Important Matters on Intellectual Properties Rights Registration in Vietnam

In the process of development of global business, the growth of multinational corporations or business will help individuals and companies to bring their products to the world. In addition to bringing their products to customers, the protection of intellectual property rights for products created is extremely important and necessary. We would like to highlight important matters when registering for intellectual property rights protection in Vietnam.

First, in order to be able to register for protection of intellectual property rights, the protected product must meet all conditions to be protected under the provisions of the Intellectual Property Law of Vietnam.

After meeting all of conditions for protection of intellectual property rights, the owner should pay attention to the procedures for registering intellectual property rights. According to the Intellectual Property Law 2005, the time of intellectual property rights to copyright is when products are created and expressed in a certain material form without needing to register. However, industrial property rights for inventions, industrial designs, layout designs, trademarks, geographical indications are established on the basis of a decision to grant protection titles by competent state agencies rights under the registration procedures prescribed in the Intellectual Property Law or recognition of international registration under the provisions of international treaties to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a member; for well-known trademarks, ownership is established on the basis of use, regardless of the registration procedure. Therefore, in order to be able to establish their intellectual property rights for products created, the owner needs to register for product protection in accordance with regulations, the order given by the Law on Intellectual Property in Vietnam.

In addition to the prescribed registration procedures, the owner should pay attention to the time of filing the application for protection, and it is suggested to submit the application as soon as possible. Under the provisions of the Intellectual Property Law, in cases where many applications forinventions are identical or similar, industrial designs are identical or not significantly different from each other, the protection title shall be granted only for an invention or industrial design on a valid application, the earliest priority date or filing date shall be among the applications that meet the conditions for being granted a protection title. In the case of multiple applications by different people registering marks that are identical or confusingly similar to each other for products or services that are identical or similar to each other or in the case of multiple applications of the same those who register identical marks for identical products or services, the protection title is only granted to the trademark in the valid application with the earliest priority date or filing date among the applications that meet the requirements sued to be granted a protection title. In case there are many applications for registration as stipulated above and all meet the conditions to be granted a protection title and have the same priority date or the earliest filing date, the protection title will only be granted to the subject of a single application of those applications as agreed by all applicants; if no agreement is reached, the corresponding objects of those applications are refused the protection certificate.

Therefore, in order to protect their intellectual property rights, the owner needs to meet all conditions for the product, in addition to necessary procedures as prescribed by law and promptly  apply for a certificate of protection for the product. The protection of products will help individuals and companies gain competitive edge during their commercial operation, in addition to avoiding the risks of being infringed upon intellectual property rights.

ANT Lawyers with a team of experienced lawyers, IP consultants and IP agent in Vietnam in the field of Intellectual Property will help customers implement procedures for registering intellectual property rights in the most effective way

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Legal Regulations in Purchasing Real Estate in for Foreigners in Vietnam

Vietnam has become a better place for foreigners to visiting and staying. Many chose Vietnam as home and they come to Ho Chi Minh City, Ha Noi, Da Nang, Phu Quoc, Nha Trang… to buy real estates for living. Many foreigners consider seeking understanding and with the advisory of their real estate lawyers in Vietnam to purchase the property under their name for best interest protection. There are a number of foreigners seek to cooperate with local Vietnamese under investment agreement to invest in properties. It has always been suggested the buyer or investor to receive legal advice from real estate lawyers and law firms in Vietnam before committing the investment to a certain extent.

According to the Law on housing 2005, foreign organizations and individuals investing in construction of houses for sale and lease in Vietnam have the right to own the houses in Vietnam. However, according to the provisions of the Law on housing 2014, the house owners expand and include foreigners being investors building the houses under investor projects, foreign organizations operating in Vietnam and foreign individuals being allowed to enter Vietnam under the provisions of the Law on Entry, Exit, Transit and Residence of Foreigners in Vietnam; and are not entitled to diplomatic privileges and immunities.

Under the provisions of the Law on housing 2014, foreign organizations and individuals are allowed to own apartments, individual houses (villas and townhouses) in commercial housing projects. The total number of foreign individuals/organizations owned does not exceed 30% of an apartment building or does not exceed 10% or 250 houses of a housing project. Foreign individuals may own houses for up to 50 years and are allowed to extend for no more than 50 years. Foreign organizations own the houses according to the time limit on the Investment Registration Certificate and the extension period. During the time of owning the houses, foreign individuals are allowed to sublease, but foreign organizations are not allowed to sublease the houses.

For foreign individuals/organizations, when buying the houses in Vietnam, it is necessary to have a well drafted sales contract for purchase and sale of the houses because all rights and obligations related to the purchase, sales and ownership of houses are regulated in the contract. Therefore, the buyer should consider the contract carefully, usually with the help of real estate lawyers whom understand Vietnam laws before signing, in order to protect their legitimate rights and interests.

The foreigner when buying and selling the houses, especially off-plan house, need to also pay attention to the regulations on payment schedule in the contract. According to Article 57 of the Law on housing 2015, the payment in the purchase, sales, lease sales of the off-plan realestate in Vietnam is carried out in installments, and the first time must not exceed 30% of the contract value, the next times must be in accordance with the construction schedule, however, not exceeding 50% of the contract value when not handed over when the buyer is an enterprise with foreign investment, not exceeding 70% the value of contract, if the buyer is the foreigner individual the payment is not exceed 50% the value of the contract before handing over the house to the buyer. Until the buyer is issued with a certificate of land use right, ownership of houses and other assets attached to the land, the buyer shall pay no more than 95% the value of contract.

Foreigners in Vietnam need to be assisted to be familiar with the laws relating to the purchase and sale of real estate in order to protect their legitimate rights and interests when participating in transactions in Vietnam. It is important that the foreigners consider using the services of law firm in Vietnam specializing in real estate to advise and help manage the transaction.

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How do drug patents work?

Drug patents are like all other patents — they protect “new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof…” (USPTO.gov).

Note that patents do not give you the right to sell or use an invention — only to block others from doing so. Accordingly, prior to receiving marketing clearance in the United States drugs must be proven safe and effective and pass review by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Vietnam patent

While advocates for open access often feel that patents impede innovation, proponents of patents counter that patents enable people and companies to offset the risk and expense of drug development by providing them with temporary monopolies.

It is a bit of a chicken-and-egg scenario — no patents might mean that there would be no innovative drugs, but excessive patent protection could mean that drug companies would charge unaffordable prices.

There are several measures to maintain a balance (the deeper you dig into this area the more you’ll find). Firstly, healthcare payers have caps on how much they will reimburse drug companies for their drugs. So, the high prices which are often cited are really just the retail price and not the final negotiated price. Also, the FDA incentivizes generic companies to prove that drug patents are invalid, giving them six months of generic exclusivity.

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How do I know if something is copyrighted, such as a name or word? What should I know about copyright law?

As the other answers already noted, neither names nor words can be copyrighted. A copyright protects art displays, performances and written works (this extends to modern technology such as websites, illustrations, television and film).

Copyright in Vietnam 

The protection of words, marks and names is done with registered trademarks. Just like the official copyright symbol is a “C” inside a circle, the registered trademark symbol is the letter “R” inside of a circle. The TM for trademark and SM for service mark are not recognized by the patent trademarks and copyright office. Some states may recognize them, but they are the weakest form of protection.

You should also know that you are not prohibited from using trademark names in your own works, but you must not represent yourself as the trademark holder or imply that your product is the trademarked product. This is why restaurants are so quick to note that they serve Coke or Pepsi products if you order a brand name drink which they do not serve. (As an ironic aside. The concession for Hartsfield Atlanta Airport is held by PepsiCo, in Coca-Cola’s home city.)

There is a lot more to know about trademarks and copyrights. If you are a graphic artist, the handbooks from the American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) and the Graphic Artists Guild (GAG) are excellent references on this topic. I’m certain there are similar resources for writers, other artists and businesses. My advice is to find a good reference and to read it very very carefully and after you have read the basics, if there is anything that you don’t understand or that still puzzles you about your project, consult an intellectual property attorney before you make a very costly mistake.

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What is copyright and plagiarism, and how does the law/system regarding this work?

Copyrightis the exclusive legal right, given to an originator or an assignee to print, publish, perform, film, or record literary, artistic, or musical material, or to make derivative works, and to authorize others to do the same. Copyright infringement is illegal in most countries.

The details copyright infringement laws vary from country to country, but in the United States, the legal penalties for copyright infringement that the infringer pays the actual dollar amount of damages and profits. If the work was registered with the U.S. Copyright Office, the law provides a range from $200 to $150,000 in statutory damages for each work infringed, as well as the infringer paying for all attorneys fees and court costs.

Plagiarism is the practice of taking someone else's work or ideas and passing them off as one's own. Plagiarism is usually considered an ethical breech of conduct rather than a criminal or civil offense, unless one also commits copyright infringement when plagiarizing.

However, it is possible to plagiarize someone without infringing their copyright, if that person gives you permission to copy their work and publish it under your own name. It is also possible to infringe someone’s copyright without committing plagiarism by copying someone else’s work without their permission but crediting them as the creator of that work.

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How do I know if something is copyrighted, such as a name or word? What should I know about copyright law?

Copyright is the exclusive legal right, given to a creator to copy, print, publish, perform, film, record, or make derivative works of their creative work, and to authorize others to do the same. This prevents other people from using someone else’s creative work (novel, poem, play, song, photograph, painting, movie, software) without compensating them for the creator’s effort.

Copyright in Vietnam

The United States and some other countries do recognize cases where you can use someone else’s copyrighted work without their permission for limited purposes. This is Fair use, permitting you to use a minimal portion of their work for such transformational purposes as criticism, news, education, research, and parody, such that you are not harming the market for the original work. An example of Fair Use is showing a short clip of a movie during a movie review, or showing a photograph of a painting in a news report about the painting being auctioned for a record amount.

Note that words, names, and titles are not protected by copyright. After all, it would not be to anyone’s benefit if you were not legally allowed to say someone else’s name. write down a word they made up, or display the title of a book without their creator’s permission.

However, words, names and short phrases (as well as logos) can be protected as trademarks used to identify commercial products and services — such as “McDonald’s” restaurants and “Nike” shoes — and you cannot use someone else’s trademark for a competitive product or service. This is to prevent consumers from being confused about who actually made that product or performs that service. You can find out whether someone has registered a word, phrase or logo as a trademark with the US Patent and Trademark Office through this government website: Search trademark database. However, to be safe, you should have a trademark attorney search for you, as some people may be using a trademark without registering it with the USPTO.

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ANT Lawyers Joined with International Law Firms in Hong Kong on Dec 7th, 2018

In order to meet the legal demand arising from oversea investors, ANT Lawyers representative, Managing Partner Mr Tuan Nguyen has signed cooperation agreement with other international law firms in Hong Kong on Dec 7th, 2018 to provide legal support and service across numerous countries.

The lawyers are from Hong Kong SAR, the United Kingdom, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan, Macau, China (Beijing, Shanghai and Chengdu) have met up and discussed cooperation plan. The cooperation is expected create a platform for communication and cooperation to provide legal support and services to global enterprises, optimizing the business environment, promoting interconnection, investment and trade cooperation. At the formal event, the eleven representatives of the participated international law firm signed the Memorandum of Understanding, and promised to strengthen legal cooperation and exchanges in policy analysis, legal research, and legal services to provide comprehensive services for investors.

The cooperation signing ceremony was participated by the representatives of Government of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (“HKSAR”) and the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, the governors, members and other professionals to witness this important moment. Ms. Tan Huizhu – Deputy Director of the Basic Law Committee of the HKSAR; GBM, GBS, JP and Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress – Mr. Tan Yaozong; GBM, GBS, JP and Vice Minister Vice Minister of Legal Department of Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the HKSAR – Mr. Liu Chunhua attended the ceremony as guest.

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