TRADEMARK LAW OF VIETNAM

The central law on trademarks in Vietnam is Part VI of the Civil Code 1995. This contains basic provisions for the protection and enforcement of trademarks and other IP rights in Vietnam.The Vietnamese government and its agencies have issued many normative legal documents to implement Part VI of the Civil Code.

 

The Civil Code (including Part VI) is currently being amended under the leadership of the Ministry of Justice. Recently, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Ministry of Culture and Information concluded that the best way to upgrade Vietnamese IP law is to replace Part VI of the Civil Code with a comprehensive new Intellectual Property Law.

 

UNREGISTERED TRADEMARK 

On December 3 2004 the National Assembly adopted a new Competition Law, which will take effect on July 1 2005. Articles 39 and 40 prohibit the use of ‘misleading indications’. According to Article 5, this law will pre-empt other laws and regulations governing unfair competition, including Decree 54/2000/ND-CP, to the extent of any inconsistencies.
 

Use requirements: As there is no legislation that directly addresses the issue of establishing unregistered rights, the National Office of Intellectual Property (NOIP) has looked to Articles 6(1)(b) and 6(1)(e) of Decree 63/CP for guidance on the matter. Under Articles 6(1)(b) and 6(1)(e), a sign will not be registered as a trademark if it is identical or confusingly similar to:
• another’s registered trademark;
• a well-known mark; or
• a mark that has been used and is widely recognized.

 

REGISTRABLE MARKS

To be registered as a trademark or service mark in Vietnam, a visible sign (ie, a word, name, symbol, device or any combination thereof) must be:
• distinctive;
• not deceptive;
• not contrary to public order or morality; and
• not identical or confusingly similar to another’s earlier-filed or registered trademark in respect of similar goods or services, to a
well-known mark or to a widely used and recognized mark.
 

A sign that is not inherently distinctive – such as a single letter, numeral or simple geometric shape – may be registered as a trademark or service mark if it has acquired secondary meaning.

 

 

TERM OF PROTECTION

A Certificate of Trademark Registration shall take effect from the granting date for a period of ten (10) years calculated from the filing date of the application and is renewable indefinitely for periods of ten years.

 

To renew Certificate of Trademark Registration the renewal request shall be filed with the NOIP within 6 months before the expiry date of the preceding validity term subject to payment of renewal fees.

 

 

PROCEDURE OF REGISTRATION

To obtain a national trademark registration, an application must be filed with NOIP in the required form. NOIP practice is to use the
International Classification of Goods and Services under the Nice Agreement. A trademark application may cover more than one class.  The first-to-file principle applies.
 

A trademark application will be examined as to form within three months of the filing date. If found acceptable, the application will be published in the Official Gazette during the next two months.

 

The application is then examined to ensure that the trademark is distinctive, is not deceptive and does not conflict with earlier-filed or earlier-registered trademarks.During the substantive examination period, any person who considers that the trademark does not meet the registration requirements may file a notice of opposition with NOIP.

 

If there are no objections or oppositions, or if the applicant overcomes all objections and oppositions, NOIP will register the trademark, issue a certificate of registration and publish the registered trademark in the Official Gazette.