IT experts debated the occurrence of software patent violations in Vietnam during its international integration at a workshop in Hanoi on May 16. They shared the view that software patent violations will badly affect foreign investment in the country and the development of software products for local use and export.

There is no denying that software products are applied to almost all aspects of life, and have caused a revolution in labour efficiency for the entire society. However, the awareness and application of such products are not up to par.

According to software experts, the rate of software patent violations in Vietnam remains high although the number of violations has annually reduced by 2 percent over the past three years. Such violations have badly affected the development of software products for local use and export as well as inflows of foreign investment.

Truong Gia Binh, General Director of Corporation for Financing and Promoting Technology (FPT) expressed his deep concern about the situation at the workshop.

“In an incomplete legal environment, a software product of this company is illegally used by another company and vice versa. This means there is a lack of motivation for software development in Vietnam. We hope that commitments to ensuring ownership of copyright should be fulfilled because it is a prerequisite for us to develop the software industry. The ownership of copyright is a must for businesses if they want to be listed on the bourse.”

Many information technology businesses say users do not receive any technical support from producers if they use unlicensed copies of software products. This means these software products are incomplete which will deliberately reduce operation and competitive capacity of domestic businesses in the long run.

Some other experts say that despite a high rate of violations, the value of software patent violations in Vietnam is rather low compared to other countries in the region and the world. According to the Business Software Alliance (BSA), Vietnam’s violations of software patents last year were estimated at US$96 million to rank second after New Zealand in terms of low value in the Asia-Pacific region.

Nguyen Long, General Secretary of the Vietnam Informatics Association, said “We are interested in how users benefit from these software products. For example, do we purchase office software products that can be replaced at a cost of between US$600-900? Or do we have other ways to help producers reduce production costs. But in fact, not all producers agree to lower the prices of their products in Vietnam.”

The ownership of copyright has become an important issue after Vietnam joined the World Trade Organisation to fulfil its commitments to protecting copyright and intellectual property. One of the primary solutions is to finalise the legal environment, increase management capacity of State agencies, and support the development of the software industry so as to increase the competitive capacity of software businesses. In addition, it is imperative to accelerate the implementation of open source software development and application projects in Vietnam.

Vu Duc Danh, deputy Minister of Post and Telematics said the issue should be carried out in two steps simultaneously.

“First, we must have comprehensive solutions for building relations with strategic partners instead of simply making transactions with foreign software product suppliers. Particularly we should convince foreign investors that we are potential partners. Second, there must be appropriate solutions for developing the software industry so that its products are not only those of Vietnamese enterprises but also those of international cooperation.”