Who can apply for trademark registration?

Who Can Obtain a Trademark

Trademark registrations are widely used to protect brand or slogans or coined words that are unique to a person or entity. Trademark registration can thus be obtained by individuals or businesses or not-for-profit organisations. However, each of the different class of persons or entity have different requirements while filing a trademark application. In this article, we look at some of the requirements for filing trademark application based on the applicant type.

An Individual (Person)

An individual not doing any business is also eligible to file a trademark application and obtain trademark registration for a word or symbol that is proposed to be used by him/her in the future. When filing trademark application as an individual, the full name of the applicant is required.

Register trademark in Vietnam

Joint Owners

In case two persons come together and decide to file a trademark application, then the names of both the person must be mentioned on the trademark application.

Proprietorship Firm

In case of a proprietorship firm filing a trademark application, the full name of the Proprietor must be mentioned in the application. A business name or proprietorship name is not acceptable as the name of an individual. This is because a business name or proprietorship name is more in the nature of an alias for the actual person and proprietorship firms are not a separate legal entity. However, if a proprietorship name or business name is included on the application in addition to the name of an individual applicant, those details will be captured separately.

Partnership Firm

In case of a partnership firm filing for trademark application, the names of all the partners are essentially required to be mentioned in an application filed by a partnership firm. Partnership firms are not considered as a separate legal entity and hence, the names of all Partners must be mentioned in the trademark application. If the partnership firm includes a minor in the partnership, the name of guardian representing the minor should also be mentioned.

Limited Liability Partnership

In case of a Limited Liability Partnership making a trademark application, the application for registration must be made in the LLP name. A LLP being an incorporated body has its own identity. Thus the Partner by themselves cannot be the applicant, wherein the trademark must belong to a LLP.

Vietnam Company

In case of a private limited company or one person comapny or limited company making a trademark application, the application for registration must be made in the company name. A company being an incorporated body has its own identity other than its directors, therefore a director of the company cannot be the applicant, although the application can be signed and submitted by the Director or any Officer, authorized by the company.

Foreign Company

In case of a foreign incorporated entity making a trademark application in Vietnam, the application for registration must be made in its own corporate name, as registered under the foreign country. The nature of registration, country of incorporation and the law under which the company is registered, are to be mentioned. If the foreign company has no principal place of business in India, the applicant’s address for service in India should be mentioned in the application.

Trust or Society

If a trademark application is made on behalf of a Trust or Society, the name of the Managing Trustee or Chairman or Secretary representing the Trust or Society should be mentioned.

To learn more about ANT Lawyers IP Practice or contact our Trademark attorneys in Vietnam for advice via email ant@antlawyers.vn or call our office at (+84) 24 32 23 27 71

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What is distinction between registered trademark and unregistered trademark?

Registered Trademark

A registered trademark is one in which the proprietor of the marks files an application before the Trademarks Registery in the relevant class and is granted registration by the Trademarks Registry. To get registration, the applicant needs to show to the Registry that it's distinguishable from others and creates a unique identity for the product. Once Registered, a trademark gets protection under the Trademarks Act and the proprietor can sue any party using his trademark for infringement and can also claim damages. When the trademark is applied, the proprietor can add (TM) written in a small font on the upper right hand corner of the mark. Once Registered, (R) can be added in place of TM.

Register trademark in Vietnam

Unregistered Trademark

An unregistered trademark is one which is not registered by the Trademarks Registry. It may be a case of pending for registration or it may be a case where the proprietor has not filed any application for registration of trademark. There are cases where some proprietors use trademarks which are not capable of registration and they decide not to apply. There are also cases which which the proprietor decides to use a trademark which is deceptively similar to a registered trademark and the proprietor knows that it is almost impossible to get registration. In some cases, proprietor doesn't apply for registration due to ignorance of IP laws.

An unregistered trademark doesn't have much protection under trademarks act. The proprietor can only sue a third party for passing off and not infringement. The proprietor can also not stop any other party from using the same mark. In short the proprietor doesn't get any statutory protection but gets only some common law rights.

One can't use (R) with an unregistered trademark.

ANT Lawyers is supported by a team of experienced patent, trademark, design attorneys 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 designs for our clients.

We are representing and advising clients being multinationals, inventors, global partner law firms serving their clients in IP works in Vietnam.

To learn more about ANT Lawyers IP Practice or contact our Intellectual Property Lawyers in Vietnam for advice via email ant@antlawyers.vn or call our office at (+84) 24 32 23 27 71

Let ANT Lawyers help your business in Vietnam.

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Who benefits from intellectual property laws?

The traditional economic argument for patenting is that since innovation is a highly risky endeavor and the benefits to society are often greater than the benefits to the innovator, if filled with rational actors, society would otherwise underinvest in innovation. In addition, if the innovator keeps her invention secret then it is difficult for others to benefit from this information and make further innovations. So the solution offered by patent policy is to give the innovator monopoly profits for a period of time in exchange for putting the information behind the patent into the pubic domain.  There are other methods for encouraging innovation, including R&D tax credits, subsidies, government procurement, or prizes for innovation.

Intellectual Property Lawyers in Vietnam

Arora and coauthors (2008) find that patents stimulate R&D across a wide range of manufacturing industries. Moser (2005) finds that countries without patent protection tend to concentrate their innovation in industries where trade secrets are most effective, so patenting spreads out the distribution of innovative activity. However, she also concludes that for developing countries creating a patent system may not be an optimal solution initially.

Generally speaking, IP law favors creators. In most developed nations, it is possible for private litigants to prevail in court when substantive claims are made. There is a long history of cases decided for the "little guy".

Corporate entities may try to stall such proceedings or to overwhelm claimants, but well documented IP rights are often upheld or settled for the benefit of the creator.

Without such laws, we would be awash in a sea of piracy. We would be left only with trade secrets as our sole protection which would make production costs skyrocket, or keep artists and trade entities relatively unknown and mired in litigation.

This is not to say that all use of IP law is fair to creators and consumers. Knowledgable artists will be among the first to point to "public domain" as a key and critical part of IP law which is being usurped by corporations in the USA and possibly globally. Public domain is built on a premise that at some point, creations become a part of the cultural fabric.

The Micky Mouse character known as "Steamboat Willie" is often cited as central to this debate. As the film short was about to enter public domain American copyright protections were extended to protect this Walt Disney property. However a viable argument can and is often made that Disney can protect its interests through Trademark law, while allowing the world access to the original production as a part of global culture through public domain.

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What is the difference between trademark (TM) and registered(R) in the logo of a company?

TM (Trademark)

Trademark is a sign that help distinguish the goods or services of one enterprise from those of others. Together with industrial design and patent, trademark of goods and services plays an extremely important role for the growth of the enterprise. Trademark establishes a link between enterprise and customer.  A strong trademark will attract customers to use goods or services.

Register trademark in Vietnam

Trademarks are for words, symbols, devices or names that are used to distinguish the goods of one manufacturer or seller from that of another. Any distinctive name, symbol, or word is designated as trademarked with the symbol "TM". If a company has trademarks that are not officially registered, it can use the letters "TM" to show that it claims ownership of the mark. A company must continue using the "TM" symbol until the trademark office actually registers a mark. A company cannot use the R circle symbol while a trademark registration application is still pending.

R(Registered Trademark)

A company can only use the circled R symbol in conjunction with its products and brands if it has officially registered a trademark with the trademark office. A company can continue simply using the "TM" symbol in conjunction with its brands instead of officially registering a trademark and using the R circle symbol, but trademark registration carries certain legal benefits. Trademark registration includes public notice of the owner's claim to the mark, a legal presumption that the party that registered the mark owns it and has the exclusive right to use the mark.

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Intellectual Property remains a big challenge for Vietnam under CPTPP

At an informal meeting of representatives from 11 countries (without US) taking place on the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) dated on November 10th, 2017, the parties agreed to change from Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) to the Comprehensive and Progressive Partnership for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).

IP Enforcement in Vietnam

Accordingly, the CPTPP contains 8,000 pages of documents, but only 20 articles of the TPP agreement, including 10 articles related to intellectual property (IP) and 4 points are reserved for the parties to negotiate in next time. Each member will list its delimited list of restrictions of their country.

According to the Vietnam Minister of Industry and Trade, CPTPP still guarantees a quality agreement like TPP-12, while ensuring new equilibria for member countries. The content of the CPTPP is not only about trade, investment, but also on intellectual property (albeit temporarily postponed) and other broad areas.

With CPTPP, Vietnam may not be the most beneficiary country like the proposed TPP, but it is still very important, because it brings together many of the criteria associated with reform, particularly institutional reform, improving the investment climate, business.

Vietnam law on Intellectual Properties will need to be amended because the legal system of Vietnam’s IP is not consistent with the legal system of developed countries.  The Law on Intellectual Property of Vietnam, after many proposals, has not yet been approved by the National Assembly. Meanwhile, the amended Law on Technology Transfer, though approved in June 2017, still lacks specific guidelines on technology transfer.

Intellectual property rights in the TPP not only contain general provisions and requirements relating to areas of cooperation, patents, test data, designs, trademarks, geographical indications or copyright but also focuses on the legal enforcement of this right by nations.

The CPTPP is based on agreed commitments at the TPP, which are particularly important in paving the way for Vietnamese goods to penetrate into the members’ markets.

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Penalties on Working Without Work Permit in Vietnam

Vietnam has become an attractive destination for foreigner investors due to the impressive development of socio – economic in recent years. This is such a good opportunity for Vietnamese enterprises to get cooperation in business with foreign partners.

Issuance of Work Permit for Foreigner Online

To take advantage of the opportunities to be the pioneer and market share, many of them have demand in employees with good skills and qualifications. To meet these requirements, more and more companies hire foreign workers for specific positions which might lack of human resources within Vietnam territory.

According to Labor Code 2012, the employer wishing to recruit the foreign workers has to explain their labor demand to the People’s Committee of provinces and obtain written approval from this agency. Pursuant to this written approval, the employer shall submit the application for the work permit to the Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs of the province where the planned working place of such foreign workers is located.

A foreign citizen wishing to work in Vietnam must fully meet the following conditions:

• Possessing full civil act capacity;
• Possessing technical and professional qualifications and skills and health appropriate to the work requirement;
• Not being a criminal or subject to penal liability examination according to Vietnamese and foreign laws;
• Possessing a work permit granted by a competent Vietnamese state agency, except the cases specified in Labor Code.

Therefore, based on regulations of the Labor Code of Vietnam, except for the foreign citizens exempted from work permit i.e. investor of company established in Vietnam, all of cases the foreign citizens wishing to work in Vietnam shall be subject to work permit application. A foreign employee shall produce his/her work permit when carrying out immigration procedures or upon request of a competent state agency.

In case foreign citizens who do not belong to work permit exemption being found working in Vietnam without work permit, that person shall be considered violation of the law of Vietnam. In addition, the employer that uses the violated employee without work permit shall be punished accordingly.

According to Decree No. 95/2013/ND-CP amendments to the government’s Decree No. 95/2013/ND-CP dated August 22, 2013 on Penalties for administrative violations against regulations on employment, social insurance, social insurance, and Vietnamese guest workers:

i) Foreign citizen that working without work permits, except for the cases in which the work permit is exempt shall be expelled.

ii) Employers who employ foreign workers in Vietnam without work permits or certificates of exemption from work permits, or employ foreign workers using expired work permits shall be implied:

a. A fine from VND 30,000,000 to VND 45,000,000 if the violation involves 01 – 10 workers;

b. A fine From VND 45,000,000 to VND 60,000,000 if the violation involves 11 – 20 workers;

c. A fine From VND 60,000,000 to VND 75,000,000 if the violation involves more than 20 workers;

Additional penalty: The employer who commits the violation mentioned herein shall have its operation suspended for 1 – 3 months.

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How do I write a good provisional patent application?

A provisional patent - as you may already know - helps you buy some time (up to a year ) as you market and possibly develop your idea. This way, if the idea gains traction at some point during the year, you can convert this provisional patent to a fully-fledged utility patent. If not this, you can simply let it expire or lapse after testing the waters and realizing that it wasn't such a good idea to invest hundred of hours and thousands of dollars paying for a utility patent.

Nationalize PCT Patent Application in Vietnam

That being said, here is a quick primer on how to craft a provisional patent:

1. Research Thoroughly

Even before of thinking of filing for a provisional patent, you should first of all do a comprehensive patent search to know whether or not the idea you are interested in has already received another patent protection. Apart from that, conducting a separate search to ascertain that there haven't been any similar inventions that are patented is also a good way of avoiding a corporate lawsuit later. At the same time, you are also likely to come across suggestions of many available unpatented ideas that are in case yours is already taken. Either way, doing a thorough patent search is inevitable as long as you are considering to copyright your innovation.

2. Be Simple, Focused but Thorough

The provisional patent application ought to paint the picture of a unique innovation by listing the specific features/benefits that prove its novelty. In other words, a well-thought and thorough profile is likely to increase the chances of your application getting approved.

3. The Application Package

The full application package ought to tie in the following;

a. The specification of the innovation

b. A drawing of the innovation

c. The filing fee

d. The USPTO Cover

As far as the main body goes, it should consist of the Description of the Innovation, Tittle, Abstract, and the Claim.

Nowadays, you also have to include the drawings of the invention. These can be scanned into the main text area, sketched by hand or designed by CAD, manuals, design software or Powerpoint. Next up is the Claims that describe in detail what the patent seeks to protect. You don't have to include this, but it is recommended that you have them on your provisional patent application.

Lastly, you will have to paste an abstract that summarizes your invention. For this part, it is easier to re-state ( in a few words ) what you had described in the Claims.

The best way to draft a provisional patent application? Ideally, it’s with the assistance of a patentattorney. Patent lawyers do this stuff for a living and will maneuver the application process so that your utility patent application will be a seamless experience. Feel free to visit ANTLawyers.vn. Our legal marketplace is competitively priced, easy-to-use, and backed by a satisfaction guarantee. We offer free consultations to help make sure you’re hiring an attorney that will help you grow your vision. Good luck!

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What is the PCT supplementary international search?

SUPPLEMENTARY INTERNATIONAL SEARCH

The PCT is an international treaty with more than 145 Contracting States. The PCT makes it possible to seek patent protection for an invention simultaneously in a large number of countries by filing a single “international” patent application instead of filing several separate national or regional patent applications. The granting of patents remains under the control of the national or regional patent Offices in what is called the “national phase”.

Nationalize PCT Patent Application in Vietnam

The PCT procedure includes:

·        Filing

·        International Search

·        International Publication

·        Supplementary International Search

·        International Preliminary Examination

·        National Phase

What is the PCT supplementary international search?

Supplementary international search permits the applicant to request, in addition to the international search (the “main international search”), one or more supplementary international searches each to be carried out by an ISA other than the ISA which carried out the main international search. The additional search has the potential of reducing the risk of new patent documents and other technical literature being discovered in the national phase since, by requesting supplementary search the applicant can enlarge the linguistic and/or technical scope of the documentation searched.

What is the supplementary international search report?

The supplementary international search report is generally similar in content and appearance to the main international search report; it contains a listing of references to patent documents and other technical literature which may affect the patentability of the invention claimed in the international application. However, it does not repeat documents which have already been cited in the international search report, unless this is necessary because of new relevance when read in conjunction with other documents discovered during the supplementary international search. On occasion, the supplementary international search report may contain more detailed explanations than those in the main international search report. This is due to the fact that, unlike the main international search, no written opinion is established with the supplementary international search report, and these additional details are helpful for a full understanding of the references listed.

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Customs Procedures Handling of Exported and Imported Goods Infringing Intellectual Property Rights.

On conducting customs procedures for exported or imported goods, the customs authority shall be responsible to inspect and compare the declared information of the goods owners on the written customs declarations on goods’ names, trademarks, origin, value,…; Inspect and compare the concluded contents of the State management agencies on the exported or imported goods; Results of customs dossiers inspection with the results of goods actual inspection; To compare the said inspection results with the laws and regulations on counterfeit goods.

Customs dispute law firm in Vietnam

In case the goods are found with intellectual property rights infringement signs, leaders of the Department of Customs where the infringing goods are located shall consider and decide to apply measures to prevent administrative violations and ensure the administrative violations punishment according to Current regulations for the cases:

Imported goods do not comply with goods labeling in accordance with regulations of laws; state inspection conclusion on goods quality or goods quality inspection results determine that the inspected goods do not fulfill requirements on importation and exportation quality; the goods listed in the list of state management agencies that fail to meet quality standards or are not allowed to circulate on the market; The contents stated on the goods labels are incompliant with other enclosed documents and so on.

Regarding the infringing goods and being temporarily suspended, during the time the goods are being temporarily suspended or subjected to prevention measures as prescribed by laws, the Departments Customs shall be responsible to take the following verification measures: Requesting the goods owner, owners of genuine goods which are counterfeited to provide documentation relating to the goods; cooperating with the goods owners and owners of genuine goods being counterfeited to collect samples and unify the appraisement traders to conduct appraisement; coordinating with the anti-smuggling control forces in verification and investigation according to prescribed profession.

Actions against counterfeit goods or goods with signs of counterfeit

In case the imported, exported goods are detected to be counterfeit, preventive and penalty measures in accordance with legislation on penalties for administrative violations shall be applied;

If exported and imported goods are detected with signs of counterfeit, the Director of the Department of Customs shall request the customs declarant to provide documents related to the goods:

A sale contract of goods or vouchers with equivalent value;

A technical document or a written component analysis (if any).

If the owner of the genuine goods which are counterfeited is determined, the owner of genuine goods which are counterfeited shall provide documents related to goods (such as catalogs, appraisement conclusions, and documents from abroad, results of handling of similar cases). If the owner of the genuine goods could not be determined, customs dossiers, genuine goods, analysis results of the risk information of goods and the law on counterfeit goods shall be utilized for identification; customs control forces shall be cooperated to investigate, verify (if necessary) or transfer information, case files to customs control forces to investigate, verify and handle in accordance with regulations of laws.

To learn more about ANT Lawyers IP Practice or contact our IP lawyers in Vietnam for advice via email ant@antlawyers.vn or call our office at (+84) 24 32 23 27 71

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What Important Step-by-Step Guide to Establish Company in Vietnam?

When foreign investors invest in Vietnam, they could establish companyin Vietnam. Foreign investors have the right to choose the appropriate forms of enterprise such as a limited liability company, joint stock company, etc. with specific steps are as follows: 

How To Set-up Trading Company in Vietnam

Step 1: Register the investment project

Investors submit an investment project registration file to the Business Registration office of the province or city or the management board of an industrial zone, an export processing zone or a high-tech zone for the approval of an investment project during the period within 15 days (without time for clarification).

Step 2: Apply for Certificate of investment registration

After approval of the investment project, investors submit a valid record tothe Department of Planning and Investment within 10 days to apply for a business registration certificate.

Step 3: Apply for the certificate of business registration

After obtaining the business registration certificate, the investor shall submit the application for enterprise registration certificate to the enterprise registration office within 3 days.

Step 4: Publish the content of the business registration

After being granted the certificate of enterprise registration, the investor shall disclose information about the enterprise on the national enterprise registration portal within 30 days, including the following information:
i, Business lines;
ii, List of founding shareholders and shareholders being foreign investors for joint-stock companies.

Step 5: Registered business stamp

The enterprise has the right to decide on the form, quantity and contents of the stamp of the enterprise. The content of the stamp must show the following information:
– Company’s name;
– Business code.
After receiving the legal entity stamp and before using the business stamp, the enterprise must send a notice on the stamp of the enterprise to the business registration office for publication in the National Information Portal on the business registration.

Step 6: Notice of use of stamp:

After having stamp made, investors submit notices on use of stamp forms to the Investment registration agency.After receiving the record, the Investment registration agency issues a receipt for the enterprise, publishes the notice of the enterprise on the National Business Information Portal and issues a notice of the posting, stamp samples of enterprises, branches and representative offices for enterprises.

Step 7: Open bank account:

                                                                                          
Investors need to open two types of bank accounts, namely the investment capital account to receive the investment amount and the transaction account for conducting daily transaction in Vietnam.

Step 8: The post licensing procedures:

For the conditional business lines:
Investors investing in conditional businesses lines as regulated in Appendix 4 of the Investment Law 2014 must apply certificate of business qualification, practicing certificates, professional liability insurance, legal capital requirements, etc. before conducting business in Vietnam.

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