Results", specifying the reasons for rejection.
The applicant has 2 months to respond or modify their application, and then the examiner will review it again. This process can be repeated and can be extended. If the applicant fails to respond within the deadline or the response does not meet the examiner's satisfaction, the official will issue a "Notice of Refusal to Accept the Application". At this point, the applicant should file an appeal within 90 days from the date of notification.
The trademark will be announced in the official industrial property bulletin within 2 months from the date of acceptance through formal examination. From the date of announcement until the approval of the registration decision, any organization or individual has the right to raise objections.
Madrid designates Vietnam to file an objection within 12 months after the WIPO announcement.
The China National Intellectual Property Administration of Vietnam is obliged to inform the objector of the review results.
The deadline for substantive examination of trademarks by examiners is 6 months from the date of publication, which may be extended depending on the applicant's response. If the substantive examination fails, the applicant may submit a rejection review within 3 months from the date of notification, which can only be extended once. At that time, the trademark will be re examined, and the review time limit shall not exceed 6 months.
If the applicant does not take any action based on the substantive examination results, or if the re examination results still render the trademark unregistered, the official will issue a "Notice of Refusal of Trademark Registration". In response to this notice, the applicant may appeal to the Director of the China National Intellectual Property Administration or file a lawsuit to the court.
If the substantive examination is passed, the applicant shall pay the registration fee and announcement fee within 3 months from the date of notification, in order for the official issuance of the trademark registration certificate.
The registered trademark will be registered in the National Trademark Registry and announced in the Industrial Property Official Gazette within 2 months from the date of issuance of the trademark registration certificate.
Trademark application form;
·Trademark design;
·Proof of official fee payment;
·If applying for registration of a collective trademark or certification trademark, it is also necessary to provide the standards for the use and management of the trademark;
·Authorization letter;
·Proof of transfer of application rights;
·Proof of ownership;
·Priority proof documents, etc.
