How Exemption for the Application of Trade Remedies Work in Vietnam?

Trade remedies measures, including anti-dumping measures, anti-subsidy measures and trade defense, are applied when conditions are satisfied that the act of damaging or threatening harm to the domestic production.

International Trade Lawyers in Vietnam

However, the Ministry of Industry and Commerce has also issued separate regulations for some goods exempted from the application of trade remedies. The circular No. 06/2018/TT-BCT providing detailed regulations on trade remedies as effective on June 15^th, 2018 regulating the exemption for the application of trade remedies.

The Minister of Industry and Trade shall consider and decide on the exemption for goods in the following cases:

The imports have characteristics which are different from and not substituted by the like or directly competitive products produced by domestic industry;

The imports are special products of the like or directly competitive products produced by domestic industry;

There are no sales of the like or directly competitive products produced by the domestic industry in the ordinary course of trade in the domestic market;

The volume of the like or directly competitive products produced by the domestic industry is not enough satisfy the needs of the domestic market.

The duration of exemption for the trade remedies is calculated as follows: From the date of the decision on the application of a provisional or official remedy or the outcome of the decision on the results of the review of trade remedies effective until the end of December 31 of the year issuing the decision; The exemption period is one year from January 1 to December 31 of the following year or the exemption period from the date of receipt of valid dossiers to December 31 of the year when the exemption decision is issued.

Goods are exempted for the application of trade remedies measures, organizations and individuals are entitled to a refund of trade remedies tax paid on imported goods within the exemption period of the exemption decision. However, if the goods violate conditions such as misuse of goods; Commits fraudulent acts in the application for exemption; Failing to comply with the conditions and obligations in the exemption decision and the exemption conditions are no longer available, the organization or individual shall be subject to the revocation of the exemption decision which has been issued and at the same time shall have to pay tax according to provisions of law.

Exemption from trade remedies is a form of incentive in import and export activities, but this preference must be within certain limits and should not affect domestic production, domestic company.

As international trade law firm, we at ANT Lawyers always monitor changes in law and provide clients with recent update.

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Please click here to learn more about ANT Lawyers International Trade and Tax or contact our lawyers in Vietnam for advice via email ant@antlawyers.vnor call our office at (+84) 24 32 23 27 71

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What is the process to apply for a patent?

1.The application is drafted. There are two major sections: the claims, and the support for the claims in the form of drawings and description of the drawings.

Register invention license in Vietnam

The claims are what you will actually have patented if your patent is allowed; something like “1. A method for teleporting a person from a first location to a second location, comprising: determining a layout of atoms of a person, creating a wormhole between the first location and second location using a nuclear fusion flux capacitor, sending the atoms of the person through the wormhole, and reassembling the person using an electronic atom manipulator and the determined layout.” “2. The method of claim 1, wherein the layout is determined by a portable electron microscope.” and so on. The description and drawings have to illustrate and provide sufficient technical detail that an ordinary engineer or specialist in the relevant field would be able to recreate your invention from the information provided.

2.The application is filed, along with various administrative forms where the inventor affirms they are the true inventor, the inventor/attorney disclose any relevant prior art they are aware of, and initial filing and search fees are paid.

3.The patent office will do a preliminary check to ensure that the formal requirements have all been met, like paying all fees and having legible text and drawings, and will let you know if anything is missing.

4.Within about a year to a year and a half, an examiner will determine if your claims are valid, patent-eligible, and aren’t already done by or obvious in light of what exists in the prior art.

5.If the examiner does reject your claims, you’ll have an opportunity to change the claims and/or argue why the claims should be allowed.

6.If the examiner is not convinced, you’ll have to decide whether to pay fees to reopen examination and repeat step 5, appeal the rejection to a review board (which can take several years), or abandon the application.

7.If the examiner is convinced, your patent will be granted, and you’ll pay some issuance fees and have an official copy of the patent mailed to you. You’ll be able to license the patent or keep competitors from practicing the invention

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How Vietnam Regulations on Intellectual Property Change to Integrate into Global Economy?

The intellectual property system of Vietnam has not matched up with international practice.  To resolve the matters, Vietnam has been developing programs on development of intellectual property legal system to meet the intellectual property standards of the international treaties which Vietnam is a member to.

Protect Intellectual Properties Rights in Vietnam

Intellectual property rights have played an indispensable role in the process of forming a comprehensive economy and sustainable development. Certificates of intellectual property rights are the evidence of the success of each entrepreneur entering the world market. In the process of international economic integration, enterprises of Vietnam are forced to participate in international competitive environment with high intensity, strict requirements on enforcement of regulations on industrial property. This is also one of the requirement when entering bilateral trade agreements.

Infringement of intellectualproperty rights is not only common in Vietnam, but also happen in other countries around the world, including developed countries such as the US, Germany and France.… However, Vietnam’s weakness is not only the lack of awareness of intellectual property by the people, but also by regulators and the business community.

We need to recognize the fact that intellectual property rights in Vietnam are being increasingly violated. Counterfeit goods, counterfeit goods, pirated goods … are being sold in public. This risk will increase as Vietnam broaden our integration. Consumers’ awareness is also a concern. The cause of this phenomenon is that the price of counterfeit goods is only one-third to one-tenth of the price of genuine goods, so consumers know that fake goods, but still use because of being “cheap”.

The intellectual property of enterprises is valuable assets. When being focused and exploited optimally, this “intangible” asset will help businesses strengthen their strengths, enhance their position, reputation and competitiveness to increase sales and profits.

In the current trend of globalization, intellectual property is a powerful tool for the socio-economic development of nations. In practice, many companies and businesses around the world have been very successful and have become famous thanks to effective exploitation of intellectual property rights. For the enterprises of Vietnam, intellectual property rights also play an important role, especially in the process of international economic integration.

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Are there any differences in filing a Trademark application in Vietnam as compared to your home country?

The legal protection of Trademark is based on the principle of territoriality. That means each nation is free to regulate the use of intellectual property on its own territory. For instance, it can only grant protection titles to the domestic brands while denying foreigners. In order to overcome such problems, nations around the world have been reaching and signed a number of international treaties which was built on the principle of territoriality. There was a remarkable achievement that nations established certain rules that all member States must respect. Member States shall protect trademarks of companies of other member States as if they were his own citizen (so called principle of national treatment). In other words, assuming that Vietnam and France are member States, Vietnam is bound to treat French enterprises the same rules that it applies to Vietnamese firms. As a consequence, there are not any differences in principle when filing a Trademark application in Vietnam as compared other State members. However, practically, for filing a Trademark application in Vietnam, there might some additional requirements or language of necessary documents as following:

Trademark in Vietnam

1.Right to register marks: According to Article 89 Law on intellectual, foreign individuals not permanently residing in Vietnam and foreign organizations and individuals without production or business establishments in Vietnam could not file applications for Trademark registration by themselves but through their lawful representatives in Vietnam by POA (Power of Attorney).

2.Solving the language barrier: Foreign individuals permanently residing in Vietnam and foreign organizations and individuals whose production or business establishments are in Vietnam could file applications for Trademark by themselves. However, the language barrier might be the problem because Applicants shall fill a standard form in Vietnamese and submit this form to the NOIP accompanies by documents evidencing the registration right, the priority right or other documents supporting the application. All these documents could be made in another language but shall be translated into Vietnamese at the request of the State administrative body for industrial property rights.

To be accepted, the sample of the Trademark must be clearly described by words in order to clarify elements of the mark and the comprehensive meaning of the mark, if any; where the mark consists of words or phrases in a foreign language, such words or phrases must be translated into Vietnamese.

3.Time for request your priority claim: Priority claim shall not be automatically recognized in Vietnam, therefore the claim for the priority right must be clearly stated in the application accompanied by a copy of the first application certified by the first IP office.

4.Applying “First to use” or “first to file” principle: In Vietnam, “first to file” principle is applied, that is far cry from so-called “first to use” countries. The “first to file” principle means rights in a trademark generally are acquired only through registration therefore a trademark owner can apply to Trademark registration without having used it anywhere and at any time. Kindly be advised that if you come from the United States, the Philippines, Australia, and New Zealand where trademark rights are generally acquired through use.

All in all, these treaties built up a harmonized system that benefits the international firms to protect their Trademark outside of the home nation. The local qualified Intellectual property Agent might support the international firms in overcoming the barrier of language and these additional requirements.

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How Exploiting and Using Water Resources are Regulated in Vietnam

Water is an important resource of the country, all business activities, production and living all need water resources. Therefore, the exploitation and use of water resources are under the control of the Vietnam state authorities, to protect the resources, and avoid the waste that impact the environment.

Water resources law firm in Vietnam 

The Vietnamese legal system has a wide range of legal provisions on water resources, including the Law on Water Resources; Law on Environmental Protection and supporting decrees. These legal documents are firm legal basis in the management and protection of water resources.

The state shall define the principles for exploitation, use and protection of water resources, which are the responsibility of all agencies, organizations and individuals; Must comply with strategies and master plans on water resources already approved by competent state management agencies; Effective exploitation and use, the law stipulates the order of priority for allocating water sources to ensure the balance between regions and domains. This priority includes prioritizing regional allocations (agreements between regions, governmental decisions) and prioritizing allocations based on water use purposes (domestic, agricultural, fisheries, power generation, industrial, transportation, preservation of cultural and historical value, exploitation and processing of minerals).

The Vietnam legal system on water resources is divided into two groups, one is the exploitation and use of water resources without registration and permission; the other is the exploitation and uses of water resources have to register and apply the license. For exploitation and use, registration must include water used for household activities; Small scale use for production, business and services; using sea water to produce salt; using water for religious activities, scientific research; water use for fire prevention, incident response and other emergencies. Water users will be required to pay water use fees as agreed in the water service contract. The price of water used by state agencies is determined and adjusted in accordance with the principles and actual use.

Apart from the above-said cases, the exploitation and use of water resources for permission of state agencies, including: exploitation of surface water and sea water; Groundwater exploration; exploitation and use of underground water; The above-said forms must be registered, permitted and permitted to conduct investment activities only when they are granted permits according to the provisions of law. The term of the license varies from 2 years to 10 years, suitable for exploitation and use, ensuring the stability as well as the protection of the environment to the maximum. At the end of the license period, the license renewal will be considered.

In addition to the exploitation and use of water resources of individuals and organizations, water resources investigation and assessment are also strictly regulated. Accordingly, the inventory of water resources must be implemented uniformly throughout the country, every five years, in accordance with national socio-economic development regulations. The responsibility for inventorying water resources is the coordination among relevant agencies, ministries and agencies such as the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment; Ministries and ministerial-level agencies related to construction activities; Provincial People’s Committee.

In addition to using, exploiting water resources, another issue that is always on top of wastewater treatment. The treatment of wastewater must comply with the technical standards for wastewater. The Vietnam state always has projects and incentives for investment in wastewater treatment such as preferential land use fees, technical infrastructure investment support, other incentives.

All acts of violating the provisions of law on water resource and waste water treatment shall be handled according to the provisions of law. Depending on the circumstances, the level of treatment will be different, such as the handling of administrative violations or the handling of criminal offenses. The maximum fines amount to 1 billion VND for individual violations and 2 billion VND for organizations.

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Which is the best country to file patent rights?

With respect to your first filed patent application, you may not have a choice. Some countries have export control laws that require that you first file in your current country. Only after being granted a foreign filing license do you then have the option to file in other countries.

PCT National Phase Entry in Vietnam

According to the Paris Convention, you have within one year of your first filed application to file in foreign countries and claim priority to the filing date of the first filed application. Filing in many countries can be extremely expensive, however. A common strategy is thus to file a single PCT application, which can later be the basis for national/regional stage filings. This delays the expense, and allows more time to decide which countries are best. But one must realized that this strategy only applies to PCT member states. That does not include some countries, for example, Taiwan and Argentina. Applications must be filed there within a year of the first filing.

30 months after the earliest priority date of the PCT application, you’ll need to decide which countries (or regions) to enter the PCT application into. The best choice may be none. For example, if the PCT search report reveals prior art that is fatal to the patent application.

Assuming there are no major show-stoppers in the PCT stage, then there is a complex analysis that needs to take into account various factors, such as 1) your patent budget, 2) the market size in each country, 3) the likelihood of manufacturing in each country, 4) the strength of patent laws in each country, 5) the kinds of technologies patentable in each country. Balancing these against each other and coming up with an set of countries is extremely case specific. There is no generic answer as to what country or countries is best in the abstract. That being said, some of the most common countries/regions are US, Europe, Japan, Canada, Australia, S. Korea, and China. Within Europe, patents are most often validated in UK, France, and Germany

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How do I copyright photos taken on a iPhone?

In the United States and many other countries, photographs are automatically granted copyright protection the instant you take them. They are your property, and you have the exclusive rights to copy, print, publish or use them (except for certain Fair Use situations, where others may use them for limited purposes).

Copyright Law Firm in Vietnam

 However, if you want to registeryour copyrighted photos with your country’s copyright office, you can transfer your iPhone photos to a computer so that you can then print or upload them for the registration process. It’s typically a matter of plugging in your iPhone into your computer via an USB cable and clicking the Import button of the relevant app that pops up, or some version thereof. But you can also transfer your photos from your iPhone to a computer via email, instant messaging, through a file hosting service like iCloud or Dropbox, etc. If your country allows for electronic filing of copyrightable works, such as does U.S. Copyright Office, you may be able to upload your photos directly through your iPhone’s web browser when filing your registration, although this is not something I’ve tried.

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WHAT IS TRADEMARK REGISTRATION?

Trademark Registration

In common language trademark is the identity of the business. General public and people in connection with the trade identifies with trade mark the origin of the goods and services. It could be name, logo, symbols, device or a combination of them.

Register trademark in Vietnam 

ADVANTAGE

If you believe your registered trademark is being infringed, it is easy to establish your right to it in court. If you haven’t registered the word, slogan or logo, you would not be able to do so. Particularly in sectors in which piracy is rampant, Trademark Registration is essential.

A trademark is an intangible asset that can be enormously valuable, should your brand succeed. Think of Tide, Nike or McDonald’s. Businesses can earn huge money in royalties through licensing agreements or even transfer ownership to interested parties through assignment agreements.

You would want your customers to identify your products or services with yours only. Registering your trademark is the first step toward ensuring this. The court would then stop any similar words or slogans from being registered.

DOCUMENTS REQUIRED FOR TRADEMARK REGISTRATION

Brand Name & Logo

Information Form

Form TM 48

FAQ

Why we should file for trademark registration?

Filing for Trademark Registration is strongly advised as it is first the first step towards protecting the identity of your business. It establishes your claim of ownership of that mark and gives you the exclusive right to use the mark on or in connection with the trade or provision of services for which the mark has been filed.

What are the different types of trademark?

Now, due to recent changes we have only five categorisations at the time of making trademark application. These are:

1. Word Mark

2. Logo

3. Device Mark

4. Small Mark

5. Taste mark

Who can file Trademark application?

Any person who claims to be the owner of a trademark, he/she needs to submit the application mentioning the related goods and services associated with the company.

What is the difference between trademark registration and copyright registration for logo?

A logo can be protected both under the Trade Marks Act and Copyrights Act. TM Registration enables you to obtain protection for the brand name and also provides certain amount of protection to the manner in which the trademark is represented. However, if you need exclusivity for the representation of your trademark or logo, a copyright registration is strongly recommended. Copyright registration does not however offer any protection for the brand name.

What is the validity of a trademark registration?

Once the trademark is registered, it is valid for a period of 10 years from the date of application. The registration can then be renewed indefinitely as long as the renewal fees are paid every 10 years.

How long does it take to register a trademark?

Registration of Trademark is a lengthy process and it takes around 18-24 months to obtain registration in a straight-forward case, without any objections or oppositions. However, the trademark application number is usually issued within one or 2 days after filing.

Can I use the ® symbol?

You may use the ® (Registered symbol) next to your trademark once your trademark is registered and registration certificate is issued. Kindly note that it is an offence, with penalty, to falsely claim that your trademark is registered. Till the registration is obtained, you can represent your trademark along with the letters TM to indicate that you claim rights over your trademark.

How ANT Lawyers Could Help Your Business?

Please click here 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

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Does one need to trademark a company's logo and name?

Trademark means a logo, brand name, product name, website name, word or punch line by which customers recognize or differentiate the products or services of one company from another.

Trademark registration means legally getting the right to use the brand name or trademark by getting a registration certificate from the Trademark office.

Register trademark in Vietnam

Brand name is the most valuable asset of the Company. Many brands in the world value their trademark more than their any other physical assets

Brand value is derived only when the company has absolute right over the brand name through trademark protection.

Protecting the name is equal to protecting the business.

-Protection against Copycats: Nobody will dare to copy your brand name once it is a registered trademark

-Helps in expansion of business and growth

-Trademark can be rented and royalty can be earned under licensing agreement. -Franchising model solely depends upon trademark licensing.

--Helps in image building and credibility in Market

-Customers give more preference to registered brands with TM tag.

When you register a trademark, the main purpose is to prevent people from stealing your name/logo, and provide you with a legal recourse against them if they do.

While neither is required, it's highly advised to do so with the assistance of an intellectual property attorney since the filing process with the USPTO can be a little complex.

Keep in mind that your logo and your company name require two separate filings with the trademarks office. The name protects just the name itself and separate from any font, colors, shapes, styling etc... When you register a logo, it provides protections over the exact shape, style, and orientation in that logo.

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Decree 63 on Investment in the Form of Public-Private Partnership

Investment in the form of Public-Private Partnership is an investment form that is carried out on the basis of a project contract between a competent state agency and an investor or project enterprise for the construction or renovation, operation, infrastructure management and public service delivery.

How Foreign Entity Could Set-up a Branch Office in Vietnam

This is a form of investment that can mobilize both private and domestic capital. However, the effectiveness of these model has not been achieved especially in recent years while ODA funding has been narrowed down.

The Decree No. 63/2018/ND-CP dated on May 4, 2018, the decree on investment in the form of public-private partnerships has been promulgated, as effective on June 19, 2018, replacing Decree 15/2015/ND-CP.

This decree is expected to provide detailed, specific and separate basis for this type of investment. The PPP models mentioned in the decree include: Project contract; Build-Operate-Transfer contracts (BOT); Build-Transfer-Operate contracts (BTO); Build-Transfer contracts (BT); Build-Own-Operate Contracts (BOO); Build-Transfer- Lease Service Contacts (BTL); Build – Lease Service– Transfer Contracts (BLT); Operate – Management Contract (O & M) and Mixed Contract.

Decree 63/2018/ND-CP created an open payment mechanism for investors in construction-transfer contracts. Accordingly, investors who execute investment projects under BT contracts shall be paid by the State with land (use of land use right value) or by other modes of payment such as working office project, infrastructure assets in accordance with the law on management and use of public assets,payment by business right transfer, right of exploitation of works, services according to specialized law.

In addition to expanding the payment method, investors under the BT contract do not have to follow the order and procedures for deciding the investment policy and deposit in accordance with the law for implementation of other projects. However, investors must meet additional requirements on equity (if any) in accordance with the law on investment, construction, housing, real estate business and relevant laws to implement the others project.

Regarding owner and capital raised by investors, the Decree has stricter regulations than before to ensure that the project implementation process is stable. Accordingly, for projects with total investment capital of up to VND 1,500 billion, investors’ equity ratio must not be lower than 20% of total investment capital; for the project that has a total investment capital of over VND 1,500 billion, it is determined on the principle that the owner’s equity must not be lower than 20% of the charter capital of up to VND 1,500 billion, and forthe capital of over VND 1,500 billion, the owner’s capital must not be lower than 10%.

We will continue to conduct Vietnamese media search and legal Vietnamese research to update client on public private partnership investment into Vietnam.

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