How will the fulfilment of the commitments relating to intellectual property (IP) be implemented in Vietnam?

There are three key issues when joining WTO: goods trade, service trade and IP protection. The agreement on Trade related Aspects of Intellectual Property (TRIPs) stipulates that WTO members must have legal framework on IP protection. In Vietnam, the Law on IP protection was enacted, coming into force since July 1, 2006, which is considered as come in line with the requirements set by WTO.

With the WTO membership, the implementation of IP rights has entered a new period. In the past, NOIP received some 6,000 applications for trademark registration a year only, while it received 27,500 applications in 2006 alone. The 2006’s number of applications was equivalent to that in several regional countries, including Thailand and the Philippines. It is a noteworthy thing that the applications made by domestic companies amounted to 60% of total applications, while foreign invested companies amounted to 40% instead of the 30/70 proportions as previously seen.

What are the hottest issues in IP protection in Vietnam?

Now in Vietnam, the number of applications for patent protection is very few, and so is the number of applications for industrial designs.

Regarding the software copyright, the figure of illegally used software was announced at 92% in 2005 and 90% in 2006. However, according to the International Software Association, the absolute value of the uncopyrighted software was at approximately $90mil, a quite small volume if compared to the huge sum of $92bil in China. Therefore, the protection of enterprises’ trademarks is the hottest issue in IP right protection.

You have said that enterprises have been paying more attention to the registration of trademarks, but in fact, the number of applications remains modest. Will the regulation on ‘famous trademarks’ help in this case?

As you may know, the regulation on ‘famous trademarks” stipulated by the Law on IP Protection now allows to protect the well known trademarks, though the owners do not ask for the trademark protection. This is the legalisation of the 6bis provision of the Paris Convention of which Vietnam is a member. NOIP once refused to grant the certificate on trademark protection to an Australian company, which applied for the protection of Mc Donald and Kentucky trademarks, even when the two trademarks did not appear in Vietnam.

Is there any Vietnamese company which can get benefits from the regulation on famous trademarks?

Yes, there is. A company, specialising in making fish sauce in the south, applied for ‘Miliket’ trademark registration. However, we have refused granting certificate on the trademark protection to the company, though the real owner of Miliket trademark, an instant noodle company, had not applied for the trademark registration at that time.

Regarding the recognising of “famous trademarks” abroad, we have granted the certificate on trademark protection to PetroVietnam, which helped the corporation to ask for the trademark back in the US.

Source: VNECONOMY