What is the assignment of international trademark process?

Assignment of International Trademark Registration

In the progress of world integration, goods trading activities between countries and regions are becoming more and more developed, then the matters related to intellectual property is gradually being focused.

The individuals and organizations are aware of the benefit of registration the intellectual property subjects. In particular, they registered internationally for their trademark when widen their business abroad. After that, when trademark owner might wish to assign that granted certificate trademark to others for economic or other reasons.

 

Assignment of International Trademark Registration

What is the assignment of international trademark process?

In this case, international trademark was registered under Madrid agreement and Madrid Protocol, established under decision on acceptance for protection or international registration protected in Vietnam issued by National office of Intellectual property Vietnam (NOIP). Accordingly, the trademark application originated from Vietnam submitted to International office via NOIP. Thus, trademark owner whom wish to assign or register their trademark internationally pursuant to Madrid system would submit application via NOIP. However, for the application which appointed in the country which is the member of Madrid agreement, parties may request the international office to conduct the assignment procedure.

When conducting the assignment procedure via NOIP, applicant needs to prepare following documents:

·         Declaration for international trademark assignment;

·         Declaration of international office;

·         The copy of international trademark certificate in Vietnam;

·         The copy record of assignment to the local trademark;

Besides, other documents will be required based on specific cases.

ANT Lawyers - IP services in Vietnam located in the business centers of Hanoi, Danang, Ho Chi Minh city. We provide convenient access to our clients. Please contact our lawyers in Vietnam for Trademark registration services in Vietnam via email ant@antlawyers.vn or call our office at +84 28 730 86 529.

 

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“First to File” Principle in Intellectual Property Registration

First to file principle is one of the two principles in protecting industrial property besides priority principle.

 

Intellectual Property Rights in Vietnam

Accordingly, in case many applications are filed for registration of the same invention or similar inventions, or for registration of industrial designs identical with or insignificantly different from one another, the protection title may only be granted to the valid application with the earliest priority or filing date among applications satisfying all the conditions for the grant of a protection title.

Regarding trademark, in case there are more than one applications filed by different persons for registration of identical or confusingly similar marks for identical or similar products or services, or in case there are more than one applications filed by the same person for registration of identical marks for identical products or services, the protection title may only be granted for the mark in the valid application with the earliest priority or filing date among applications satisfying all the conditions for the grant of a protection title.

In case there are many registration applications specified above and satisfying all the conditions for the grant of a protection title and having the same earliest priority or filing date, the protection title may only be granted for the object of a single application out of these applications under an agreement of all applicants. Without such agreement, all relevant objects of these applications will be refused for the grant of a protection title.

To be concluded, this principle makes sure that one object of industrial property is granted for only one person or one organization. If the owner of object of industrial property could not consent to an agreement, all relevant objects of these applications will be refused for the grant of a protection title.

If the client needs help with handling such complaint, our IP attorneys in Vietnam at ANT Lawyers will be of help.

 

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Objects of Intellectual Property Rights in Vietnam

Intellectual property rights in Vietnam are the rights of organizations or individuals to trademarks, inventions, designs or other forms of creation. Currently, intellectual property rights are recognized as an asset class, which can constitute corporate assets. Popular Objects of intellectual property today include:

 

Objects of Intellectual Property Rights in Vietnam

1. Objects of copyright include literary, artistic and scientific works; objects of copyright-related rights include performances, sound recordings, video recordings; broadcasting programs; satellite signals carrying encrypted programs.

2. Objects of industrial property rights include inventions; industrial designs; layout-designs of semi-conductor integrated circuits; business secrets; trademarks; trade names and geographical indications.

3. Objects of rights to plant varieties are plant varieties and its propagating materials.

If you are looking for an experienced IP services in Vietnam to help you with your IP application, you should visit ANTLawyers.vn. Our attorneys have experience with the IP process and will work closely with you as you apply for your IP in Vietnam.

 

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New Regulations of Intellectual Property Law in 2022

Intellectual property is currently playing a very important role in Vietnam and other countries around the world. With the participation in Trade Agreements and market expansion, the regulations on intellectual property have had many positive changes towards the protection and promotion of intellectual property rights and in line with the general trend of countries.

 

Intellectual property rights in Vietnam

Intellectual property rights are the rights of organizations or individuals to trademarks, inventions, designs or other forms of creation. Currently, intellectual property rights are recognized as an asset class, which can constitute corporate assets. Popular groups of intellectual property today include: (i) Copyright; (ii) Inventions; (iii) Industrial design; (iv) Trademarks. These are objects created by thinking, mental labor, cognitive activities of people and protected by law.

Currently, intellectual property rights are governed by the 2005 Intellectual Property Law, which was amended and supplemented in 2009, and 2019. These are efforts in changing Vietnam’s legal system in raise awareness and perfect the legal system on intellectual property of Vietnam. Up to now, the Intellectual Property Law has created a legal corridor for organizations and individuals to establish and protect intellectual property rights, contributing to encouraging creative activities, and enhancing the value of intellectual property, wisdom. However, after 17 years since its promulgation, the Law on Intellectual Property has also arisen problems, inadequacies and incompatibility to ensure the implementation of commitments on intellectual property in trade agreements to which Vietnam is a member.

To implement the above guidelines and policies, the National Office of Intellectual has coordinated with relevant agencies to change and supplement regulations on intellectual property accordingly. Accordingly, the content of amendments to the Intellectual Property Law focuses on importnt groups of policies with about 100 amended and supplemented articles. Therefore, obstacles and inadequacies such as regulations on licensing of patents, industrial designs, layout designs and plant varieties are the result of scientific and technological tasks using the state budget; regulations relating to procedures for registration and establishment of intellectual property rights and validity of protection titles; regulations on security control for inventions before registration abroad; on compensation to patent owners for delays in marketing authorization of pharmaceutical products; on sound trademark protection; on geographical indication management; on liability for copyright and related rights for enterprises providing intermediary services.

In addition to the Draft of Intellectual Property Law, the Draft Circular is also proposed to stipulate economic – technical norms for a number of public services funded by the state budget, including training and retraining services on Intellectual Property, the service of confirming the validity of international registration of trademarks protected in Vietnam.

Moreover, the National Office of Intellectual also implemented the reform and modernization of the information technology system, reducing the burden of administrative procedures, internal processes to handle administrative procedures; actively review and evaluate administrative procedures and develop a plan for decentralization and simplification of administrative procedures in the field of intellectual property; organize the collection of fees and charges via commercial bank accounts and issue receipts of electronic fees and charges. In addition, the information synchronization for the Government’s National Public Service Portal is also interested in development.

The new Draft Law on Intellectual Property has many additions and adjustments in accordance with practical requirements and is expected to take effect, which will help solve problems that still exist. However, in order to ensure that the enforcement of intellectual property rights is effective and meets the set requirements, businesses need to pay attention and comply well with legal regulations.

If the client needs any other information or requires for further advice, our IP attorney in Vietnam at ANT Lawyers, the IP agent in Vietnam will be available for service.

 

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Subject Matters of Intellectual Property Rights in Vietnam

Subject matters of intellectual property rights in Vietnam is divided into three groups included: subject matter of copyright, subject matter of industrial property rights, subject matter of rights to plant varieties. In details:

 

Protect Intellectual Property Rights in Vietnam

-The subject matter of copyright shall comprise literary, artistic and scientific works; the subject matter of copyright related rights shall comprise performances, audio and visual fixation, broadcasts and satellite signals carrying coded programmes.

-The subject matter of industrial property rights shall comprise inventions, industrial designs, designs of semi-conducting closed circuits, trade secrets, marks, trade names and geographical indications.

-The subject matter of rights to plant varieties shall comprise plant varieties and harvested materials.

Pursuant to Intellectual Property right 2005 (amended in 2009), Intellectual property rights means rights of an organization or individual to intellectual assets comprising copyright and copyright related rights, industrial property rights and rights to plant varieties. For example, software computer program can be protected under Copyright, or name of a product can be protected under Industrial property right that is Trademark or the outward appearance of a car can be protected as Industrial design.

However, intellectual property rights are generated and established based on certain grounds:

Firstly, copyright shall arise at the moment a work is created and fixed in a certain material form, irrespective of its content, quality, form, mode and language and irrespective of whether or not such work has been published or registered. For instance, a musician is about to write a song, however, the idea of the song still bears in mind of the musician and have not written down yet. At that time, copyright of the musician still does not generate.

Secondly, related rights shall arise at the moment a performance, audio and visual fixation, broadcast or satellite signal carrying coded programmes is fixed or displayed without causing loss or damage to copyright. Related right is the right related to copyright. Proceeding to above example, when the musician has finished writing his song and is sung by the singer on stage, the right of the singer to sing the song of the musician is related right.

Thirdly, different grounds for the generation and establishment of industrial property right. As said above, industrial property rights include 7 subject matters: inventions, industrial designs, designs of semi-conducting closed circuits, trade secrets, marks, trade names and geographical indications. These subjects have different grounds for generating and establishing right:

-Industrial property rights to an invention, industrial design, layout design, mark or geographical indication shall be established on the basis of a decision of the competent State body to grant a protection title in accordance with the registration procedures;

-Industrial property rights to a trade name shall be established on the basis of lawful use thereof;

-Industrial property rights to a trade secret shall be established on the basis of lawful acquirement of the trade secret and maintaining confidentiality thereof.

Fourthly, rights to a plant variety shall be established on the basis of a decision of the competent State body to grant a plant variety protection title in accordance with the registration procedures

It is wise to consult the advice of a IP attorneys in Vietnam to help assist you with your patent. We are a legal marketplace with quality lawyers who are knowledgeable in various areas of the law—including patents.

ANT Lawyers is a law firm in Vietnam, recognized by Legal500, IFLR1000. We are an exclusive Vietnam member of Prea Legal, the global law firm network covering more than 150 jurisdictions. The firm provides a range of legal services to multinational and domestic clients.

 

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What Are Requirements For Sets of photos or Drawings of Industrial Design?

Set of photos or drawings is one the most important documents of the dossier for registration industrial design. According to the laws on intellectual property of Vietnam, what sets of photos or drawings of industrial designs are required to satisfy which conditions?

In details, the following conditions are required for the sets of photos or drawings of industrial design:

-Photos or drawings must be clear and well defined; drawings must be presented with unbroken lines; the background of a photo or drawing must be monochrome and contrast with the industrial design; a photo or drawing must show only the product imbued with the industrial design sought to be protected (not accompanied with another product);

 

Register Industrial Design in Vietnam

-Photos or drawings must show the industrial design on the same scale. The size of the industrial design shown in photos or drawings must neither be smaller than 90 mm x 120 mm nor larger than 190 mm x 277 mm;

-Photos and drawings must show the industrial design viewed in the same direction and in the following order: three-dimensional picture of the industrial design, front, rear, right-side-left-side, top-down and down-top shadows of the industrial design; shown shadows must be frontispieces.

-For an industrial design with symmetrical shadows, its photos or drawings are not required to show more symmetrical shadows, provided that such is clearly stated in the list of photos and drawings in the description;

-For the industrial design of an expandable product (for instance: box, package), shadows of the industrial design may be replaced with photos or drawings of the industrial design in an expandable state.

-Depending on the complexity of an industrial design, more photos or three-dimensional drawings from other angles, cross-sections or magnified pictures of parts, pictures of knocked down components of the product, etc., may be required to clearly show new and distinctive design features of the industrial design sought to be protected.

-For a product that have different usages (for example: a product with cover or foldable), there must be photos or drawings of its industrial design in different states.

-For the industrial design of a part of a complete product, there must be more photos or drawings illustrating the position for fitting or use of such part on the complete set of product.

-For each variation of the industrial design, there must be a set of photos or drawings fully presenting it according to the above conditions.

-For a set of products, there must be three- dimensional pictures of the whole set and a set of photos or drawings of each product in the set according to the above conditions.

If Client needs more information or request for legal advice regarding intellectual property matters, please contact with ANT Lawyers to be assisted.

ANT Lawyers is supported by a team of experienced IP attorneys in Vietnam with qualification and skills handling full range of legal services relating to intellectual property in Vietnam. We have specialized in the preparation and registration of patents, trademarks and industrial designs for our clients.

 

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Brief Reminder of Time Schedule to Apply PCT Application into Vietnam

According to Vietnam Law on Intellectual property, a PCT applicant who would like to go into Vietnamese phase after the end of PCT procedures need to submit the application within the following duration:

 

Register patent in Vietnam

If an international application designates Vietnam, the National Office of Intellectual Property in Vietnam (NOIP) is the designated office. In this case, in order to enter the national phase, the applicant shall submit, within 31 months from the date of priority, to the NOIP the following:

-Written declaration requesting invention registration, made according to a set form;

-Copy of the international application (if the applicant requests the entry into the national phase before the date of publication of the international publication);

-Vietnamese translation of the international application: The description, consisting of a description section, protection request, annotations for drawings and abstract (the published copy or initially filed original application, if the application has not yet been published, and modified copy and explanation of modified contents, if the international application has been modified under Article 19 of Patent Cooperation Treaty;

-National charges and fees.

If an international application elects Vietnam, the NOIP is the elected office. In this case, if the election of Vietnam is made within 19 months from the date of priority, in order to enter the national phase, the applicant shall submit, within 31 months from the date of priority, to the NOIP the following documents:

-Written declaration request;

-Sting invention registration, made according to a set form;

-Vietnamese translation of the international application: The description, consisting of a description section, protection request, annotations for drawings and abstract (the published copy or initially filed original application, if the application has not yet been published, and modified copy and explanation of modified contents, if the international application has been modified under Article 19 and/or Article 34(2)(b) of the Treaty);

-Vietnamese translations of annexes to the international preliminary examination report (when substantive examination of the application is requested);

-National charges and fees.

After having submitted the application, the time  when the processing of an international application designating or electing Vietnam in the national phase starts is the first day of the thirty second month from the date of priority if the applicant files no written request for entry into the national phase earlier than the above time limits. The international application shall be put to formality examination and substantive examination according to the procedures applicable to ordinary invention registration applications. If the applicant requests in writing earlier examination of his/her application and pay the prescribed charge, the international application shall be examined earlier than the time limit specified above in accordance with the provisions of Article 2 3(2) of the Treaty.

Please be noted that in addition to the cases where an international application is considered withdrawn specified in the Treaty and the Regulation on implementation of the Treaty, an international application designating or electing Vietnam shall be considered withdrawn if the national fees are not paid to the NOIP or there is no Vietnamese translation upon the expiration of the set time limit.

It is important to adhere to the deadline and patent attorney of ANT Lawyers always follow up with the Client to remind on the schedule to follow when submitting for PCT application in Vietnam.

It is important to adhere to the deadline and patent attorney in Vietnam of ANT Lawyers always follow up with the Client to remind on the schedule to follow when submitting for PCT application in Vietnam.

If you're looking for an affordable IP attorneys in Vietnam, check out ANT Lawyers.vn was established to meet these needs by providing fast, effective and economical solutions. Hope that clears things up a bit. Feel free to message me directly to chat further about any other IP questions that you face.

 

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Subject Matters of Intellectual Property Rights in Vietnam

Subject matters of intellectual property rights in Vietnam is divided into three groups included: subject matter of copyright, subject matter of industrial property rights, subject matter of rights to plant varieties. In details:

 

Protect Intellectual Property Rights in Vietnam

-The subject matter of copyright shall comprise literary, artistic and scientific works; the subject matter of copyright related rights shall comprise performances, audio and visual fixation, broadcasts and satellite signals carrying coded programmes.

-The subject matter of industrial property rights shall comprise inventions, industrial designs, designs of semi-conducting closed circuits, trade secrets, marks, trade names and geographical indications.

-The subject matter of rights to plant varieties shall comprise plant varieties and harvested materials.

Pursuant to Intellectual Property right 2005 (amended in 2009), Intellectual property rights means rights of an organization or individual to intellectual assets comprising copyright and copyright related rights, industrial property rights and rights to plant varieties. For example, software computer program can be protected under Copyright, or name of a product can be protected under Industrial property right that is Trademark or the outward appearance of a car can be protected as Industrial design.

However, intellectual property rights are generated and established based on certain grounds:

Firstly, copyright shall arise at the moment a work is created and fixed in a certain material form, irrespective of its content, quality, form, mode and language and irrespective of whether or not such work has been published or registered. For instance, a musician is about to write a song, however, the idea of the song still bears in mind of the musician and have not written down yet. At that time, copyright of the musician still does not generate.

Secondly, related rights shall arise at the moment a performance, audio and visual fixation, broadcast or satellite signal carrying coded programmes is fixed or displayed without causing loss or damage to copyright. Related right is the right related to copyright. Proceeding to above example, when the musician has finished writing his song and is sung by the singer on stage, the right of the singer to sing the song of the musician is related right.

Thirdly, different grounds for the generation and establishment of industrial property right. As said above, industrial property rights include 7 subject matters: inventions, industrial designs, designs of semi-conducting closed circuits, trade secrets, marks, trade names and geographical indications. These subjects have different grounds for generating and establishing right:

-Industrial property rights to an invention, industrial design, layout design, mark or geographical indication shall be established on the basis of a decision of the competent State body to grant a protection title in accordance with the registration procedures;

-Industrial property rights to a trade name shall be established on the basis of lawful use thereof;

-Industrial property rights to a trade secret shall be established on the basis of lawful acquirement of the trade secret and maintaining confidentiality thereof.

Fourthly, rights to a plant variety shall be established on the basis of a decision of the competent State body to grant a plant variety protection title in accordance with the registration procedures

It is wise to consult the advice of a IP attorneys in Vietnam to help assist you with your patent. We are a legal marketplace with quality lawyers who are knowledgeable in various areas of the law—including patents.

ANT Lawyers is a law firm in Vietnam, recognized by Legal500, IFLR1000. We are an exclusive Vietnam member of Prea Legal, the global law firm network covering more than 150 jurisdictions. The firm provides a range of legal services to multinational and domestic clients.

 

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Infringement of Intellectual Property Rights Under Vietnam’s Criminal Code

For the purpose of ensuring legitimate interest of manufacturers as well as consumers, reduction and elimination unfair commercial competition, the Vietnam government has been increasingly focusing on protection of intellectual property (IP) rights. This is expected to contribute to technical enhancement in domestic production industry, foreign investment attraction, reduction of IP infringement in Vietnam.

 

Intellectual property rights always plays an important role in international trade agreements which Vietnam has been a contracting party, especially ASEAN and WTO. The WTO requires its members to impose penalties or fines, or both, to prevent acts of intellectual property infringement for commercial purposes, in accordance with the penalty applicable to the crime of corresponding severity.

In order to consolidate and protect the social order; punish crimes; raise people’s awareness of compliance with the law; prevent and fight crimes, Vietnam has legalized sanctions for infringements of intellectual property rights in Vietnam under administrative, civil and criminal measures.

The Criminal Code 1999 (amended and supplemented in 2009) regulated provisions on “Infringement of industrial property rights” (Article 171). The criminal sanctions for infringement of intellectual property right are regulated in Article 225 and Article 226 of the Criminal Code 2015.

Regarding the subject of infringement of intellectual property rights, the offenders shall be (i) person who is at the sufficient age to bear criminal responsibilities; or (ii) corporate legal entity as defined in the Civil Code.

The effective protection of intellectual property rights will be an important factor that protect the interests of consumers, manufacturers, eliminating “distortion” of competition and commerce.  In common playgrounds, Vietnam as well as other member countries must strictly comply with the regulations on IP issues to integrate into global economy.

To learn more about ANT Lawyers IP Practice or contact our IP attorneys lawyers in Vietnam for advice via email ant@antlawyers.vn or call our office at (+84) 24 730 86 529

 

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