Key Nodes in Southeast Asian Supply Chains
Vietnam is located at the southeastern tip of the Indochina Peninsula, surrounded by the sea on three sides, with numerous ports and rich natural resources. After more than 30 years of reform and opening up, Vietnam has turned from one of the poorest countries in the world to a middle-income country. At the same time, Vietnam joined the Association of Southeast Asian Nations ("ASEAN") in 1995, joined the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) in 1998, and joined the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2007. Effective improvement of basic design conditions, a stable political environment, and an ever-improving business environment, coupled with sufficient cheap labor and a growing domestic demand market, continue to actively conclude bilateral or Vietnam, which has multilateral economic and trade agreements, has become the first choice for foreign investors. In recent years, Sino-Vietnamese economic and trade cooperation has developed steadily. Vietnam has become China's largest trading partner among ASEAN countries for four consecutive years, and is also one of my country's top ten trading partners. As of the end of 2019, the investment of Chinese enterprises in Vietnam increased by 65% year-on-year, ranking seventh among the 135 countries and regions investing in Vietnam. China's "Belt and Road" initiative and Vietnam's "Two Corridors and One Circle" planning and development strategy have been smoothly connected, and relevant agreements have been signed on e-commerce, infrastructure cooperation, and regional negotiations on cross-border cooperation.
In practice, Chinese-funded enterprises should increase their awareness of intellectual property rights. If they plan to enter the Vietnamese market, it is recommended to submit an application to the competent authority of intellectual property rights in Vietnam as soon as possible at the right time. And should include clear intellectual property clauses in business contracts to reduce risks.
Vietnam continues to attract record FDI and is emerging as a leader among emerging markets, thanks in large part to a strong intellectual property environment. Vietnam's intellectual property protection system is mainly composed of provisions on intellectual property protection in the Intellectual Property Law, Civil Code, Trade Law, Competition Law, Civil Procedure Law and Criminal Law, as well as several international trade treaties that Vietnam has joined (such as CPTPP), and the types of intellectual property rights covered include invention patents, utility patents and industrial designs, layout designs of integrated circuits, trademarks, geographical indications, trade names, trade secrets, new varieties of plants, copyrights and copyright-related rights. In September 2010, in order to strengthen the protection of intellectual property rights, the Vietnamese government issued severe administrative punishment measures for violations of industrial property rights, and made major revisions to Vietnam's intellectual property rights regulations. Vietnam is a member of several intellectual property treaties and conventions, and is currently improving its domestic intellectual property protection system. In the third quarter of 2020, the "Vietnam-EU Free Trade Agreement" came into effect. The comprehensive intellectual property clauses in the agreement have made a high-level commitment to intellectual property protection, which will further strengthen and improve Vietnam's intellectual property environment. Vietnam is currently revising relevant domestic intellectual property laws to further improve the legal system in order to fulfill the commitments in the agreement. Today we will briefly introduce the patent application system in Vietnam.
Introduction to Vietnam Patent System
1. Types of patent protection in Vietnam
The types of protection stipulated in Vietnam’s patent law include invention patents, utility model patents and design patents.
2. Paths for Chinese applicants to apply for patents in Vietnam
Paris Convention, PCT International Application Entry into Vietnam, Direct Application
3. Review unit
The Vietnam National Office of Intellectual Property, NOIP, is an agency under the Ministry of Science and Technology of Vietnam, responsible for industrial property rights affairs, unified management of Vietnam's intellectual property system, and issuing recommendations on the protection of different forms of intellectual property rights. From the perspective of enforcement activities, the Vietnam Intellectual Property Office accepts and handles written requests from relevant intellectual property enforcement agencies (namely, the Investigation Department of the Ministry of Science and Technology of Vietnam), the Vietnam Market Supervision Bureau, and Vietnam Customs, and communicates with relevant law enforcement agencies. (i.e. Customs, the Investigation Department of the Ministry of Science and Technology of Vietnam, and the Market Surveillance Department of Vietnam) to provide necessary information and advice for the smooth implementation of IPR enforcement activities. In 2020, the Vietnam State Intellectual Property Office participated in a total of 4 administrative proceedings and provided 24 professional recommendations to the relevant courts. In addition, the Bureau attended several hearings and mediation sessions with relevant applicants and third parties in the Hanoi People's Court on the administrative decision it issued.
4. Submit your application
1) Deadline requirements:
- via Paris Convention : within 12 months from the earliest priority date
- Entry of PCT international application into Vietnam: within 31 months from the earliest priority date, non-extendable
2) Language requirements: The official language of the Vietnamese patent application is Vietnamese, and the application documents in English can be submitted at the time of application and the Vietnamese translation can be submitted later
3) Application method: You can submit a paper application to NOIP or apply online
5. Formal examination
After the date of application is determined and the applicant has not withdrawn the application, NOIP shall examine whether the application complies with the formal requirements stipulated by law. To submit a patent application in Vietnam, the original Power of Attorney signed by the applicant is required, and notarization is not required. In addition, it should be noted that when a Chinese applicant submits a patent application through the via Paris Convention or the direct application route, he needs to go through the confidentiality review procedures with the Chinese Patent Office in advance.
6. Disclosure procedure
After the application passes the formality examination, the patent application documents will be published by NOIP in the Intellectual Property Gazette within 18 months from the earliest priority date or within 2 months from the date of passing the formality examination (whichever is later).
7. Substantive examination procedure
The applicant can file for substantive examination at the same time as the application, or within 42 months from the earliest priority date. NOIP evaluates applications for novelty, inventive step and industrial applicability within 18 months from the date of publication of the application. In addition, applicants can also request to use search or examination results from other ASPEC member states to expedite the examination process of Indonesian patent applications.
8. Authorization procedure
After the patent has passed the substantive examination procedure, if the examiner believes that the conditions for granted are met, a notification of granted decision will be issued. The applicant can obtain the patent certificate after paying the authorized registrar's fee within the specified period.
Advantages of Vietnamese patents
1. If the invention patent application cannot meet the inventiveness requirements of NOIP, the applicant can choose to convert the invention patent application into a utility model patent application;
2. NOIP tends to rely on the examination results of the world's leading patent offices, such as the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the Japan Patent Office and the patent family granted by the European Patent Office. Therefore, even if the ISR Report, International Preliminary Examination Report on Patentability, or written by the International Preliminary Examining Authority considers that the patent application does not involve an inventive step, the applicant can still enter the national phase in Vietnam.
Friendliness to Chinese applicants:
★★★★
Gold content of patent rights:
★★★
The degree of perfection of the rights protection mechanism:
★★★
