What are the steps to getting a patent in the United States?

Congratulations on creating an app and wanting to take the next steps to protect your work. Here is a brief overview of the steps for obtaining a patent through the USPTO.

First, you need to be sure that no one else has already come up with the same product or technology and secured a patent on it. You do this by performing a thorough patent search. This is something you could try to do yourself, but often it’s best to engage the help of a professional who is familiar with conducting these types of searches and can give you an opinion.

Patent Consultant in Vietnam

Next, you’ll need to determine what type of patent you would be pursuing. The most common options are a design patent or a utility patent. In your case you would be filing for a utility patent.

Now you need to decide whether you are filing for a provisional or nonprovisional patent. A provisional patent is the first step to securing a filing date if you’re not ready to file the nonprovisional patent and start the examination process, but ultimately you’ll need to get a nonprovisional patent to protect your idea.

Finally, you’ll need to prepare and file the application along with the application fee. As this can be a confusing and difficult process, it’s recommended to hire an attorney to prepare the application for you. At this stage you’ll put together all the necessary information and submit it to the USPTO for examination. Once received by the USPTO, they will review the application and issue a determination. If it’s denied you’ll have the opportunity to appeal and request reconsideration.

Once a patent is ultimately approved, you’ll need to maintain it by paying the required maintenance fees to the USPTO.

Source: Quora

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How do you get trademark registration?

What is Trademark?

The term ‘Trademark’ refers to the brand or logo which represents the business. It is a visual symbol of a signature, name, device, label, numerals or combination of colors used by the owner of the trademark for goods or services or any other articles of commerce. Moreover, it is meant to differentiate among the similar products or services originated from the different business. A trademark can be a word, wrapper, packaging labels or a tagline or a combination of these. For example Coca-Cola and Pepsi.

Who can apply for the Trademark?

Any Individual, Company, Proprietor or legal entity who can claim to be an owner of the Trademark can apply for it. The trademark Registration formalities can be done in 18 to 24 months after that you can start using the ‘TM’ symbol. Once your trademark registry is done and registration certificate is issued then you may use ® (registered symbol) next to your trademark. The validity of a registered trademark is for 10 years from the date of filing and that can be renewed from time to time.

What are the documents required for Trademark Registration?

Following are the documents which are required for the Trademark registration:

-Copy of Trademark or logo

-Applicant details like name, address, and nationality and for the company it requires the state of incorporation

-Goods or services to register

-Date of first use of the trademark in Vietnam

-Power of attorney which is to be signed by the applicant.

-What are the steps for registering Trademark in Vietnam?

Following are the steps through which you can register your Trademark:

-Select a trademark agent and authorize it.

-Select attorney to represent you.

-The trademark attorneys in Vietnam conducts a trademark search.

-It depends upon the results of the search whether the trademark attorney will be draft your trademark or not. Just in case, someone already has the same trademark then you can change yours.

-The trademark attorney will file your trademark application with the trademark office and send you the receipt.

-Within a few days, the trademark attorney will send you the Original Representation Sheet of your trademark as it has been filed with the trademark office.

-No matter what the place is, it takes anywhere around 18 months to 2 years for the Trademark Office to decide whether the trademark should be granted or not. In case, if there are any objections from anywhere then it may take longer. .

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Da Nang City Receives Hungary Ambasador in Vietnam

On October 7^th, 2019, Chairman of Da Nang People’s Committee met the Ambassador Hungary to discuss cooperation. At the meeting, the Chairman of Danang People’s Committee informed about the development orientation of the city until 2030, with vision to 2045. Besides, the city also wishes to receive support and assistance in cooperation with Hungary in the near future about many business areas.

Da Nang City Receives Hungary Ambasador in Vietnam

Hungary Ambassador highly appreciated the development of Danang and the achievements of the city in recent years, and expect that the two countries would be able to cooperate with each other in the future.

The two parties also discussed a number of issues such as the implementation of the project to upgrade the Danang Pediatric Maternity Hospital with funding from Hungary.

In the meeting, the representatives of  Danang city shared wishes to attract more investors from Hungary and other European countries. In the coming time, with the orientation of developing hi-tech areas, services related to tourism, protecting the environment.

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Customs Authorities to Reduce 12 Administrative Procedures

Customs procedures are always a haunting torment of many companies and businesses. Recently, the Prime Minister has ordered Vietnam Ministry of Finance, the General Department of Customs to review the administrative procedures and plan for reducing, amending of the unnecessary procedures that hindering and harassing businesses, to make investment in Vietnam more competitive and the legal environment in Vietnam more transparent.

Customs Lawyers in Vietnam 

Pursuant to the announcement No. 289/TB-VPCP dated 25th July 2014 on management and reform of administrative procedures in Customs decision of the Vietnam Ministry of Finance, 12 administrative procedures in the customs sector have been discarded, reduced down to 164 types.

Before that, the time consumed for the export procedures in Vietnam was 4 days, as twice as the average time consumed in the region and was one of the highest figures in the region. The time consumed for the import procedures is 4 days, compared to the average of 3 days of the region. The time for the preparation of documents for import-export is 12 days, 1 day longer than the average numbers. Meanwhile, companies have to complete 13 documents for procedures, higher than Singapore, which requirs 6 types of documents and Malaysia with the respective number of 8.

In accordance with the annoucement, the Prime Minister demands the focus on renovating administration of Vietnam Tax, Customs procedures that target by the end of 2014, the time consumed by conducting these import-export, clearance of products procedures shall be cut in half; and to reduce the number of documents required; publicly announce the statistics of the customs operation; and finally, in 2015, reduce the number of hours consumed for the custom procedures of export-import products into Vietnam equal to the average figures of ASEAN-6 nation, which is 171 hours annually.

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How can I know what is an important patent?

How can I know what is an important patent?

-An important patent is one that does some of the following:

Patent consultant in Vietnam

-Earns a lot of licensing income.

-Sells for a lot of money.

-Lets the owner make a lot of money while preventing competition from doing the same.

-Inventions that are valuable to society and the world at large are important inventions.

-If the patent is sought, issued, and exploited for unconscionable profit, then the patent is

important, but in a negative way.

-If the invention is important and the inventor wants to make it freely available, the inventor doesn’t seek a patent, but publicly discloses the details. That’s what IBM did with the scanning tunneling microscope, making it freely available to the world.

Source: Quora

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How can I protect my idea for an app?

Patents can offer tech startups many benefits, assuming you have something patentable. They attract investors and can deter competitors. A startup with patent protection is more valuable to companies interested in forming a joint venture or making an acquisition as well. Further, a startup has the ability to license its patent, providing a business another way of generating funding while expanding its market simultaneously. The problem is that you can’t patent an idea; you need something tangible.

Patent Consultant in Vietnam

If you prefer to save some money, confidentiality agreements and trade secret protection may work just as well as costly patent registration, especially when combined with exceptional innovation design and speed. All employees, board members and advisors should be required to sign agreements obligating them to assign all business-related IP to the startup. You will also want to extend IP protection through agreements with non-employees, including vendors, outsourced designers, consultants, engineers, and even customers.

If you're looking for an affordable IP attorneys in Vietnam, check out ANTLawyers.vn. ANTLawyers.vn was established to meet these needs by providing fast, effective and economical solutions. Hope that clears things up a bit. Feel free to message me directly to chat further about any other IP questions that you face.

Source: Quora

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How does album art licensing work?

Licensing is a great way to make some money while retaining some rights to your artwork. There are many ways to structure a licensing agreement for album art. Which route you decide to go can have a profound impact so contacting an attorney is recommended. Here are some options for licensing artwork:

Copyright in Vietnam

One-time use: allows the artwork to be used one time only. Any further use of the work would require a new agreement.

All rights for limited time: allows the band to use the artwork in any capacity they need, but for a specific period of time detailed in the contract. Once that period has passed, all rights revert back to the artist.

All right for a limited purpose: allows the band to use the artwork only on a specific product (for example - an album cover). This contract should be very descriptive regarding the purpose for the artwork. This contract usually enables artists to sell the artwork to other clients (that aren’t in competition with the band).

All rights for limited time and purpose: allows the band to use the artwork on a specific product but for a limited time. During that time, the band may only use the artwork on the specified product (for example an album cover). Once the agreed upon time has expired, all rights revert back to the artist.

Source: Quora

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What do the terms “patent pending” and “patent applied for” mean?

If you're involved in the patent process, then it will certainly be beneficial to understand what specific terms and phrases mean.

Vietnam patent

The terms "patent pending" and "patent applied for" are virtually the same concept. This means that you have applied for the patent, but have not yet been issued. Essentially, it indicates that you have applied for protection, but the details and scope of that protection are yet to be determined.

You may be curious as to why this status has any bearing in the business world. Actually, it can let investors know that you have taken the first steps and have a plan in the works. For some, this is enough to move forward with further discussions.

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What is the difference between a brand name and trademark?

We often hear the term "brand" used interchangeably with the term "trademark". But there is a legal difference between the two words.

A trademark is a mark that legally represents something, usually a business, by their goods or services. A brand name, however, is the name that a business chooses for one of their products. A brand identifies a specific product or name of a company.

Register trademark in Vietnam

A "Trademark" includes any device, brand, make, label, name, signature, word, letter, numerical, shape of goods, packaging, color or combination of colors, smell, sound, movement or any combination thereof which is capable of distinguishing goods and services of one business from those of others.

One might ask, “What make of car do you drive?” and hear the answer as “A Ford®.” Or, “What brand of detergent do you use?” “Oh, I use Tide®.” Both Ford and Tide are trademarks, Ford cars can be both a brand and make, but Tide is not a make. You can use just the word "Ford" as a brand. A brand can also become a trademark. Ford started making cars in 1903, and started using the now famous oval Ford logo in 1907. But it was not until 1909 that the brand name Ford was registered as a trademark and today the brand name Ford is now a worldwide trademark.

In reality, very few people, other than lawyers, who hear you use the word "brand" rather than "trademark" would stop and tell you that you used the wrong word.

Source: Quora

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What are The Advantages of Trademark Registration?

A Trademark is essentially a brand name. It may comprise of a word, name, combination of words or names or a symbol used to identify and also differentiate goods/ services produced/ provided by one seller from those offered by other sellers. It is also used to indicate source of the commodities.

Trademark in Vietnam

Trademarks allow you to protect your company’s name, and to specify which types (classes) of goods and services your company’s trademark should be applied to. For example, coffee mugs vs. outdoor apparel. It’s important to point out that trademarks are intangible assets, and can be bought, sold or licensed.

Other Advantages of Registering a Trademark:

-It grants the right to use the registered trademark symbol: ®;

-It grants the right to file a trademark infringement lawsuit in federal court and to obtain monetary damages;

-It acts as a bar to the registration of another confusingly similar mark;

-Ability to have the customs service block the importation of goods bearing an infringing mark; and

-It may serve as the basis for an international trademark application.

If you’re considering registering for trademarks then you should hire a competent Trademark Lawyers in Vietnam who will make sure everything is protected from the get-go. Feel free to visit ANTLawyers.vn for this. We’re a legal marketplace that makes it easy for entrepreneurs to hire and work with quality, vetted lawyers.

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