Law 50/2005/Vietnam on Intellectual Property

Mục lục . Content

Consolidated text 19/VBHN-VPQH 2013 (Amending Law 50/2005/QH11)

CONSOLIDATED TEXT 19/VBHN-VPQH (English – Tiếng Anh)

December 18th, 2013

Law on intellectual property

Pursuant to the Intellectual Property Law No.50/2005/QH11 dated November 29, 2005 of the National Assembly, coming into force from July 1, 2006 and being amended by

The Law No.36/2009/QH12 dated June 19, 2009 of the National Assembly on amending a number of articles of the Law on Intellectual Property taking into effect from January 1, 2010.

Pursuant to the 1992 Constitution of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam as amended by Resolution 51/2001/QH10 passed by Legislature X of the National Assembly at its 10th Session on 25 December 2001;

This Law regulates the intellectual property [1].

PART I. GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Governing scope

This Law regulates copyrights, copyright-related rights, industrial property rights and plant variety rights; and the protection of such rights.

Article 2. Applicable entities

This Law shall apply to Vietnamese organizations and individuals and to foreign organizations and individuals who satisfy the terms and conditions stipulated in this Law and in any international treaty of which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a member.

Article 3. Object matter of intellectual property rights [2]

1. Objects of copyright including literary, artistic and scientific works; objects of copyright-related rights including performances, audio and video recordings, broadcasts and encrypted program-carrying satellite signals.

2. Objects of industrial property rights comprising inventions, discoveries, industrial designs, layout-designs of semiconductor integrated circuits, trade secrets, marks, trade names and geographical indications.

3. Objects of plant variety rights consisting of propagating materials and harvested materials.

Article 4. Interpretation of terms [3]

In this Law, the following terms shall be construed as follows:

1. Intellectual property rights means rights of organizations and individuals to intellectual assets, including copyright and copyright-related rights, industrial property rights and plant variety rights.

2. Copyright means rights of organizations and individuals to works they have created or own.

3. Copyright-related rights (hereinafter referred to as related rights) means rights of organizations and individuals to performances, phonograms, video recordings, broadcasts and encrypted program-carrying satellite signals.

4.  Industrial property rights means rights of organizations and individuals to inventions, discoveries, industrial designs, layout-designs of semiconductor integrated circuits, marks, brand-names, geographical indications and trade secrets they have created or own, and unfair competition prevention rights.

5. Right to plant varieties means rights of organizations and individuals to new plant varieties they have chosen to create or detect and develop, and are vested with the ownership rights.

6. Intellectual property right holder means an owner of intellectual property rights or an organization or individual that is the transferee of intellectual property rights alienated by the owner.

7. Work means a creation of the mind in the literary, artistic or scientific domain by any means or in any form.

8. Derivative work means a work which is translated from one language into another, or an adapted, modified, transformed, composite, annotated or selected work.

9. Published work, phonogram or video recording means a work, phonogram or video recording which has been permitted for release to the public in a reasonable quantity of copies by the holder of copyright or related rights.

10. Reproduction means the making of one or many copies of a work or a phonogram or video recording by any means or in any form, including the backup of such work in an electronic form.

11. Broadcasting means the transmission of the sound or image or both of a work, a performance, a phonogram, a video recording or a broadcast to the public by wire or wireless means, including satellite transmission, in such a way that people may access such work from a place and at a time they themselves select.

12. Invention means a technical solution in the form of a product or a process which is intended to solve a problem by application of laws of nature.

13. Industrial design means a specific appearance of a product embodied by three-dimensional configurations, lines, colors, or a combination of these elements.

14. Semiconductor integrated circuit means a product, in its final form or an intermediate form, in which the elements, at least one of which is an active element, and some or all of the interconnections, are integrally formed in or on a piece of semiconductor material and which is intended to perform an electronic function. Integrated circuit is synonymous to IC, microelectronic chip and circuit.

15. Layout-design of semiconductor integrated circuit (hereinafter referred to as layout- design) means a spatial disposition of circuit elements and their interconnection in a semiconductor integrated circuit.

16. Mark means any sign used to distinguish goods or services of different organizations or individuals.

17. Collective mark means a mark used to distinguish goods or services of members from those of non-members of an organization which is the owner of such mark.

18. Certification mark means a mark which is authorized by its owner to be used by another organization or individual on the latter’s goods or services, for the purpose of certifying the origin, raw materials, materials, mode of manufacture of goods or manner of provision of services, quality, accuracy, safety or other characteristics of goods or services bearing the mark.

19. Integrated mark means identical or similar marks registered by the same entity and intended for use on products or services which are of the same type or similar types or interrelated.

20. Well-known mark means a mark widely known by consumers throughout the territory of Vietnam.

21. Brand name means a designation of an organization or individual in business activities, capable of distinguishing the business entity bearing it from another entity in the same business domain and area.

A business area mentioned in this Clause means a geographical area where a business entity has its partners, customers or earns its reputation.

22. Geographical indication means a sign which identifies a product as originating from a specific region, locality, territory or country.

23. Trade secret means the information obtained from financial or intellectual investment activities, which has not yet been disclosed and can be used in business.

24. Plant variety means a plant community within a single botanical taxonomy of the lowest known rank, which is morphologically uniform and suitable for being propagated unchanged, and can be defined by the expression of phenotypes resulting from a genotype or a combination of given genotypes, and distinguished from any other plant community by the expression of at least one inheritable phenotype.

25. Protection certificate means a document granted by a regulatory agency to an organization or individual in order to establish industrial property rights to an invention, industrial design, layout-design, mark or geographical indication; or plant variety rights.

26. Propagating material means a plant or a part thereof capable of growing into a new plant for use in reproduction or cultivation.

27. Harvested material means a plant or a part thereof obtained from the cultivation of a reproductive material.

Article 5. Application of laws

1. The provisions of the Civil Code shall apply to any civil matter relating to the intellectual property which is not regulated in this Law.

2. Where there are any differences between the provisions on intellectual property in this Law and others, the provisions in this Law shall prevail.

3. Where an international treaty of which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a member contains provisions different from those in this Law, the provisions of such international treaty shall prevail.

Article 6. Grounds for the generation and establishment of intellectual property rights

1. Copyright shall arise at the moment a work is created and fixed in a certain material form, irrespective of its content, quality, form, mode and language and irrespective of whether or not such work has been published or registered.

2. Related rights shall arise at the moment a performance, audio and video recording, broadcast or encrypted program-carrying satellite signal are created in a fixed form of expression or shall be exercised without causing loss or damage to copyright.

3. Industrial property rights shall be established as follows:

a) Industrial property rights to an invention, industrial design, layout design, mark or geographical indication shall be established on the basis of a decision of the competent authority to grant a protection certificate in accordance with the registration procedures stipulated in this Law or the recognition of international registration under an international treaty of which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a member. In the case of a well known mark, industrial property rights shall be established on the basis of its use without reliance on the registration procedures;

b) Industrial property rights to a trade name shall be established on the basis of lawful use thereof;

c) Industrial property rights to a trade secret shall be established on the basis of lawful acquirement of the trade secret and maintaining confidentiality thereof;

d) The right to prevent unfair competition shall be established on the basis of competitive activities in business.

4. Plant variety rights shall be established on the basis of a decision of the competent authority to grant a plant variety protection certificate in accordance with the registration procedures stipulated in this Law.

Article 7. Limitations on intellectual property rights [4]

1. Intellectual properly right-holders may only exercise their rights within the scope and term of protection as stipulated by this Law.

2. The exercise of intellectual property rights must neither prejudice the State and public interests, legitimate rights and interests of other organizations and individuals, nor violate other relevant provisions of law.

3. In the circumstances where the achievement of defense, security, people’s livelihood objectives and other interests of the State and society specified in this Law needs to be guaranteed, the State may prohibit or restrict the exercise of intellectual property rights by the holders or compel the licensing by the holders of one or several of their rights to other organizations or individuals under appropriate terms. The limitation on rights to inventions classified as state secrets complies with regulations of the Government.”

Article 8. The State’s intellectual property policies [5]

1. Recognize and protect intellectual property rights of organizations and individuals on the basis of harmonizing benefits of intellectual property rights holders and public interests; refuse to protect intellectual property objects which are contrary to social ethics and public order and prejudicial to defense and security.

2. Encourage and promote the creation and utilization of intellectual assets in order to contribute to socio-economic development and improvement of the people’s material and spiritual life.

3. Provide financial supports for the receipt and make most use of intellectual property rights to serve the public interests; encourage domestic and overseas organizations and individuals to provide financial aids for creative activities and the protection of intellectual property rights.

4. Prioritize the investment in training and retraining the contingent of cadres, civil servants, public employees and other relevant persons engaged in the protection of intellectual property rights and the research into and application of sciences and technologies to the protection of intellectual property rights.

5. Mobilize social resources for investment in raising the capacity of the system to protect intellectual property rights, thereby meeting requirements of socio-economic development and international economic integration.

Article 9. Right and responsibility of organizations and individuals in the protection of intellectual property rights

Organizations and individuals shall have the right to take measures permitted by laws to protect their intellectual property rights, and shall be obliged to respect the intellectual property rights of other organizations and individuals in accordance with the provisions of this Law and other relevant laws.

Article 10. Contents of the State administration of intellectual property

1. 1. Formulate and direct the implementation of strategies and policies on protection of intellectual property rights.

2. Promulgate and adhere to legal instruments on intellectual property.

3. Organize an administrative mechanism for the intellectual property; train and foster staff who gets involved in the intellectual property.

4. Grant and carry out other procedures related to the registration certificates of copyright and related rights, protection certificates for industrial property objects and plant variety protection certificates.

5. Inspect and examine compliance with the law on intellectual property; settle complaints and denunciations, and handle breaches of the law on intellectual property.

6. Organize communication and statistical activities in the intellectual property.

7. Organize and manage intellectual property assessment activities.

8. Educate, and communicate and disseminate knowledge about the intellectual property and the law on intellectual property.

9. Enter into international cooperations on the intellectual property.

Article 11. Responsibility for the State administration of intellectual property

1. The Government shall exercise uniform State administration of intellectual property.

2. The Ministry of Science and Technology shall be responsible before the Government to lead the co-operation with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism [6] and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to carry out State administration of intellectual property and of industrial property rights.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism [7] shall, within the scope of its duties and powers, carry out the State administration of copyright and related rights.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development shall, within the scope of its duties and powers, carry out the State administration of plant variety rights.

3. Ministries and ministerial-level bodies shall, within the scope of their respective duties and powers, co-ordinate with the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism [8], and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to carry out the State administration of industrial property.

4. People’s Committees at all administrative levels shall, within the scope of their authority, carry out the State administration of industrial property at their respective localities.

5. The Government shall provide specific regulations on the powers and responsibilities for the State administration of industrial property of the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism [9], the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development Science and of People’s Committees at all administrative levels.

Article 12. Intellectual property fees and charges

Organizations and individuals shall be required to pay fees and charges when carrying out procedures related to intellectual property rights in accordance with the provisions of this Law and other relevant laws.

PART II. COPYRIGHT AND RELATED RIGHTS

CHAPTER I. CONDITIONS FOR THE PROTECTION OF COPYRIGHT AND RELATED RIGHTS

SECTION 1. CONDITIONS FOR THE PROTECTION OF COPYRIGHT

Article 13. Authors and copyright holders who possess works protected by the copyright

1. Organizations and individuals who possess works protected by the copyright comprise persons who directly create such works and copyright holders stipulated in Articles 37 to 42 enshrined in this Law.

2. Authors and copyright holders stipulated in Clause 1 of this Article shall comprise Vietnamese organizations and individuals; foreign organizations and individuals with works published for the first time in Vietnam and not yet published in any other country, or with works also published in Vietnam within a period of thirty days after the first publication carried out in another country; and foreign organizations and individuals with works which are protected in Vietnam under an international treaty on copyright of which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a member.

Article 14. Types of works eligible to be put by the copyright protection [10]

1. Literary, artistic and scientific works eligible for copyright protection include:

a) Literary and scientific works, textbooks, course books and other works available in the form of written languages or other characters;

b) Lectures, addresses and other speeches;

c) Press works;

d) Musical works;

dd) Dramatic works;

e) Cinematographic works and works created by the method like the method of creating cinematographic works (hereinafter collectively referred to as cinematographic works);

g) Plastic-art works and works of applied art;

h) Photographic works;

i) Architectural works;

k) Sketches, plans, maps and drawings related to topography, architecture or scientific works:

l) Folklore and folk art works of folk culture;

m) Computer programs and data compilations.

2. Derivative works shall be protected under Clause 1 of this Article only if this does not prejudice the copyright to works used to create these derivative works.

3. Protected works defined in Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article must be created personally by authors through their intellectual labor without copying others’ works.

4. The Government shall provide detailed instructions on the types of works specified in Clause 1 of this Article.

Article 15. Objects that are not protected by the copyright

1. News that only provide current information.

2. Legal normative instruments, administrative documents and others in the judicial domain, and official translations of these documents.

3. Processes, systems, operational methods, concepts, principles and data.

SECTION 2. CONDITIONS FOR THE PROTECTION OF RELATED RIGHTS

Article 16. Organizations and individuals eligible for the protection of related rights

1. Actors and actresses, singers, instrumentalists, dancers and other persons who perform literary and artistic works (hereinafter commonly referred to as performers).

2. Organizations and individuals who act as the owner of performances defined in Clause 1 of Article 44 of this Law.

3. Organizations and individuals who initially create the sounds and images of performances or other sounds and images in a fixed form (hereinafter commonly referred to as producers of audio and video recordings).

4. 4. Organizations which initiate and carry out the broadcasting (hereinafter referred to as broadcasting organizations).

Article 17. Objects of related rights protected by the copyright

1. Performances shall be protected by the copyright if they come as one of the following:

a) Any performance to be carried out by Vietnamese citizens in Vietnam or any foreign country;

b) Any performance to be carried out by foreigners in Vietnam;

c) Any performance to come into existence in respect of audio and video recordings, which shall be protected by the copyright as prescribed in Article 30 of this Law;

d) Any performance to come into existence in respect of audio and video recordings that have been broadcast, which shall be protected by the copyright as stipulated by Article 31 of this Law;

dd) Any performance to be protected by the copyright in compliance with the international agreements of which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a member.

2. Audio and video recordings shall be protected by the copyright if they come as one of the following:

a) Those made by a Vietnamese producer;

b) Those made by any producer who is protected by the copyright in accordance with the international agreements of which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a member.

3. Broadcasts and encrypted program-carrying satellite signals shall be protected by the copyright if they come as one of the following:

a) Those produced by a broadcasting organization of Vietnamese national;

b) Those produced by a broadcasting organization protected by the copyright as prescribed in the international agreements of which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a member.

4. Performances, audio and video recordings, broadcasts encrypted program-carrying satellite signals shall only be protected by the copyright as prescribed in the provisions of Clauses 1, 2 and 3 of this Article provided that they do not prejudice the copyright.

CHAPTER II. CONTENTS OF, LIMITATIONS ON AND TERM OF THE PROTECTION OF COPYRIGHT AND RELATED RIGHTS

SECTION 1. CONTENTS OF, LIMITATIONS ON AND TERM OF THE PROTECTION OF COPYRIGHT

Article 18. Copyright

Copyright in works regulated in this Law shall comprise moral and economic rights.

Article 19. Moral rights

Moral rights shall be exercised by authors to:

1. Give titles to their works.

2. Give their real names or pseudonyms to their works; have their real names or pseudonyms acknowledged when their works are published or used.

3. Publish their works or authorize other persons to publish their works.

4. Protect the integrity of their works; and forbid other persons to modify, edit or distort their works in any form, causing harm to the honor and reputation of the author.

Article 20. Economic rights

1. Moral rights shall be exercised by authors to:

a) Create derivative works;

b) Display their works to the public;

c) Reproduce their works;

d) Distribute or import the original or copies of their works;

dd) Communicate their works to the public by wireless or landline means, electronic information networks or other technical means;

e) Lease the original or copies of cinematographic works and computer programs.

2. Authors or copyright holders shall exclusively exercise the rights stipulated in Clause 1 of this Article or may grant other persons the right to exercise such rights under the provisions of this Law.

3. When any organization or individual exercises one, several or all of the rights stipulated in Clause 1 of this Article and in Clause 3 of Article 19 enshrined in this Law, such an organization or individual must ask for permission from the copyright holder and must pay royalties, remuneration or other material benefits to the copyright holder.

Article 21. Copyright in cinematographic works and dramatic works

1. Persons who act as directors; screenwriters; cameramen; film editors; music composers; art designers; studio sound, lighting and art designers; studio props and technical effects designers, and persons engaged in other creative jobs in making cinematographic works shall have the rights stipulated in Clauses 1, 2 and 4 of Article 19 of this Law and other rights as agreed.

Persons who act as directors; playwrights; choreographers; music composers; art designers; stage sound, lighting and art designers; stage props and technical effects designers; and persons engaged in other creative jobs in making stage performances shall have the rights stipulated in Clauses 1, 2 and 4 of Article 19 set out in this Law and other rights as agreed.

2. Organizations and individuals who invest finance or material and technical facilities in the production of cinematographic works and stage performances shall be holders of the rights stipulated in Clause 3 of Article 19 and Article 20 set out in this Law.

3. Organizations and individuals stipulated in Clause 2 of this Article shall be obliged to pay royalties, remuneration or other material benefits as agreed with the persons stipulated in Clause 1 of this Article.

Article 22. Copyright in computer programs and data collections

1. Computer program means a set of instructions expressed in the form of commands, codes, diagrams and other forms which, when incorporated in a device likely to be read by a computer, are capable of enabling such computer to run a task or achieve a specific result.

Computer programs shall be protected by the copyright just like literary works, irrespective of whether the computer programs are expressed in the form of source or machine codes.

2. Data collection means a set of data selected or arranged in a creative way and expressed in an electronic form or any other form.

Copyright protection of data collections shall not encompass the protection of the data itself and does not prejudice the copyright in the data itself.

Article 23. Copyright in folklore and folk art works

1. Folklore and folk art work means a collective creation based on the traditions of a community or individuals reflecting the ambitions of such community and expressed in a form appropriate to the cultural and social characteristics, standards and values of such community which have been passed down by adaptation or by other means.  Folklore and folk art works shall comprise:

a) Folk tales, poems and riddles;

b) Folk songs and melodies;

c) Folk dances, plays, rites and games;

d) Folk art products including graphics, paintings, sculptures, musical instruments, architectural models and other art genres in any material form.

2. Organizations and individuals using folklore and folk art works must cite the origins of the folklore and folk art works, and must ensure that the authentic value of such folklore and folk art works is preserved.

Article 24. Copyright in literary, artistic and scientific works

The Government shall issue specific regulations on governing the protection of copyright in the literary, artistic and scientific works stipulated in Clause 1 of Article 14 enshrined in this Law.

Article 25. Cases of use of published works in which permission and payment of royalties or remunerations are not required [11]

1. Cases of use of published works in which permission and payment of royalties or remunerations are not required include:

a) Make a copy of works for personal scientific research or teaching purposes;

b) Reasonable recitation of works without misrepresenting the authors’ views for the commentary or illustration purpose;

c) Recitation of works without misrepresenting the authors’ views in articles published in newspapers or periodicals, in radio or television broadcasts, or documentaries;

d) Recitation of works in schools for lecturing purpose without misrepresenting the authors’ views and not for commercial purpose;

dd) Reprography of works by libraries for the archive and research purposes;

e) Performance of dramatic works or other performance art works in cultural, communicative activities without collecting any charges in any form;

g) Audio and video recording of performances for the news-broadcasting and teaching purposes;

h) Photographing or televising of plastic art, architectural, photographic, applied-art works displayed at public places for the purpose of promoting images of these works;

i) Transcription of works into Braille or characters of other languages for the blind:

k) Importation of copies of others’ works for personal use.

2. Organizations and individuals that use works defined in Clause 1 of this Article may neither affect the normal utilization of these works nor prejudice the rights of the authors or copyright holders; and shall indicate the authors’ names, and sources and origins of these works.

3. The provisions of Points a and dd, Clause 1 of this Article are not applicable to architectural works, plastic-art works and computer programs.

Article 26. Cases of use of published works in which permission is not required but the payment of royalties or remunerations is required [12]

1. Broadcasting organizations that broadcast published works with sponsorship, advertisement or charge in whatever form, are not required to obtain permission but have to pay royalties or remunerations to copyright holders from the date of use.

Levels of royalties, remunerations or other material benefits and modes of payment shall be agreed upon by contracting parties. If no agreement is reached, the Governmental regulations must be observed or any lawsuit shall be filed at court under laws.

Broadcasting organizations that broadcast published works without sponsorship, advertisement or charge in whatever form, are not required to obtain permission but have to pay royalties or remunerations to copyright holders from the date of use under the Governmental regulations.

2. Organizations and individuals that use works under Clause 1 of this Article must neither affect the normal utilization of these works nor prejudice the rights of the authors or copyright holders; and shall indicate the authors’ names, and sources and origins of the works.

3. The use of works in the cases specified in Clause 1 of this Article does not apply to cinematographic works.

Article 27. Term of copyright protection [13]

1. The moral rights mentioned in Clauses 1, 2 and 4 of Article 19 set out in this Law shall be protected by the copyright for an indefinite term.

2. The moral rights provided for in Clause 3, Article 19 and the economic rights provided for in Article 20 of this Law shall be protected within the term as follows:

a) Cinematographic works, photographic works, works of applied art and anonymous works have a term of protection of seventy five years from the date of first publication. For cinematographic works, photographic works and works of applied art which remain unpublished within twenty five years from the date on which they are expressed in a fixed form, the term of protection is one hundred years from the date thereof. For anonymous works, when information on their authors is published, the term of protection will be calculated under Point b of this Clause.

b) A work not specified at Point a of this Clause is protected for the whole life of the author and for fifty years after his/her death. For a work under joint authorship, the term of protection expires in the fiftieth year after the death of the last co-author;

c) The term of protection specified at Points a and b of this Clause expires at 24:00 of December 31 of the year in which the copyright protection term expires.

Article 28. Infringement of copyright

1. Appropriating the copyright in a literary, artistic or scientific work.

2. Impersonating an author.

3. Publishing or distributing a work without permission from the author.

4. Publishing or distributing a work of joint authors without permission from the co-authors.

5. Modifying, editing or distorting a work in any way which prejudices the honor and reputation of the author.

6. Copying a work without permission from the author or copyright holder, except in the cases stipulated in Point a and Point dd Clause 1 Article 25 of this Law.

7. Making a derivative work without permission from the author or copyright holder of the work used to make such derivative work, except in the case stipulated in Point i Clause 1 Article 25 of this Law.

8. Using a work without permission from the copyright holder and without paying royalties, remuneration or other material benefits in accordance with law, except in the cases stipulated in Clause 1 Article 25 of this Law.

9. Leasing a work without paying royalties, remuneration or other material benefits to the author or copyright holder.

10. Duplicating, producing copies of, distributing, displaying or communicating a work to the public via a communications network or digital means without permission from the copyright holder.

11. Publishing a work without permission from the copyright holder.

12. Deliberately destroying or de-activating the technical solutions applied by the copyright holder to protect the copyright in his or her right-holder’s works.

13. Deliberately removing or modifying the electronic information on the management of the rights to such work.

14. Manufacturing, assembling, transforming, distributing, importing, exporting, selling or leasing equipment when knowing, or having grounds to know, that such equipment may de-activate technical solutions applied by the copyright holder to protect the copyright in his or her works.

15. Making and selling a work with a forged signature of the author displayed on such work.

16. Importing, exporting or distributing copies of a work without permission from the copyright holder.

SECTION 2. CONTENTS OF, LIMITATIONS ON AND TERM OF PROTECTION OF RELATED RIGHTS

Article 29. Rights of performers

1. Performers who are also the investors shall have the moral and economic rights to their performances. Where performers are not the investors, the performers shall have the moral rights and the investors shall have the economic rights to such performances.

2. 2. Moral rights shall be exercised by authors to:

a) Have their name acknowledged upon performance or when distributing audio and video recordings or broadcasting their performances;

b) Protect the integrity of their performance imagery, and prevent others from modifying, editing or distorting the work in any way prejudicial to the honor and reputation of the performer.

3. 3. Economic rights shall include the exclusive right to be exercised or by which others are authorized to exercise their following rights to:

a) Express their live performance in a fixed form on audio and video recordings;

b) Directly or indirectly reproduce a performance which has been expressed in a fixed form on audio and video recordings;

c) Broadcast or transmit to the public in other ways an unfixed performance so that it may be accessed by the public, except where such performance is intended to be broadcast;

d) Distribute to the public an original performance and copies thereof in the form of sale, rental or distribution by any technical means which are accessible to the public.

4. Any organization or individual who makes most use of the rights stipulated in Clause 3 of this Article must pay remuneration to the performer as stipulated by laws or as mutually agreed if not regulated by laws.

Article 30. Rights of producers of phonograms and video recordings [14]

1. Producers of phonograms and video recordings have the exclusive right to or authorize others to exercise their following rights to:

a) Directly or indirectly reproduce their phonograms and video recordings;

b) Import and distribute to the public their original phonograms and video recordings and copies thereof in the form of sale, rent or distribution by whatever technical means accessible to the public.

2. Producers of phonograms and video recordings shall be granted material benefits when their phonograms and video recordings are distributed to the public.

Article 31. Rights of broadcasting organizations

1. Broadcasting organizations shall have the exclusive right to, or authorize others to exercise the following rights to:

a) Broadcast or re-broadcast their broadcasting programs;

b) Distribute their broadcasts to the public;

c) Turn their broadcasts into a fixed form;

d) Reproduce a fixed version of their broadcasts.

2. Broadcasting organizations shall be entitled to material benefits when their broadcasts are recorded and distributed to the public.

Article 32. Cases in which related rights may be exercised without having to seek permission or pay royalties or remunerations

1. Related rights may be exercised without having to seek permission or pay royalties or remunerations in the following cases:

a) Making one copy of a work for the purpose of conducting personal scientific researches;

b) Duplicating a work for teaching purposes, except for performances, audio and video recordings or broadcasts which have been published for teaching purposes;

c) Taking appropriate quotes from a work in order to provide information;

d) Making provisional copies of a work in order for a broadcasting organization to carry out the broadcasting when the broadcasting right has been granted.

2. Organizations and individuals who use works stipulated in Clause 1 of this Article must neither affect the normal use of performances, audio and video recordings or broadcasts; nor cause any prejudice to the rights of performers, producers of audio and video recordings, or broadcasting organizations.

Article 33. Cases of use of related rights in which permission is not required but payment of royalties or remunerations is required [15]

1. Organizations and individuals that directly or indirectly use phonograms or video recordings already published for commercial purposes to make their broadcasts, which are funded by the sponsorship, advertisement or charges in any form, are not required to obtain permission but have to pay agreed royalties or remunerations to authors, copyright holders, performers or producers of phonograms or video recordings, or broadcasting organizations from the date of use. In case no agreement is reached, they shall comply with the Governmental regulations or file any lawsuit at the court as stipulated by laws.

Organizations and individuals that directly or indirectly use phonograms or video recordings already published for commercial purposes to make their broadcasts, which are funded by  the sponsorship, advertisement or charges in whatever form, are not required to obtain permission but have to pay agreed royalties or remunerations to authors, copyright holders, performers or producers of phonograms or video recordings, or broadcasting organizations from the date of use under the Governmental regulations.

2. Organizations and individuals that use phonograms or video recordings already published in their business or commercial activities are not required obtaining permission but having to pay agreed royalties or remunerations to authors, copyright holders, performers or producers of phonograms or video recordings, or broadcasting organizations from the date of use. In case no agreement is reached, they shall comply with regulations of the Government or file any lawsuit at the court under laws.

3. Organizations and individuals that use the rights mentioned in Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article must neither affect the normal utilization of performances, phonograms, video recordings or broadcasts, nor prejudice the rights of performers, producers of phonograms and video recordings, and broadcasting organizations.

Article 34. Term of the protection of related rights

1. The rights of performers shall be protected for fifty (50) years, which starts from the year following the year in which the performance is turn into a fixed form.

2. The rights of producers of audio and video recordings shall be protected for fifty (50) years which starts from the year following the year of publication, or fifty (50) years which starts from the year following the year in which any unpublished audio and video recording is turned into a fixed form.

3. The rights of broadcasting organizations shall be protected for fifty (50) years which starts from the year following the year in which a broadcast is made.

4. The terms of protection stipulated in Clauses 1, 2 and 3 of this Article shall expire at 24:00 on 31 December of the year in which the protection of the related rights expires.

Article 35. Infringement of related rights

1. Appropriate the rights of a performer, producer of audio and video recordings, or of a broadcasting organization.

2. Impersonate a performer, producer of audio and video recordings, or a broadcasting organization.

3. Publish, produce and distribute a fixed performance, audio and video recording or a broadcast without permission from the performer, producer of the audio and video recording or from the broadcasting organization.

4. Modify, edit or distort a performance in any way by which the honor and reputation of the performer can be ruined.

5. Copy or recite from a performance in a fixed form, audio and video recording or a broadcast without permission from the performer, producer of the audio and visual fixation or from the broadcasting organization.

6. Deliberately remove or modify the electronic information on the management of rights without permission from the related right holder.

7. Deliberately destroy or de-activate technical solutions applied by the related right holder to protect his or her rights.

8. Broadcast, distribute or import performances, copies of a fixed performance or audio and video recordings upon knowing, or having grounds to know, that the electronic information on the management of rights has been removed or modified without any permission from the related right holder.

9. Manufacture, assemble, transform, distribute, import, export, sell or lease equipment upon knowing, or having grounds to know, that such equipment helps to illegally decode encrypted program-carrying satellite signals.

10. Deliberately receive or relay encrypted program-carrying satellite signals without any permission from the legal distributor.

CHAPTER III. HOLDERS OF COPYRIGHT AND RELATED RIGHTS

Article 36. Copyright holders

Copyright holder means an organization or individual who holds one, several or all of the economic rights stipulated in Article 20 of this Law.

Article 37. Authors acting as copyright holders

Authors, who devote their own time, invest their financial and material or technical facilities in creating works shall have the moral rights stipulated in Article 19 and the economic rights stipulated in Article 20 of this Law.

Article 38. Copyright holders known as co-authors

1. Co-authors who devote their time, invest their financial and material or technical facilities in jointly creating works shall share the rights to such works stipulated in Articles 19 and 20 of this Law.

2. Co-authors as defined in Clause 1 of this Article who has jointly created a work, a separate part of which is detachable for separate use without prejudice to the parts of the work of the other co- authors, shall have the rights to such separate part stipulated in Articles 19 and 20 of this Law.

Article 39. Copyright holders as organizations or individuals who assign tasks to authors or who enter into contracts with authors

1. Any organization which assigns the task of creating a work to an author who serves as a member of such organization shall be the holder of the rights stipulated in Clause 3 Article 19 and Article 20 of this Law, unless otherwise agreed.

2. Any organization or individual who enters into a contract with an author for the creation of a work shall be the holder of the rights stipulated in Clause 3 Article 19 and Article 20 of this Law, unless otherwise agreed.

Article 40. Copyright holders known as heirs

Any organization or individual who inherits the copyright in accordance with the law on inheritance shall be the holder of the rights stipulated in Clause 3 Article 19 and Article 20 of this Law.

Article 41. Copyright held by the transferee [16]

1. Organizations and individuals that are the transferee of one, several or all of the rights specified in Article 20 and Clause 3, Article 19 of this Law under contracts are copyright holders.

2. Organizations and individuals that are managing anonymous works enjoy the rights as owners until the names of authors of these works are identified.

Article 42. Copyright held by the State [17]

1. The State is the holder of copyright in the following works:

a) Anonymous works, except those specified in Clause 2 Article 41 of this Law;

b) Works of which terms of protection remain unexpired but their copyright holders die without heirs, their heirs renounce the succession or are deprived of the right to succession;

c) Works to which the ownership right has been transferred by their copyright holders to the State.

2. The Government shall provide specific regulations on the use of state-owned works.

Article 43. Public-owned works

1. Any work of which term of protection expires under Article 27 of this Law shall belong to the public.

2. All organizations and individuals shall be entitled to the works stipulated in Clause 1 of this Article but must respect the moral rights of authors stipulated in Article 19 of this Law.

3. The Government shall provide specific regulations on the use of public-owned works.

Article 44. Related right holders

1. Organizations and individuals who use their time and make a financial investment in or use their material and technical facilities to give a performance shall be the owners of such performance unless otherwise agreed with the parties concerned.

2. Organizations and individuals who use their time and make a financial investment in or use their material and technical facilities to produce audio and video recordings shall be the owners of such audio and video recordings unless otherwise agreed with the parties concerned.

3. Broadcasting organizations shall be the owners of their broadcasts unless otherwise agreed with the parties concerned.

CHAPTER IV. TRANSFER OF COPYRIGHT AND RELATED RIGHTS

SECTION 1. TRANSFER OF COPYRIGHT AND RELATED RIGHTS

Article 45. General provisions on the transfer of copyright and related rights

1. Transfer of copyright and related rights means the conveyance of the ownership of the rights from copyright holders or related right holders stipulated in Articles 19, 3, 20, 29.3, 30 and 31 of this Law to other organizations and individuals as agreed in a contract or in accordance with laws.

2. Authors shall not be permitted to transfer the moral rights stipulated in Article 19 of this Law, except for the right of publication. Performers shall not be permitted to transfer the moral rights stipulated in Clause 2 Article 29 of this Law.

3. Where a work, performance, audio and video recording or broadcast is jointly owned, the transfer thereof must be agreed upon by all co-owners. In a case of co-ownership of a work, performance, audio and video recording or broadcast which is composed of separate parts detachable for separate use, copyright holders or related right holders may transfer their copyright or related rights to their separate parts to other organizations or individuals.

Article 46. Contracts for the transfer of copyright or related rights

1. A contract for the transfer of copyright or related rights must be made in writing and specify the following principal contents:

a) Names and addresses of the transferer and the transferee;

b) Grounds for the transfer;

c) Price and method of payment;

d) Rights and obligations of the contracting parties;

dd) Liability for any breach of contract.

2. The execution, amendment, termination or cancellation to be carried out in a contract for the transfer of copyright or related rights must comply with the provisions enshrined in the Civil Code.

SECTION 2. LICENSING OF COPYRIGHT AND RELATED RIGHTS

Article 47. General provisions on licensing the copyright and related rights

1. Licensing of copyright and related rights means the grant of permission by the copyright holder or related right holder for another organization or individual to use for a definite term one, several or all of the rights stipulated in Clause 3 Articles 19, Article 20, Clause 3 Article 29, Article 30 and Article 31 enshrined in this Law.

2. Authors shall not be permitted to license the moral rights stipulated in Article 19 of this Law, except for the right of publication. Performers shall not be permitted to license the moral rights specified in Clause 2 Article 29 of this Law.

3. Where a work, performance, audio and video recording or broadcast is under joint ownership, the licensing of copyright or related rights therein must be agreed upon by all co-owners. In the case of joint ownership of a work, performance, audio and video recording or broadcast which is composed of separate parts detachable for independent use, copyright holders or related right holders may license their copyright or related rights in their separate parts to other organizations or individuals.

4. Any organization or individual who is the licensee of copyright or related rights shall be permitted to license other organizations and individuals after obtaining the permission from the copyright holder or related right holder.

Article 48. Contract for the licensing of copyright or related rights

1. A contract for the licensing of copyright or related rights must be made in writing and include the following principal contents:

a) Full names and addresses of the licensor and the licensee;

b) Grounds for the licensing;

c) Scope of the licensing;

d) Price and method of payment;

dd) Rights and obligations of the contracting parties;

e) Liability for any breach of contract.

2. The performance, amendment, termination or cancellation to be carried out in a contract for the licensing of copyright or related rights must comply with the provisions set out in the Civil Code.

CHAPTER V. CERTIFICATION OF COPYRIGHT AND RELATED RIGHT REGISTRATION

Article 49. Registration of copyright and related rights

1. Registration of copyright and related rights means the submission of an application and attached documents (hereinafter referred to as application) carried out by an author, copyright holder or related rights holder to the competent authority in order to record information about the author, the work, the copyright holder and the related rights holder.

2. The application for the issuance of a certificate of copyright registration or a certificate of related right registration shall not be a compulsory pre-requisite for an entitlement to copyright or related rights in accordance with the provisions of this Law.

3. Organizations and individuals who are granted certificates of copyright registration or certificates of related right registration shall not take on any obligation to prove their ownership of such copyright or related rights in case of any dispute that arises, unless otherwise proved.

Article 50. Application for the registration of copyright and related rights

1. Authors or holders of copyright and related rights may directly submit, or may authorize other organizations or individuals to submit the application for the registration of copyright or related rights.

2. An application for the registration of copyright or related rights must comprise:

a) A declaration form for the registration of copyright or related rights.

A declaration form must be made in Vietnamese and signed by the author, copyright holder, related right holder or person authorized to submit the application; and must include complete information on the applicant, author, copyright holder or related right holder; the summarized content of the work, performance, audio and video recording or broadcast; the name of the author, and the title of the work used to make the derivative work if the work to be registered is a derivative work; the date, place and form of publication; and a commitment to bearing responsibility for the information given in the application.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism [18] shall adopt the declaration form for the registration of copyright or related rights;

b) Two copies of the work that requires the registration of copyright and related rights or of the subject in a fixed form that requires the registration of related rights;

c) A letter of authorization applicable to those who are authorized persons;

d) A proof of the right to submit the application if the applicant is the beneficiary of such right from others through the process of inheritance, succession or transfer;

dd) A written permission given by the co-author in the case of a work under joint authorship;

e) A written consent given by the co-owner in the case of co-ownership of the copyright or related rights.

3. The required documents stipulated at Point c, d, dd and e of Clause 2 of this Article must be prepared in Vietnamese. Any document written in a foreign language must be translated into Vietnamese.

Article 51. Authority to issue the certificate of copyright registration and the certificate of related right registration

1. The regulatory agency of copyright and related rights shall have the authority to issue the certificate of copyright registration and the certificate of related right registration.

2. The regulatory agency that have the competence in the issuance of the certificate of copyright and related right registration shall have the authority to reissue, replace, renew or invalidate such certificates.

3. The Government shall provide specific regulations for the requirements, processes and procedures for the reissuance, renewal, replacement and invalidation of the certificates of copyright and related right registration.

4. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism [19] shall adopt the form of the certificate of copyright or related right registration.

Article 52. Time-limit for granting the certificate of copyright and related right registration

The regulatory agency for copyright and related rights shall be responsible to grant the certificate of copyright and related right registration to the applicant, or shall notify the applicant in writing in case of refusal to grant a certificate, within a period of fifteen (15) working days from the receipt of a valid application.

Article 53. Validity of the certificate of copyright and related right registration

1. The certificate of copyright and related right registration shall be valid throughout the entire territory of Vietnam.

2. The certificate of copyright and related right registration which was granted by the regulatory agency for copyright and related rights before the effective date of this Law shall continue to be valid.

Article 54. Official record and publication of the registration results of copyright and related rights

1. The certificate of copyright and related right registration shall be officially recorded in the National Register of Copyright and Related Rights.

2. The decisions on the issuance, reissuance, renewal, replacement and invalidation of the certificate of copyright and related right registration shall be published in the Official Gazette at the section of copyright and related rights.

Article 55. Reissuance, renewal, replacement and invalidation of the certificate of copyright and related right registration

1. Where the certificate of copyright and related right registration is lost or damaged, or where the copyright holder or related right holder is changed, the regulatory agency stipulated in Clause 2 Article 51 of this Law shall reissue or replace the certificate of copyright and related right registration.

2. Where the holder of the certificate of copyright and related right registration is not the author, copyright holder or related right holder; or where the registered work, audio and video recording or broadcast is not protected by the copyright, the regulatory agency stipulated in Clause 2 Article 51 of this Law shall invalidate such certificates.

3. Any organization or individual who discovers that the issuance of any certificate of copyright and related right registration is violating laws shall be entitled to request the regulatory agency for copyright and related rights to make such certificate become invalid.

CHAPTER VI. REPRESENTATION, CONSULTANCY AND SERVICES REGARDING COPYRIGHT AND RELATED RIGHTS

Article 56. Organizations acting as community representatives on copyright or related right issues

1. An organization acting as the community representative on copyright or related right issues means a non- profit organization that are established under an agreement between authors, copyright holders or related right holders and ensures their protection for copyright and related rights comply with legal regulations.

2. An organization acting as the community representative on copyright or related right issues may perform the activities below as being authorized by authors, copyright holders or related right holders:

a) Manage copyright or related rights; negotiate the licensing, collection and distribution of royalties, remunerations and other material benefits gained from the permission to exercise authorized rights;

b) Protect the legitimate rights and interests of its members; carry out conciliation if a dispute arises.

3. An organization acting as the community representative on copyright or related right issues shall have the following rights and duties:

a) Encourage the creativity and other social activities;

b) Co-operate with relevant partners in international organizations and countries on the protection of copyright and related rights;

c) Send periodic and unscheduled reports to the regulatory agency on its community representative activities;

d) Other rights and duties stipulated by laws.

Article 57. Copyright and related right consultancy service organization

1. Copyright and related right consultancy service organization is established and runs its business in accordance with laws.

2. Copyright and related right consultancy service organization may perform the following activities requested by authors, copyright holders and related right holders:

a) Provide consulting services on issues related to the law on copyright and related rights;

b) Act on behalf of copyright holders and related right holders to carry out the application for the registration of copyright and related rights according to what they are duly authorized;

c) Participate in other legal relationships on copyright, related rights and protection of legitimate rights and interests held by authors, copyright holders and related right holders according to what they are duly authorized.

PART III. INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY RIGHT

CHAPTER VII. CONDITIONS FOR THE PROTECTION OF INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY RIGHT

SECTION 1. CONDITIONS FOR THE PROTECTION OF INVENTIONS

Article 58. General conditions for inventions to be protected

1. An invention shall be eligible to be protected in the form of a patent when it satisfies the following requirements:

a) It is novel;

b) It gains an acceptable level of creativity;

c) It is susceptible of industrial application.

2. Unless an invention is of common knowledge, it shall be protected in the form of the grant of a utility solution patent when it satisfies the following requirements:

a) It is novel;

b) It is susceptible of industrial application.

Article 59. Objects ineligible to be treated as a protected invention

Objects ineligible to be treated as a protected invention include:

1. Scientific discoveries, theories and mathematical methods.

2. Schemes, plans, rules and methods for mental activities, domestic animal training, game playing and business practice; computer programs.

3. Information display method.

4. Solutions that are of aesthetic characteristics only.

5. Plant varieties, animal breeds.

6. Processes of plant or animal production which is mainly of a biological nature, other than microbiological processes.

7. Human and animal disease prevention, diagnostic and treatment methods.

Article 60. Novelty of inventions

1. An invention shall be deemed novel if it has not yet been publicly disclosed by use or by means of a written description or any other form either inside or outside Vietnam before the date on which the application for registration is submitted or ahead of the specified date on which the application for registration of inventions is prioritized.

2. An invention shall be deemed undisclosed to the public if it is made known to only a limited number of persons who are obliged to keep it secret.

3. An invention shall not be treated as the one that has lost its novelty if it is published in the following cases, provided that the invention registration application is filed within six (6) months from the date of publication:

a) It is published by another person without permission from the person having the right to register it as defined in Article 86 of this Law;

b) It is published in the form of a scientific report by the person having the right to register it as defined in Article 86 of this Law;

c) It is displayed at a national exhibition of Vietnam or at an official or officially recognized international exhibition by the person having the right to register it as defined in Article 86 of this Law.

Article 61. Level of invention

An invention shall be deemed to achieve an acceptable level of invention if, based on its technical solutions already publicly disclosed by the use or by means of a written description or in any other form either inside or outside Vietnam prior to the filing date or the priority date as applicable to the application for registration of the invention, such invention is really a breakthrough and cannot be easily created by a person who gains limited technical knowledge.

Article 62. Industrial applicability of inventions

An invention shall be considered to have an industrial applicability if it can be employed to perform the mass production of any product or its process can be applied repeatedly, which generate stable results.

SECTION 2. CONDITIONS FOR THE PROTECTION OF INDUSTRIAL DESIGNS

Article 63. General conditions for industrial designs eligible to be protected

Industrial designs eligible to be protected must meet the following requirements:

1. It is novel;

2. It is creative;

3.  It has industrial applicability.

Article 64. Objects ineligible to be treated as a protected industrial design

Objects ineligible to be treated as a protected industrial design include:

1. Exteriority of a product which is required by the technical features of the product.

2. Exteriority of civil or industrial construction works.

3. Exteriority of a product which is invisible during the use of the product.

Article 65. Novelty of industrial designs

1. An industrial design shall be deemed to be novel if it significantly differs from others which have been publicly disclosed through the use or by means of written descriptions or in any other form either inside or outside Vietnam prior to the filing date or the specified date applicable to any application for registration of the industrial design given the priority.

2. Two industrial designs shall not be considered significantly different from each other if they only have difference in their exterior appearance which can not be noticeable, memorable and can not recognize the distinction between them in respect of their general designs. 

3. An industrial design shall be considered to be not yet disclosed to the public if it is made known to only a limited number of persons who are obliged to keep it secret.

4. An industrial design shall be considered not to lose its novelty if it is published in the following cases, provided that the application for registration of the industrial design would be submitted within six (6) months from the date of publication:

It is published by another person without any permission from the person having the right to register it as defined in Article 86 of this Law;

b) It is published in the form of a scientific report by the person having the right to register it as defined in Article 86 of this Law;

c) It is displayed at a national exhibition organized in Vietnam or at an official or officially recognized international exhibition by the person having the right to register it as defined in Article 86 of this Law.

Article 66. Creativity of industrial designs

An industrial design shall be considered creative if, based on industrial designs already publicly disclosed through the use or by means of written descriptions or in any other form either inside or outside Vietnam before the filing date or the specified date, as applicable to the application for registration of the industrial design that is given the priority, the industrial design cannot be easily created by a person who has limited knowledge in the equivalent sector.

Article 67. Applicability of industrial designs

An industrial design shall be considered to have the industrial applicability if it can be used as a model for mass production of any product of which exterior appearance is created by such industrial design through the application of industrial or handicraft methods.

SECTION 3. CONDITIONS FOR THE PROTECTION OF LAYOUT DESIGNS

Article 68 General conditions for layout designs to be eligible for the protection

A layout design shall be eligible for the protection when it satisfies the following conditions:

1. It is original.

2. It is novel for the commercial purpose.

Article 69. Objects ineligible to be treated as protected layout designs

The following items shall be ineligible for the protection as layout designs:

1. Principles, processes, systems and methods operated by semiconductor integrated circuits.

2. Information or software contained in semiconductor integrated circuits.

Article 70. Originality of layout designs

1. A layout design shall be considered original if it satisfies the following conditions:

a) It is the result obtained from its author’s creative labour;

b) It was not widely known among layout designers or manufacturers of semiconductor integrated circuits at the time of its creation.

2. A layout design which is a combination of elements and common interconnections shall be deemed to be original only if such combination as its general concept is original as prescribed in Clause 1 of this Article.

Article 71. Commercial novelty of layout designs

1. A layout design shall be deemed to be novel for the commercial purpose if it has not been yet traded anywhere in the world prior to the date on which the application for registration is submitted.

2. A layout design shall not be deemed to lose its commercial novelty if the application for registration of the layout design is filed within two years from the date on which it is traded for the first time anywhere in the world by the person who has the right to register it as defined in Article 86 of this Law or by his or her licensee.

3. Commercial use of a layout design as stipulated in Clause 2 of this Article means any act of public distribution for commercial purposes in respect of any semiconductor integrated circuit produced by such layout design, or any commodity built with such semiconductor integrated circuit.

SECTION 4. CONDITIONS FOR THE PROTECTION OF MARKS

Article 72. General conditions for marks to be eligible for the protection

A mark shall be eligible to be protected when it satisfies the following conditions:

1. It is a visible sign in the form of letters, words, drawings or images including holograms, or a combination thereof, designed in one or more colors.

2. It is capable of distinguishing goods or services of this mark owner from those of the other.

Article 73. Signs ineligible to be treated as marks to be protected by the copyright

Signs below ineligible to be treated as marks to be protected by the copyright

1. Identical or similar signs which are confused with national flags or national emblems.

2. Identical or similar signs which are confused with emblems, flags, coats of arms, abbreviated names or full names of Vietnamese State bodies, political organizations, socio-political organizations, socio- politico-professional organizations, social organizations or socio-vocational organizations or international organizations, unless any permission from these entities is granted.

3. Identical and similar signs which are confused with real names, aliases, pseudonyms or images of leaders, national heroes or famous personalities of Vietnam or foreign countries.

4. Identical and similar signs which are confused with stamps used for the purpose of certification, examination and warranty by international organizations which have the right to prohibit the illegal use of such stamps, except where these organizations register these signs as certification marks.

5. Signs which cause misunderstanding or confusion or which deceive consumers as to the origin, properties, use, quality, value or other characteristics of goods or services.

Article 74. Distinctiveness of marks

1. A mark shall be deemed to be distinctive if it consists of one or more easily noticeable and memorable elements, or of many elements that constitute an easily noticeable and memorable continuum, and does not fall into the cases stipulated in Clause 2 of this Article.

2. A mark shall be deemed to be indistinctive if it is a mark falling into one of the following categories:

a) Simple shapes and geometric figures, numerals, letters or scripts of uncommon languages, except where such sign has been widely used and recognized as a mark;

b) Conventional signs or symbols, pictures or common names in any language of goods or services that have been widely and regularly used and made known to many people;

c) Signs referring to time, place and method of production; category, quantity, quality, properties, ingredients, use, value or other characteristics descriptive of goods or services, except where such signs have acquired distinctiveness by use before the submission of the application for registration of the mark;

d) Signs describing the legal status and business sector of business entities;

dd) Signs indicating the geographical origin of goods or services, except where such signs have been widely used and recognized as a mark or registered as a collective mark or certification mark as stipulated in this Law;

e) Signs other than integrated marks which are confusingly identical or similar to registered marks of identical or similar goods or services on the basis of applications for registration with earlier submission dates or specific date on which an application is given the priority, including applications for registration of marks which are submitted in accordance with a treaty of which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a member;

g) Signs confusingly identical or similar to another person’s mark which has been widely used and recognized for similar or identical goods or services before the submission date or the specified date on which an application is given the priority;

h) Signs confusingly identical or similar to another person’s mark which has been registered for identical or similar goods or services, the registration certificate of which has been invalidated for no more than five years, except where its validity is cancelled on account of its failure to comply with Point d Clause 1 Article 95 of this Law;

i) Signs confusingly identical or similar to another person’s mark recognized as a well known mark which has been registered for goods or services which are identical or similar to those bearing such well known mark, or for dissimilar goods or services if the use of such mark may affect the distinctiveness of the well known mark or the mark registration was aimed at taking advantage of the reputation of the well known mark;

k) Signs identical or similar to another person’s trade name currently in use if the use of such sign may cause confusion to consumers in terms of the origin of goods or services;

l) Signs identical or similar to a protected geographical indication if the use of such signs may mislead consumers as to the geographical origin of goods;

m) Signs identical to, containing or being translated or transcribed from protected geographical indications for wines or spirits if such signs have been registered for use with respect to wines and spirits not originating from the geographical areas bearing such geographical indications;

n) Signs identical to or slightly different from another person’s industrial design which has been protected on the basis of an application for registration of an industrial design with a submission date or specified date on which an application is given the priority, which is earlier than that of the application for registration of the mark.

Article 75. Criteria for evaluation of whether or not a mark is well known

The following criteria shall be taken into account when considering whether or not a mark is well known:

1. The number of relevant consumers who can recognize the mark by the purchase or use of goods or services identified by such a mark, or learn about the mark from advertisements.

2. The territorial area in which goods or services bearing the mark are circulated.

3. Turnover received from the sale of goods or services identified by the mark or the quantity of such goods sold or services.

4. Duration of continuous use of the mark.

5. Widespread reputation of goods or services bearing the mark.

6. Number of countries providing the protection for the mark.

7. Number of countries recognizing the mark as a well known mark.

8. Assignment price, licensing price, or contributed capital contribution value of the mark.  

SECTION 5. CONDITIONS FOR THE PROTECTION OF TRADE NAMES

Article 76. General conditions for trade names to be eligible for protection

A trade name shall be protected when it is capable of distinguishing the business entity bearing it from other business entities operating in the same business sector and locality.

Article 77. Objects ineligible for protection as protected trade names

Names of State bodies, political organizations, socio-political organizations, socio-politico-professional organizations, social organizations, socio-professional organizations and other entities not involved in business activities shall not be protected as trade names.

Article 78. Distinctiveness of trade names

A trade name shall be deemed to be distinctive when it satisfies the following conditions:

1. It consists of a proper name, except where the proper name was widely known by use.

2. It is not confusingly identical or similar to a trade name which was used earlier by another person in the same business sector and locality.

3. It is not confusingly identical or similar to another person’s mark or a geographical indication which was protected before the date of use of such trade name.

SECTION 6. CONDITIONS FOR PROTECTION OF GEOGRAPHICAL INDICATIONS

Article 79. General conditions for geographical indications to be eligible for protection

A geographical indication shall be eligible for protection when it satisfies the following conditions:

1. The product bearing the geographical indication originates from the area, locality, territory or country corresponding to such geographical indication.

2. The product bearing the geographical indication has a reputation, quality or characteristics mainly attributable to geographical conditions of the area, locality, territory or country corresponding to such geographical indication.

Article 80. Objects ineligible to be treated as a protected geographical indication

The following objects shall be ineligible for protection as geographical indications:

1. Names or indications which have become generic names of goods in Vietnam.

2. Geographical indications of foreign countries where they are not, or no longer, protected or used.

3. Geographical indications identical or similar to a protected mark, where the use of such geographical indication is likely to cause confusion as to the origin of products.

4. Geographical indications which mislead consumers as to the true geographical origin of products bearing such geographical indications.

Article 81. Reputation, quality and characteristics of products bearing geographical indications

1. Reputation of products bearing a geographical indication shall be determined on the basis of the trust of consumers in such products to the extent such products are widely known to and selected by consumers.

2. Quality and characteristics of products bearing a geographical indication shall be determined by one or more qualitative, quantitative or physically, chemically, microbiologically perceptible criteria which can be tested by technical equipment or by experts with appropriate testing methods.

Article 82. Geographical conditions relevant to geographical indications

1. Geographical conditions relevant to a geographical indication mean natural and human factors which are decisive to the reputation, quality and characteristics of products bearing such geographical indication.

2. Natural factors shall include climatic, hydrological, geological, topographical and ecological factors and other natural conditions.

3. Human factors shall include skills and techniques of producers and local traditional production processes.

Article 83. Geographical areas bearing geographical indications

Geographical areas bearing geographical indications must have their boundaries accurately determined by words and maps.

SECTION 7. CONDITIONS FOR PROTECTION OF TRADE SECRETS

Article 84. General conditions for trade secrets to be eligible for protection

A trade secret shall be eligible for protection when it satisfies the following conditions:

1. It is neither common knowledge nor easily obtainable.

2. When used in business activities, the trade secret will bring about advantages for its holder over those who do not hold or use it.

3. The owner of the trade secret maintains its secrecy by all necessary means so that such secret will be neither disclosed nor easily accessible.

Article 85. Objects ineligible to be treated as protected trade secrets

The following confidential information shall be ineligible to be protected as trade secrets:

1. Personal identification secrets.

2. State management secrets.

3. National defence and security secrets.

4. Other confidential information in no relation to business activities.

CHAPTER VIII. ESTABLISHMENT OF INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY RIGHTS TO INVENTIONS, INDUSTRIAL DESIGNS, LAYOUT DESIGNS, MARKS AND GEOGRAPHICAL INDICATIONS

SECTION 1. REGISTRATION OF INVENTIONS, INDUSTRIAL DESIGNS, LAYOUT DESIGNS, MARKS AND GEOGRAPHICAL INDICATIONS

Article 86. Right to register inventions, industrial designs and layout designs

1. The following organizations and individuals shall have the right to register inventions, industrial designs and layout designs:

a) Authors who have created inventions, industrial designs or layout designs by their own labour and at their own expense;

b) Organizations or individuals who have invested funds and material facilities in authors in the form of job assignment or hiring, unless otherwise agreed by the parties involved and provided that such agreements are not contrary to the provisions of Clause 2 of this Article.

2. The Government shall provide regulations on the right to register inventions, industrial designs and layout designs created by using material and technical facilities and funds from the State Budget.

3. Where a number of organizations and individuals have jointly created or invested in the creation of an invention, industrial design or layout design, such organizations and individuals shall all have the registration right which may only be exercised in case of mutual consents from these entities.

4. A person who has the registration right as stipulated in this Article may transfer the ownership of such right to other organizations or individuals by a written contract, bequest or inheritance in accordance with law, even where a registration application has already been submitted.

Article 87. Right to register marks [20]

1. Organizations and individuals may register marks to be used for goods they produce or services they provide.

2. Organizations and individuals that conduct lawful commercial activities may register marks for products they are launched in the market but produced by others, provided that the producers neither use such marks for their products nor object to such registration.

3. Lawfully established collective organizations may register collective marks to be used by their members under regulations on use of collective marks. For signs indicating geographical origins of goods or services, organizations that may register them are collective organizations of organizations or individuals engaged in production or trading in relevant localities. For other geographical names or signs indicating geographical origins of local specialties of Vietnam, the registration must be permitted by competent state agencies.

4. Organizations with the function of controlling and certifying the quality, properties, origin or other relevant criteria of goods or services may register certification marks, provided that they are not engaged in the production or trading of these goods or services. For other geographical names or signs indicating geographical origins of local specialties of Vietnam, the registration thereof must be permitted by a competent state agency.

5. Two or more organizations or individuals may jointly register a mark in order to become its co-owners on the following conditions:

a) This mark is used in the names of all co-owners or used for goods or services which are produced or traded with the participation of all co-owners;

b) The use of this mark causes no confusion to consumers as to the origin of goods or services.

6. Persons having the registration right defined in Clauses 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 of this Article, including those having filed their registration applications, may assign the registration right to other organizations or individuals in the form of written contracts, bequeathal or inheritance under law, provided that the assigned organizations or individuals satisfy the relevant conditions on the persons having the registration right.

7. For a mark protected in a country being a contracting party to a treaty which prohibits the representative or agent of a mark owner to register such mark and to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is also a contracting party, this representative or agent is not permitted to register the mark unless it is so agreed by the mark owner, unless a justifiable reason is available.

Article 88. Right to register geographical indications

The right to register Vietnamese geographical indications belongs to the State.

The State shall permit organizations and individuals producing products bearing geographical indications, collective organizations representing such organizations or individuals, and administrative bodies of localities to which such geographical indications pertain, to exercise the right to register geographical indications. Persons who exercise the right to register geographical indications shall not be eligible to become owners of such geographical indications.

Article 89. Methods of submitting an application for registration of establishment of industrial property rights

1. Vietnamese organizations and individuals, foreign individuals permanently residing in Vietnam, and foreign organizations and individuals having production or business establishments in Vietnam shall submit applications for registration of establishment of industrial property rights either directly or through their lawful representatives in Vietnam.

2. Foreign individuals not permanently residing in Vietnam and foreign organizations and individuals without production or business establishments in Vietnam shall submit applications for registration of establishment of industrial property rights through their lawful representatives in Vietnam.

Article 90. First-come and first-served principles [21]

1. Where many applications are filed for registration of the same or similar inventions or for registration of industrial designs identical to or slightly different from one another, the protection certificate may only be granted to the valid application submitted at the earliest priority or filing date among applications satisfying all the conditions for the grant of a protection certificate.

2. Where there are many applications filed by different persons for registration of identical or confusingly similar marks for identical or similar products or services, or where there are many applications filed by the same person for registration of identical marks for identical products or services, the protection certificate may only be granted for the mark in the valid application submitted at the earliest priority or filing date among applications satisfying all the conditions for the grant of a protection certificate.

3. Where there are many registration applications specified in Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article and satisfying all the conditions for the grant of a protection certificate and having the same earliest priority or filing date, the protection certificate may only be granted for the object of a single application out of these applications under an agreement of all applicants. Without such agreement, all relevant objects of these applications will be refused for the grant of a protection certificate.

Article 91. Priority principle

1. An applicant for registration of an invention, industrial design or mark may claim priority on the basis of the first application for registration of protection of the same object if the following conditions are fully satisfied:

a) The first application was filed in Vietnam or in a country being a contracting party to a treaty of which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is also a member, containing provisions on priority right, or in a country which has agreed with Vietnam to apply such provisions;

b) The applicant is a citizen of Vietnam or of a country defined in Point a of this Clause, who resides or has a production or business establishment in Vietnam or in a country defined in Point a of this Clause;

c) The claim for the priority right is clearly stated in the application and a copy of the first application certified by the receiving office is enclosed;

d) The application is filed within the time-limit provided for in a treaty of which Vietnam is a member.

2. In an application for registration of an invention, industrial design or mark, the applicant may claim the priority right on the basis of different earlier applications, provided that the similarity between the contents of such earlier applications and the present application are indicated.

3. An application for registration of industrial property which is granted the priority right shall bear the priority date being the filing date of the first application.

Article 92. Protection certificates

1. A protection certificate shall recognize the owner of the invention, industrial design, layout design or mark (hereinafter all referred to as protection certificate owners); the author of the invention, industrial design or layout design; and the object, scope and term of protection.

2. A protection certificate of a geographical indication shall record the organization managing such geographical indication, the organization or individual having the right to use such geographical indication, the protected geographical indication, the particular characteristics of products bearing such geographical indication, and the particular characteristics of geographical conditions and geographical areas bearing such geographical indication.

3. Protection certificate shall include an invention patent, utility solution patent, and industrial design patent, certificate of registered design of semi-conductor integrated circuits, certificate of registered mark and certificate of registered geographical indication.

Article 93. Validity of protection certificates

1. Protection certificates shall be valid throughout the entire territory of Vietnam.

2. A patent on an invention shall be valid from the issuing date until the end of twenty (20) years after the submission date.

3. A patent on a utility solution shall be valid from the issuing date until the end of ten (10) years after the submission date.

4. A patent on an industrial design shall be valid from the issuing date until the end of five (5) years after the submission date and may be renewed for two consecutive terms, each of which shall have a period of five (5) more years.

5. A certificate of registered design of semi-conducting integrated circuits shall be valid from the issuing date until the earliest date among the following:

a) The end of ten (10) years after the submission date;

b) The end of ten (10) years as of the date on which the layout design was first used for a commercial purpose anywhere in the world by a person who holds the registration right or his/ her licensee;

c) The end of fifteen (15) years as of the date on which the layout design was created.

6. A registration certificate of mark shall be valid from the issuing date until the end of ten (10) years as from the submission date and may be renewed for many consecutive terms, each of which shall have ten (10) years.

7. A registration certificate of geographical indication shall have indefinite validity as from the issuing date.

Article 94. Retention and extension of validity of protection certificates

1. In order to maintain the validity of a patent on an invention or a utility solution, the owner must pay a validity retention fee.

2. In order to have the validity of an industrial design patent or a registration certificate of mark extended, the owner must pay a validity extension fee.

3. Fee rate and procedure for maintaining or extending validity of protection certificates shall be stipulated by the Government.

Article 95. Invalidation of property protection certificates

1. 1. A property protection certificate shall be invalidated in the following cases:

a) The owner fails to pay the regulated maintenance or extension fee;

b) The owner declares a relinquishment of the industrial property rights;

c) The owner no longer exists, or the owner of a registration certificate of mark is no longer engaged in business activities and does not have a lawful heir;

d) The mark has not been used by its owner or the licensee without any justifiable reason for five (05) consecutive years prior to a request for termination of validity, except where use is commenced or resumed at least three (03) months before the request for termination;

dd) The owner of a certificate of collective mark registration fails to supervise or ineffectively supervises the implementation of the regulations on use of the collective mark;

e) The owner of a certificate of certification mark registration violates the regulations on use of the certification mark or fails to supervise or ineffectively supervises the implementation of such regulations;

g) The geographical prerequisites to the reputation, quality or special characteristics of products bearing a geographical indication have changed, which results in the loss of such reputation, quality or attribute of products.

2. Where the owner of a patent fails to pay the maintenance fee by the regulated deadline, such a patent shall be automatically invalidated as from the first day of the first year for which the maintenance fee has not been paid. The regulatory body for industrial property rights shall record such invalidation in the National Register of Industrial Property and publish it in the Official Gazette of Industrial Property.

3. Where the owner of a patent declares relinquishment of the industrial property right as stipulated at Point b Clause 1 of this Article, the regulatory body for industrial property rights shall decide to terminate the validity of such a patent from the receipt of the patent owner’s declaration.

4. Where the owner of a patent declares relinquishment of the industrial property right as stipulated at Point b Clause 1 of this Article, the regulatory body for industrial property rights shall decide to terminate the validity of such a patent from the receipt of the patent owner’s declaration.

After considering the request for invalidation of a patent and the opinions of the parties involved, the regulatory agency for industrial property rights shall issue a decision to void a patent or make an objection against this request.

5. The provisions set out in Clauses 1, 3 and 4 of this Article shall also apply to the invalidation of international registrations of marks.

Article 96. Cancellation of effectiveness of protection certificates

1. A protection certificate shall be entirely invalidated in the following cases:

a) The applicant for registration does not have the right and is not entitled to transfer the right to register the invention, industrial design, layout design or mark;

b) The object of the industrial property protection may fail to satisfy the requirements for protection at the time the protection certificate is granted.

2. A protection certificate shall be partly invalidated as to the part which failed to satisfy the conditions for being protected.

3. Any organization or individual may request the regulatory body for industrial property rights to invalidate a protection certificate in the cases specified in Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article, provided that such applicant has to pay fees and charges.

The valid term in which the right to request an invalidation of a protection certificate can be exercised shall be the whole term of such protection. With respect to marks, such valid term shall be five (5) years from the grant date, except where the protection certificate was granted to the applicant due to any deliberate dishonesty.

4. Based on the result of the examination of a request for invalidation of a protection certificate and the opinions of the parties involved, the regulatory body for industrial property rights shall issue a decision on entire or partial invalidation of a protection certificate or notify an objection to invalidating a protection certificate.

5. The provisions set out in Clauses 1, 2, 3 and 4 of this Article shall also apply to the invalidation of international registrations of marks.

Article 97. Amendments to protection titles

1. The owner of a protection certificate shall have the right to request the regulatory body for industrial property rights to make amendments to the following information enclosed in such a protection certificate, provided that the prescribed fees and charge are paid:

a) Make adjustments and error corrections to the name and address of the author or owner of the protection certificate;

 b) Make any amendment to the description of features, particular characteristics, quality or geographical conditions provided on a geographical indication; make amendments to the regulations on use of a collective or certification mark.

2. At the request of the owner of a protection certificate, the regulatory body for industrial property rights must correct errors made by this body in such a protection certificate. In that case, the owner of protection certificate shall not be liable for any fee and charge.

3. The owner of a protection certificate may request the regulatory body for industrial property rights to narrow the scope of industrial property rights. In such a case, the substantive content of the equivalent application for industrial property registration shall be re-examined while the applicant must pay a fee for this.

Article 98. National Register of Industrial Property

1. The National Register of Industrial Property means the written record of the establishment, change and transfer of industrial property rights to inventions, industrial designs, layout designs, marks and geographical indications in accordance with this Law.

2. Decisions on issues relating to a protection certificate such as grant, principal contents, amendments, termination, invalidation, registration of the contract for transfer of industrial property rights shall all be recorded in the National Register of Industrial Property.

3. The National Register of Industrial Property shall be compiled and kept by the regulatory body for industrial property rights.

Article 99. Public announcement of decisions relating to protection certificates

Decisions on the grant, termination, annulment of or adjustment to the certificate of industrial property protection shall be publicly announced by the regulatory body for industrial property rights in the Official Gazette of Industrial Property within sixty (60) days as from the date on which such decisions are granted.

SECTION 2. APPLICATION FOR REGISTRATION OF INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY

Article 100. General requirements that applications for registration of industrial property must satisfy

1. An  application form for industrial property registration shall contain the followings:

a) A declaration made by filling in the given form;

b) Relevant documents, samples and information about the object that requires the property protection as specified in Articles 102 to 106 enshrined in this Law;

c) Power of attorney, if the application is filed through a representative;

d) A proof of the applicant’s legal right to apply for the registration, if such right is received from another person;

dd) A proof of the priority right, if the applicant requests the claim of that right;

e) Fee or charge payment receipts.

2. Industrial property registration applications and source documents that prove transactions between the applicant and the regulatory body for industrial property rights shall be made in Vietnamese, except for the following documents which may be made in another language but shall be translated into Vietnamese at the request of the regulatory body for industrial property rights:

a) Power of attorney;

b) A proof of the applicant’s registration right;

c) A proof of the applicant’s priority right;

d) Other supportive documents.

3. A proof of the priority right shall include:

a) A duplicate application or a copy of the first application certified by the first receiving office;

b) Transfer deed of the priority right if such right is acquired from another person.

Article 101. Requirement for the consistency of an application for industrial property registration

1. Each application for industrial property registration shall request the grant of only one protection certificate for a single industrial property object, except for the cases specified in Clauses 2, 3 and 4 of this Article.

2. Each registration application may request the grant of one invention patent or one utility solution patent for a group of inventions that are technically linked to form a single common inventive concept.

3. Each registration application may request the grant of one industrial design patent for several industrial designs in the following cases:

a) Industrial designs of a set of products which consist of numerous items expressing a single common inventive concept and that are used together or serve a common purpose;

b) An industrial design attached by one or more variants of such industrial design that are based on a single common inventive concept and are not different from such an industrial design.

4. Each registration application may request the grant of one registration certificate of mark for one mark to be used for one or more different goods or services.

Article 102. Requirements that an application for registration of inventions must satisfy

1. Documents that are provided to identify an invention registered for protection in an application for invention registration shall include a description of the invention and an abstract of the invention. The invention description shall be divided into a section for invention details and another for the scope of protection.

2. The description of an invention must satisfy the following requirements:

a) Fully and clearly disclose the nature of the invention to the extent that such invention may be realized by a person with an average technical knowledge;

b) Briefly explain attached drawings, if this is required to further clarify the nature of the invention;

c) Clarify the novelty, inventive competence and industrial applicability of that invention.

3. The scope of protection of an invention shall be expressed in the form of a combination of technical specifications which are necessary and sufficient to identify the scope of the rights to such invention, as well as compatible with the description of invention and attached drawings.

4. The abstract of an invention must disclose the principal nature of such invention.

Article 103. Requirement for an application for registration of industrial designs

1. Documents that are provided to identify an industrial design which needs to be protected in an application for registration of an industrial design shall include a description and a set of photos or drawings of such industrial design. The industrial design description shall consist of a section for a description and another for the scope of protection of such industrial design.

2. The descriptive section of an industrial design must satisfy the following conditions:

a) Fully disclose all features conveying the nature of the industrial design and clearly identify features which are new and different from an industrial design that is known to be the least different, and are identical to the set of photos or drawings;

b) Where the application for registration of the industrial design consists of variants, the descriptive section must fully show these variants and clearly identify distinctions between the principal variant and others;

c) Where the industrial design described in the registration application is that of a set of products, the descriptive section must fully show features of each product included in the set.

3. The section reserved for the description of scope of protection of an industrial design must clearly define the shape or configuration which needs to be protected, including those which are new and different from similar known industrial designs.

4. The set of photos and drawings must fully define the shape or configuration of the industrial design.

Article 104. Requirements that an application for registration of layout designs must satisfy

Documents, samples and information provided to identify a layout design which needs to be registered for protection in an application for registration of a layout design shall include:

1. Drawings and photos of the layout-design.

2. Information on the functions and structure of semi-conductor integrated circuits produced under the layout design.

3. Samples of semi-conductor integrated circuits produced under the layout design, if such layout design has been used for the commercial purpose.

Article 105. Requirements that an applications for registration of marks must satisfy

1. Documents, samples and information provided to identify a mark which needs to be registered for protection in an application for registration of a mark shall include:

a) A sample of the mark and a list of goods or services bearing the mark;

b) Regulations on use of collective or certification marks.

2. The sample of the mark must be described 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 of hieroglyphic languages, such words or phrases must be transcribed; where the mark consists of words or phrases in a foreign language, such words or phrases must be translated into Vietnamese.

3. Goods or services listed in an application for registration of a mark must be classified into appropriate groups in accordance with the Classification List under the Nice Agreement on the International Classification of Goods and Services for the purpose of mark registration, and published by the regulatory body for industrial property rights.

4. The regulations on use of collective marks shall contain the following principal contents:

a) Name, address, grounds of establishment and operation of the collective organization, namely the owner of the mark;

b) Criteria for becoming a member of the collective organization;

c) List of organizations and individuals eligible to use the mark;

d) Requirements set out for use of the mark;

dd) Measures to be taken to deal with any infringement.

5. The regulations on use of certification marks shall contain the following principal contents:

a) The organization or individual considered as the mark owner;

b) Requirements for use of the mark;

c) Characteristics of goods or services certified by the mark;

d) Methods of evaluating characteristics of goods or services and methods of controlling the use of the mark;

dd) Expenses to be paid by the mark user for certification and protection of the mark, if any.

Article 106. Requirements that an application for registration of geographical indications must satisfy

1. Documents, samples and information provided to identify a geographical indication which needs to be registered for protection in an application for registration of a geographical indication shall include:

a) The name or sign considered as the geographical indication;

b) The product bearing the geographical indications;

c) A description of particular characteristics and quality, or reputation of the product bearing the geographical indications, and particular natural elements constituting the particular characteristics and quality, or reputation of the product (hereinafter referred to as the description of particular characteristics);

d) A map of the geographical area which the geographical indication refers to;

dd) A proof of the protection of that geographical indication granted in the country of its origin if it comes from a foreign country.

2. The description of peculiar characteristics must contain the following principal contents:

a) The description of the relevant product including raw materials, and physical, chemical, microbiological, perceptible and organoleptic properties of the product;

b) Method of identification of the geographical area bearing the geographical indication;

c) A proof of origin of the product from such geographical area which is of the equivalent meaning as stipulated in Article 79 of this Law;

d) A description of local and stable methods of production and processing;

dd) Information on the relationship between the particular characteristics and quality, or reputation of the product and the geographical conditions as stipulated in Article 79 of this Law;

e) Information on the mechanism of self-control of the particular characteristics or quality of the product.

Article 107. Authorization for representation to carry out procedures for industrial property rights

1. Authorization for carrying out procedures for the establishment, maintenance, extension, amendment, termination and invalidation of protection titles must be obtained in writing in the form of a power of attorney.

2. A power of attorney must contain the following principal contents:

a) Full name and address of the principal and attorney-in-fact;

b) Scope of authorization;

c) Valid term of authorization;

d) Issuing date;

dd) Signature and stamp (if any) of the principal.

3. A power of attorney without the expiry date shall be considered valid indefinitely, and the validity shall be terminated only when the principal declares its termination.

SECTION 3. PROCEDURES FOR PROCESSING APPLICATIONS FOR REGISTRATION OF INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY AND FOR GRANT OF PROTECTION CERTIFICATES

Article 108. Receipt of applications for industrial property registration, and filing dates

1. An application for registration of industrial property shall only be received by the competent authority for industrial property rights if the application consists of a minimum of the following documents and information:

a) A declaration for registration of an invention, industrial design, layout design, mark or geographical indication, which provides sufficient information to identify the applicant, a sample of the mark, a list of goods or services bearing the mark in the case of the application for a mark;

b) Description, including the scope of protection, in the case of an application for registration of an invention; a set of photos and drawings and a description, in the case of an application for registration of an industrial design; and a description of particular characteristics of a product bearing a geographical indication, in the case of an application for registration of a geographical indication;

e) Fee payment receipts.

2. The filing date shall be the date on which the application is received by the competent authority for industrial property rights, or the international filing date in the case of an application conforming to an international treaty.

Article 109.  Examination of the application form for registration of industrial property

1. An application for registration of industrial property shall be subject to the examination of application form to evaluate its validity.

2. An application for registration of industrial property shall be considered invalid in the following cases:

a) Its form does not meet requirements;

b) The object described in the application is ineligible to be protected;

c) The applicant does not have the right to make registration, including where the registration right is granted to more than one organization or individual but one or some of them do not consent to the filing;

d) The application is in breach of regulations in terms of the filing method stipulated in Article 89 of this Law;

dd) The applicant fails to pay fees and charges.

3. With respect to applications for registration of industrial property that fall into any case stipulated in Clause 2 of this Article, the regulatory body for industrial property rights shall carry out the following procedures:

a) Notify the intention of rejecting the valid application, in which reasons for this rejection must be clearly stating and a time-limit for the applicant’s error correction or objection to such intention must be specified;

b) Notify the refusal of any valid application if the applicant does not correct errors or unacceptably carries out error correction or gives no reasonable opinions on objecting to any intention of this refusal as prescribed at Point a of this Clause;

c) Notify the refusal to grant a registration certificate of design of semi-conductor integrated circuits in case of the registration of semi-conductor integrated circuits;

d) Carry out procedures specified in Clause 4 of this Article if the applicant properly corrects errors or makes a justifiable objection to the intention to reject the valid application stipulated at Point a of this Clause.

4. Where an application for industrial property registration does not fall into a case stipulated in Clause 2 of this Article, or in a case stipulated at Point d Clause 3 of this Article, the regulatory body for industrial property rights shall issue a notice confirming the acceptance of the valid application or carry out procedures for the grant of a protection certificate and the recording of registration information in the National Register of Industrial Property as stipulated in Article 118 of this Law, which is applicable to applications for layout design registration.

5. Any rejected application for mark registration under the provisions set out in Clause 3 of this Article shall be considered not to be allowed to file an application, except where they serve as grounds for the claim to priority rights.

Article 110. Public announcement of applications for registration of industrial property

1. Applications for registration of industrial property which have been verified to be valid by the regulatory body for industrial property rights shall be published in the Official Gazette of Industrial Property in accordance with the provisions of this Article.

2. Applications for registration of inventions shall be published in the 19th month as from the filing date or the specified date on which the priority right is granted or at an earlier time, which depends on the request of the applicant.

3. Applications for registration of industrial designs, marks or geographical indications shall be published within two months as from the date on which such application is verified to be valid.

4. Applications for registration of layout designs shall be released in the form of direct access at the competent authority for industrial property rights but the reproduction is not permitted. Competent authorities and parties involved shall be only granted a permission to have access to the confidential information provided in an application when they are carrying out procedures for invalidating a protection certificate or handling any infringement of property rights.

Principal information on an application for registration of a layout design and the protection certificate of such layout design shall be disclosed within two months as from the date of grant of such protection certificate.

Article 111. Confidentiality of applications for registration of inventions and industrial designs prior to public announcement

1. Before applications for registration of inventions and industrial designs are published in the Official Gazette of Industrial Property, the regulatory body for industrial property rights must keep provided information confidential.

2. Official and civil servants of the regulatory body for industrial property rights who disclose information in applications for registration of inventions and industrial designs shall be disciplined; if the disclosure of information causes loss and damage to applicants, defaulting persons must be liable to pay compensation therefor in accordance with laws.

Article 112. Third party opinions on the grant of protection certificates

From the date on which an application for registration of industrial property is published in the Official Gazette of Industrial Property to the date before a decision on grant of a protection certificate is made, any third party shall have the right to express their opinions on the grant or refusal to grant a protection certificate to the competent authority for industrial property rights. Such opinions must be in writing and enclose documents or quote the source of information.

Article 113. Request for substantive examination of applications for registration of inventions

1. Within forty two (42) months after the filing date or a specified date on which the priority is given, an applicant or any third party may request the competent authority for industrial property rights to substantively examine the submitted application provided that this petitioner shall pay substantive examination fee.

2. The time-limit for making a request for substantive examination of an application for registration of an invention in which a request for a utility solution patent is also included shall be thirty six (36) months from the filing date or the specified date on which the priority right is granted to the beneficiary.

3. Where no request for substantive examination is submitted within the time limit specified in Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article, the application for registration of the invention shall be deemed to have been withdrawn by the end of that time limit.

Article 114. Substantive examination of applications for registration of industrial property

1. The following applications for registration of industrial property shall be substantively examined for evaluation of the eligibility for grant of protection certificates for the object stated in such applications under protection conditions and for determination of the respective scope of protection:

a) Applications for registration of inventions which have already been verified to be valid and involve requests for substantive examination which are filed in accordance with regulations;

b) Applications for registration of industrial designs, marks and geographical indications which have been verified to be valid.

2. Applications for registration of layout designs shall not be substantively examined.

Article 115. Amendment, modification, division and conversion of applications for registration of industrial property

1. An applicant shall have the following rights before the competent authority for industrial property rights notifies a refusal or decides to grant a protection certificate:

a) To amend or modify the application;

b) To divide the application;

c) To request the recording of changes in name or address of the applicant;

d) To request the recording of change of the applicant due to the application transfer carried out under a contract, bequest or inheritance, or under a decision of a competent agency;

dd) To convert an application for registration of an invention involving a request for an invention patent into an application for registration of an invention involving a request for a utility solution patent, and vice versa.

2. The applicants for completion of the procedures stipulated in Clause 1 of this Article must pay fees and charges.

3. Any amendment or modification of an application for registration of industrial property must not expand the scope of the object already disclosed or stated in such application, and must not change the nature of the object that need a registration stated in the application and must ensure the consistency of the application.

4. In the case of division of an application, the filing date of the split application shall be determined following the filing date of the original application.

Article 116. Withdrawal of applications for registration of industrial property

1. Before the competent authority for industrial property rights decides or refuses to grant a protection title, the applicant shall have the right to make a written declaration on the withdrawal of the application for registration of industrial property in his or her own name or through an industrial property representation service supplier, provided that a power of attorney clearly states authorization for withdrawal of the application.

2. As from the time when an applicant declares the withdrawal of an application, all further procedures related to such application shall be halted; paid fees and charges relating to the procedures which have not yet been commenced shall be refunded to the applicant at the applicant’s request.

3. All applications for registration of industrial designs which have been withdrawn or are deemed to have been withdrawn before their publication and all applications for registration of marks which have been withdrawn shall be deemed not to have been filed, except where they serve as grounds for claims to the priority right.

Article 117. Refusal to grant protection certificates

1. An application for registration of an invention, industrial design, mark or geographical indication, and for the grant of a protection certificate shall be refused in the following cases:

a) There are grounds to affirm that the object stated in the application does not fully satisfy the conditions for protection;

b) The application satisfies the conditions for the grant of a protection certificate but does not have the earliest filing date or specified date on which the priority is granted as to the case stipulated in Clause 1 of Article 90 of this Law;

c) The application falls into a case stipulated in Clause 2 of Article 90 of this Law but fails to reach the consensus of all interested applicants.

2. An application form for registration and grant of a layout design protection which does not fulfill the requirements stipulated in Article 109 of this Law shall be refused.

Where an application for registration of industrial property falls into the cases stipulated in Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article, the competent authority for industrial property rights shall carry out the following procedures:

a) Notify an intention to refuse to grant a protection certificate, which must clearly state the reasons therefor and set a time-limit for the applicant to make an objection to such intention;

b) Notify the refusal to grant a protection certificate if the applicant makes no objection or makes unjustifiable objection to the intention to refuse the application as stipulated at Point a of this Clause;

c) Grant a protection certificate and keep a record of it into the National Register of Industrial Property according to the provisions specified in Article 118 of this Law if the applicant has made a justifiable objection to the intention to refuse the application as stipulated at Point a of this Clause.

4. Where an objection is made to the intention of granting a protection certificate, the matters subject to the objection provided in the relevant application for registration of industrial property shall be re-examined.

Article 118. Grant of protection certificates and entry into the register

Where an application for registration of industrial property does not fall into the cases in which the grant of protection certificates are refused as stipulated in Clauses 1, 2 and Point b Clause 3 of Article 117 of this Law and the applicant has already paid the fee, the competent authority for industrial property rights shall decide to grant a protection certificate and keep a record of it in the National Register of Industrial Property.

Article 119. Time-limit for processing applications for registration of industrial property [22]

1. An application for registration of industrial property shall have its form examined within a period of one month from the application filing date.

2. An application for registration of industrial property shall be substantively examined within the following time-limits:

a) In respect of an invention, the time limit does not exceed a period of eighteen (18) months from the date of its publication, if a request for substantive examination is filed before the date of publication of the application, or as from the date of receipt of a request for substantive examination if such request is filed after the date of publication of the application;

b) In respect of a mark, the time limit does not exceed nine months from the date of application publication;

c) In respect of an industrial design, the time limit does not exceed seven months from the date of application publication;

d) In respect of a geographical indication, the time limit does not exceed six months from the date of application publication.

3. The time limit for re-examination of an industrial property registration application is equal to two-thirds of the time limit for the initial examination and may, in complicated cases, be prolonged but must not exceed the lime limit for the initial examination.

4. The duration for modification or revision of applications by applicants will not be counted into the time limit specified in Clause 1, 2 or 3 of this Article. The time limit for processing requests for modification or revision of applications must not exceed one-third of the corresponding time limit specified in Clause 1 or 2 of this Article.

SECTION 4. INTERNATIONAL APPLICATIONS AND PROCESSING OF INTERNATIONAL APPLICATIONS

Article 120. International applications and processing of international applications

1. Applications for registration of industrial property filed under a treaty of which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a signatory shall be collectively referred to as international applications.

2. International applications and processing thereof shall comply with the relevant treaties.

3. 3. The Government shall provide instructions on the implementation of provisions set out in relevant treaties on international applications, and on the order and procedure for processing thereof in compliance with the principles stipulated in this Chapter.

CHAPTER IX. OWNER AND CONTENT OF INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY RIGHTS, AND LIMITATION ON INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY RIGHTS

SECTION 1. OWNER AND CONTENT OF INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY RIGHTS

Article 121. Owner of industrial property objects

1. The owner of an invention, industrial design or layout design means an organization or individual who is granted a protection certificate for the respective industrial property object by the competent authority.

Owner of a mark means an organization or individual who is granted a protection certificate to such mark by the competent authority or who owns an internationally registered mark recognized by the competent authority or who owns a well known mark.

2. Owner of a trade name means an organization or individual who lawfully uses such trade name in their business activities.

3. Owner of a trade secret means an organization or individual who has lawfully acquired such trade secret and kept it secret. A trade secret acquired by an employee or a performer of an assigned task during the performance of the hired job or assigned task shall be owned by the employer or the task assigner, unless otherwise agreed by the parties.

4. The State is the owner of geographical indications of Vietnam.

The State shall grant the right to use geographical indications to organizations or individuals who manufacture products bearing such geographical indications in relevant localities and market such products. The State shall directly exercise the right to manage geographical indications or grant that right to organizations representing the interests of all organizations or individuals granted the right to use geographical indications.

Article 122. Author of inventions, industrial designs and layout designs and authors’ right

1. The author of an invention, industrial design or layout design means the person who has personally created such industrial property object. Where two or more persons have jointly created an industrial property object, they shall be considered co-authors.

2. Moral rights of authors of inventions, industrial designs and layout designs shall include the following rights:

a) The right to be named the author in the exclusive patent on their invention, utility solution, industrial design or in the certificate of registered design of semi-conductor integrated circuits;

b) The right to be acknowledged as authors in documents in which inventions, industrial designs or layout designs are published or launched.

3. Economic rights of authors of inventions, industrial designs and layout designs are the rights to receive the remuneration as stipulated in Article 135 of this Law.

Article 123. Rights of owners of industrial property objects

1. Owners of industrial property objects shall have the following economic rights:

a) The right to use or authorize others to use industrial property objects in accordance with the provisions of Article 124 and Chapter X of this Law;

b) The right to prevent others from using industrial property objects in accordance with the provisions of Article 125 of this Law;

c) The right to decide matters relating to industrial property objects in accordance with the provisions of Chapter X of this Law.

2. Organizations and individuals who are granted by the State the right to use or the right to manage geographical indications according to the provisions of Clause 4 of Article 121 of this Law shall have the following rights:

a) Organizations which are granted the right to manage geographical indications may permit other persons to use such geographical indications according to the provisions of Point a Clause 1 of this Article;

b) Organizations and individuals who are granted the right to use or organizations who are granted the right to manage geographical indications may prevent other persons from using such geographical indications according to the provisions of Point b Clause 1 of this Article.

Article 124. Use of industrial property objects

1. Use of an invention means the performance of the following acts:

a) Manufacturing the protected product;

b) Applying the protected process;

c) Making best use of utilities of the protected product or the product manufactured under the protected process;

d) Launching, advertising, offering or storing for the purpose of circulating the products stipulated at Point c of this Clause;

dd) Importing the products stipulated in at Point c of this Clause.

2. Use of an industrial design means the performance of the following acts:

a) Manufacturing products with a shape or configuration protected by the industrial design patent;

 (b) Launching, advertising, offering or storing for the purpose of circulating products stipulated at Point c of this Clause;

c) Importing products stipulated at Point a of this Clause.

3. Use of a layout design means the performance of the following acts:

a) Reproducing the layout design; manufacturing semi-conductor integrated circuits under the patented layout design;

b) Selling, leasing, advertising, offering or storing copies of the protected layout design, semi- conductor integrated circuits manufactured under the protected layout design or commodities containing such semi-conductor integrated circuits;

c) Importing copies of the protected layout design, semi-conductor integrated circuits manufactured under the protected layout-design or commodities containing such semi-conductor integrated circuits.

4. Use of a trade secret means the performance of the following acts:

a) Applying the trade secret to the manufacture of products and the provision of services or the trading of goods;

b) Selling, advertising, stocking for the purpose of selling, or importing products manufactured by the application of the trade secret.

5. Use of a mark means the performance of the following acts:

a) Affixing the copyrighted mark on goods, packages, facilities, means of service provision or documents in business activities;

b) Circulating, offering, advertising or stocking for the purpose of selling goods bearing the protected mark;

c) Importing goods or services bearing the protected mark.

6. Use of a trade name means the performance of acts for commercial purposes by calling the trade name in business activities, or using the trade name to write on documents, signboards, products, goods, packages and means of service provision or advertisement.

7. Use of a geographical indication means the performance of the following acts:

a) Affixing the protected geographical indication to goods or packages, facilities, and documents in business activities;

b) Circulating, offering, advertising and storing for the purpose of selling goods bearing the protected geographical indication;

c) Importing goods bearing the protected geographical indication.

Article 125. Right to prevent others from using industrial property objects

1. Owners of industrial property objects as well as organizations and individuals granted the right to use or the right to manage geographical indications shall have the right to prevent others from using such industrial property objects unless such use falls into the cases stipulated in Clauses 2 and 3 of this Article.

2. Owners of industrial property objects as well as organizations and individuals granted the right to use or the right to manage geographical indications shall not have the right to prevent others from performing the following acts:

a) Using inventions, industrial designs or layout designs to serve the personal or non-commercial purposes, or to aim at evaluation, analysis, research, teaching, testing, trial production or information collection for the purpose of carrying out procedures for application for licenses for production, importation or circulation of products;

b) Circulating, importing, making best use of utilities of products which were lawfully launched to the market including overseas markets, except for products that are launched to the overseas markets by any other person other than the mark owners or their licensees;

c) Using inventions, industrial designs or layout designs only for the purpose of maintaining the operation of foreign means of transport in transit or temporarily staying in the territory of Vietnam;

d) Using inventions or industrial designs patented by the previous person according to the provisions of Article 134 of this Law;

dd) Using inventions patented by persons authorized by the competent authority according to the provisions of Articles 145 and 146 of this Law;

e) Using layout designs without knowing or having the obligation to know that such layout designs are patented;

g) Using marks the same as or similar to protected geographical indications where such marks have acquired protection in an honest manner before the date of filing the application for registration of such geographical indication;

h) Using in an honest manner personal names, marks describing type, quantity, quality, utility, value, geographical origin and other properties of goods or services.

3. Owners of trade secrets shall not have the right to prevent others from performing the following acts:

a) Disclosing or using trade secrets acquired without knowing or having the obligation to know that they were unlawfully acquired by others;

b) Disclosing secret data in order to protect the public according to the provisions of Clause 1 of Article 128 of this Law;

c) Using secret data stipulated in Article 128 of this Law which do not serve commercial purposes;

d) Disclosing or using trade secrets created independently;

dd) Disclosing or using trade secrets obtained by analyzing or evaluating lawfully distributed products, unless otherwise agreed upon by analyzers or evaluators and owners of such trade secrets or sellers of such products.

Article 126. Acts of infringement of rights to inventions, industrial designs and layout designs

The following acts shall be regarded as infringements of rights of owners of inventions, industrial designs and layout designs:

1. Using protected inventions, protected industrial designs or industrial designs insignificantly different from protected industrial designs, or protected layout designs or any original part thereof within the valid term of a protection certificate without permission from the owners.

2. Using inventions, industrial designs and layout designs without paying compensation according to the provisions on provisional rights in Article 131 of this Law.

Article 127. Acts of infringement of the right to trade secrets

1. The following acts shall be deemed infringements of the right to trade secrets:

a) Accessing or acquiring information pertaining to a trade secret by taking acts against secrecy- keeping measures applied by lawful controllers of such trade secret;

b) Disclosing or using information pertaining to a trade secret without the permission from the owner of such trade secret;

c) Breaching secrecy-keeping contracts or deceiving, inducing, bribing, forcing, seducing or abusing the trust of persons in charge of secrecy-keeping job in order to access, acquire or disclose a trade secret;

d) Accessing or acquiring information pertaining to the trade secret of an applicant for the licensing of product commerce by taking acts against secrecy-keeping measures applied by competent bodies;

dd) Using or disclosing trade secrets, while knowing or having the obligation to know that they have been acquired by others engaged in one of the acts stipulated at Points a, b, c or d of this Clause;

e) Failing to perform the secrecy-keeping obligation stipulated in Article 128 of this Law.

2. Lawful controllers of trade secrets defined in Clause 1 of this Article include owners of trade secrets, their lawful licensees and managers of trade secrets.

Article 128. Obligation to maintain secrecy of test data

1. Where the law requires applicants for the licensing of trading and circulation of pharmaceuticals or agro- chemical products to supply test results or any other data being trade secrets obtained by the considerable investment effort, and where applicants request such data to be kept secret, the competent licensing body shall be obliged to apply necessary measures so that such data is neither used for unfair commercial purposes nor disclosed, except where the disclosure is necessary to protect the public.

2. From the submission of secret data to apply for the licensing from the competent body as stipulated in Clause 1 of this Article to the end of a five-year period as from the date the applicant is granted a licence, such body is not allowed to grant any licence to any subsequent applicants if such application uses that secret data without permission from the data user, except for the cases stipulated at Point d Clause 3 of Article 125 set out in this Law.

Article 129. Acts of infringement of rights to marks, trade names and geographical indications

1. The following acts, if performed without the permission of mark owners, shall be deemed to be infringements of the right to a mark:

a) Using signs which are the same as protected marks for goods or services identical to goods or services on the registration list together with such mark;

b) Using signs which are the same as protected marks for goods or services similar or related to those goods or services on the registration list together with such mark, if such use is likely to cause confusion as to the origin of the goods or services;

b) Using signs which are the same as protected marks for goods or services similar or related to those goods or services on the registration list together with such mark, if such use is likely to cause confusion as to the origin of the goods or services;

d) Using signs which are the same as or similar to well known marks, or signs in the form of translations or transcriptions of well known marks identifying any goods or services, including those that are not identical to, dissimilar or unrelated to goods or services on the list of those bearing well known marks, if such use is likely to cause confusion as to the origin of the goods or services or misleading impressions as to the relationship between users of such signs and well known mark owners.

2. All acts of using commercial indications identical or similar to, trade names of others which were used earlier for the same or similar type of goods or services, which can cause any confusion as to legal business entities, establishments or activities under such trade names shall be deemed to be infringements of the right to the trade name.

3. The following acts shall be deemed to be infringements of the right to protected geographical indications:

a) Using protected geographical indications for products which do not satisfy the criteria of particular characteristics and quality of products bearing geographical indications, although such products originate from geographical areas bearing such geographical indication;

b) Using protected geographical indications for products similar to products bearing geographical indications for the purpose of taking advantage of their reputation and reliability;

c) Using any sign which is identical or similar to a protected geographical indication for products that do not originate from geographical areas bearing such geographical indication, and therefore are likely to mislead consumers into believing that such products originate from such geographical areas;

d) Using protected geographical indications of wines or spirits for those that do not originate from geographical areas bearing such geographical indication, even where the true origin of goods is indicated or geographical indications are used in the form of translations or transcriptions, or accompanied by such words as “category,” “model,” “type,” “imitation” or the like.

Article 130. Acts of unfair competition

1. The following acts shall be deemed to be acts of unfair competition:

a) Using commercial indications which can cause any confusion as to business entities, business activities or commercial origin of goods or services;

b) Using commercial indications which can cause confusion as to the origin, production method, utilities, quality, quantity or other characteristics of goods or services; or as to the conditions for provision of goods or services;

c) Using marks protected in a country which is a signatory to a treaty of which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a member and under which representatives or agents of owners of such marks are prohibited from using such marks, if users are representatives or agents of the mark owners and such use is not endorsed by both permission from the owner and justifiable reasons;

d) Registering or possessing the right to use or using domain names which are confusingly the same as or similar to protected trade names or marks of others, or geographical indications without having the right to use, for the purpose of possessing such domain names, benefiting from or prejudicing the reputation and reliability of the respective mark, trade name or geographical indication.

2. Commercial indications stipulated in Clause 1 of this Article mean signs and information serving as guidelines to trading of goods or services including marks, trade names, business symbols, business slogans, geographical indications, designs of packages and/or labels of goods.

3. Acts of using commercial indications stipulated in Clause 1 of this Article include acts of attaching such commercial indications to goods, goods packages, means of service provision, business transactional documents or advertising means; and selling, advertising, stocking for the purpose of selling and importing goods identified by such commercial indications.

Article 131. Provisional rights to inventions, industrial designs and layout designs

1. Where an applicant for registration of an invention or industrial design knows that such invention or industrial design is being used by another person for commercial purposes without prior use right, the applicant may notify in writing the user of the filling of the application, clearly specifying the filing date and the date of publication of the application on the Official Gazette of Industrial Property so that the user may decide to either terminate or continue such use.

2. For a layout design which has, before the grant date of the certificate of registered design of semi-conductor integrated circuits, been used for the commercial purpose by the person owning the right to registration or his or her licensee, if such person knows that such layout design is being used by another person for commercial purposes, then he or she may notify in writing the user of his or her right to registration so that the user may either terminate or continue such use.

3. Where the person notified of contents stipulated in Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article continues using such invention, industrial design or layout design, then as soon as an invention patent, utility solution patent, industrial design patent or certificate of registered design of semi-conductor integrated circuits is granted, the owner of the object shall have the right to request the user to pay compensation equivalent to the price for licensing of such invention, industrial design or layout design within the corresponding scope and valid duration of use.

SECTION 2. LIMITATIONS ON INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY RIGHTS

Article 132. Restrictive factors of industrial property rights

Industrial property rights may be limited under this Law by the following factors:

1. Right of prior users to inventions or industrial designs.

2. Obligations of owners, including:

a) To pay the remuneration to the authors of inventions, industrial designs or layout designs;

b) To use inventions or marks.

3. Transferring the right to use inventions under decisions of competent authorities.

Article 133. Right to use inventions authorized by the State

1. Ministries and ministerial-level agencies authorized by the State shall have the right, on behalf of the State, to use or allow other organizations or individuals to use inventions under their respective management to serve public and non-commercial purposes, national defence and security, disease prevention, and treatment and nutrition of the people, and to meet other urgent social needs without having to obtain any permission from invention owners or their licensees under exclusive contracts (hereinafter referred to as holders of the exclusive right to use inventions) in accordance with Articles 145 and 146 of this Law.

2. The use of inventions as prescribed in Clause 1 of this Article shall be limited within the scope of and under the conditions for licensing provided for in Clause 1 of Article 146 of this Law, except where such inventions are created by using material and technical facilities, and funds from the State Budget.

Article 134. Right of prior use of inventions and industrial designs [23]

1. In case a person has, before the filing date or priority date (if any) of an invention or industrial design registration application, used or prepared necessary conditions for using an invention or industrial design identical to the protected invention or industrial design stated in that registration application but created independently (hereinafter referred to as prior use right holder), then after a protection certificate is granted, he/she may continue using such invention or industrial design within the scope and volume of use or use preparations without having to obtain permission of or paying compensations to the owner of the protected invention or industrial design.

The exercise of the right of prior users of inventions or industrial designs is not regarded as an infringement upon the right of invention or industrial design owners.

2. Holders of prior right to use inventions or industrial designs may not assign such right to others, unless that right is assigned together with the transfer of business or production establishments which have used or are prepared to use the inventions or industrial designs. Prior use right-holders may not expand the use scope and volume unless it is so permitted by invention or industrial design owners.

Article 135. Obligation to pay remuneration to authors of inventions, industrial designs and layout designs

1. Owners of inventions, industrial designs and layout designs shall be obliged to pay remuneration to the authors of such inventions, industrial designs and layout designs in accordance with the provisions of Clauses 2 and 3 of this Article, unless otherwise agreed upon by the parties.

2. The minimum level of remuneration payable by an owner to an author shall be regulated as follows:

a) Ten (10) per cent of the profit gained by the owner from the use of the invention, industrial design or layout design;

b) Fifteen (15) per cent of the total amount received by the owner in each payment for licensing of the invention, industrial design or layout design.

3. Where an invention, industrial design or layout design is jointly created by more than one author, the remuneration level regulated in Clause 2 of this Article shall be applicable to all co-authors. The co- authors shall enter into the mutual agreement on the division of the remuneration paid by the owner.

4. The obligation to pay remuneration to authors of inventions, industrial designs and layout designs shall have to be secured throughout the term of protection of such invention, industrial design or layout design.

Article 136. Obligation to use inventions and marks

1. Owners of inventions shall be obliged to manufacture protected products or apply protected processes in their production to satisfy the requirements of national defence and security, disease prevention, and treatment and nutrition of the people or to meet other social urgent needs.

Where the needs stipulated in this clause arise but an invention owner fails to perform such obligation, the competent authority may license such invention to others without any permission from the invention owner in accordance with the provisions of Articles 145 and 146 of this Law.

2. Owners of marks shall be obliged to uninterruptedly use such marks. Where a mark has not been used for five consecutive years or more, the right to own such mark shall be invalidated in accordance with the provisions set out in Article 95 of this Law.

Article 137. Obligation to authorize the use of principal inventions for the purpose of using dependent inventions

1. A dependent invention means an invention created on the basis of another invention (hereinafter referred to as the principal invention) and may only be used on condition that the principal invention is also used.

2. Where the owner of a dependent invention can prove that his or her invention makes an important technical advance as compared with the principal invention and has great economic significance, he or she may request the owner of the principal invention to license such principal invention at a reasonable price and set out proper binding terms and conditions.

Where the owner of a principal invention fails to satisfy the request of the owner of a dependent invention without any justifiable reason, the competent authority may license such invention to the owner of the dependent invention without any permission from the owner of the principal invention in accordance with the provisions of Articles 145 and 146 of this Law.

CHAPTER X. TRANSFER OF INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY RIGHTS

SECTION 1. ASSIGNMENT OF INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY RIGHTS

Article 138. General provisions on assignment of industrial property rights

1. Assignment of an industrial property right means the transfer of ownership right by the owner of such industrial property right to another organization or individual.

2. An assignment of an industrial property right must be established in the form of a written contract (hereinafter referred to as a contract for the assignment of industrial property right).

Article 139.  Restrictions on assignment of industrial property rights

1. Industrial property right-owners may only assign their rights within the scope of protection.

2. Rights to geographical indications shall not be assignable.

3. Rights to trade names may only be assigned together with the transfer of the entire business establishment and business activities identified under such trade name.

4. The assignment of the rights to marks must not cause any confusion as to properties or origins of goods or services bearing such marks.

5. Rights to marks may only be assigned to organizations or individuals who satisfy conditions for persons having the right to register such marks.

Article 140. Contents of the contract for industrial property right assignment

A contract for industrial property right assignment must contain the following principal contents:

1. Full names and addresses of the assignor and of the assignee.

2. Grounds for the assignment.

3. Assignment price.

4. Rights and obligations of the assignor and the assignee.

SECTION 2. LICENSING OF INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY RIGHTS

Article 141. General provisions on licensing of industrial property rights

1. Licensing of an industrial property object means the permission granted by the owner of such industrial property object to another organization or individual to use the industrial property object within the scope of the owner’s right.

2. Licensing of industrial property objects must be established in the form of a written contract (hereinafter referred to as a contract to license industrial property object).

Article 142. Restrictions on licensing of industrial property objects

1. The right to use geographical indications or trade names shall not be licensable.

2. The right to use collective marks must not be licensed to organizations or individuals other than members of the owners of such collective marks.

3. The licensee must not enter into a licensing sub-contract with a third party, unless it is so permitted by the licensor.

4. Mark licensees shall be obliged to write indications on goods and packages to confirm that such goods are manufactured under the contract for the use of a specific mark.

5. Invention licensees acting under exclusive contracts shall be obliged to use such inventions in the same manner as the invention owners according to the provisions of Clause 1 of Article 136 set out in this Law.

Article 143. Types of the contract to license industrial property object

The contract to license industrial property object shall include the followings:

1. An exclusive contract means a contract under which, within the licensing scope and term, the licensee shall have the exclusive right to use the licensed industrial property object while the licensor may neither enter into any contract to license the industrial property object with any third party nor, without permission from the licensee, use such industrial property object.

2. A non-exclusive contract means a contract under which, within the licensing scope and term, the licensor shall still have the right to use the industrial property object and to enter into a non-exclusive contract to license the industrial property object with others.

3. A sub-contract to license the industrial property object means a contract under which the licensor is a licensee of the right to use such industrial property object as agreed upon in another contract.

Article 144. Contents of the contract to license the industrial property object

1. A contract to license the industrial property object must contain the major contents as follows:

a) Full names and addresses of the licensor and the licensee;

b) Grounds for licensing;

c) Contract type;

d) Licensing scope including limitations on use right and territorial limitations;

dd) Contract term;

e) Licensing price;

g) Rights and obligations of the licensor and licensee.

2. A contract to license the industrial property object is not allowed to provide any binding provision which unreasonably restrict the right of the licensee, and in particular the following provisions which do not derive from the rights of licensors as follows:

a) Prohibit the licensee from improving the industrial property object other than marks; bind the licensee to transfer the right at no expense to the licensor any improvement of the industrial property object made by the licensee or the right of industrial property registration or industrial property rights to such improvements;

b) Directly or indirectly restrict the licensee from the exportation of goods produced or services provided under the contract to license the industrial property object to the territories where the licensor neither holds the respective industrial property right nor has the exclusive right to import such goods;

c) Bind the licensee to purchase all or a certain percentage of raw materials, components or equipment from the licensor or a third party designated by the licensor which does not serve the purpose of ensuring the quality of goods produced or services provided by the licensee who acquires the right to manufacture or provide such goods or services;

d) Prohibit the licensee from complaining about or initiating lawsuits with regard to the validity of the industrial property rights or the licensor’s right to license.

3. Any clauses set out in a contract as stipulated in Clause 2 of this Article shall be automatically made defunct.

SECTION 3. COMPULSORY LICENSING OF INVENTIONS

Article 145. Grounds for compulsory licensing of inventions

1. In the following cases, the right to use an invention may be licensed to another organization or individual under a decision made by the competent authority as defined in Clause 1 of Article 147 set out in this Law without having to ask for any permission from the holder of the exclusive right to use such invention:

a) Where such invention is used for public and non-commercial purposes or to improve national defence and security, disease prevention, and treatment and nutrition of people or other urgent needs of society;

b) Where the holder of the exclusive right to use such invention fails to fulfill the obligations to use such invention stipulated in Clause 1 of Article 136 and Clause 5 of Article 142 set out in this Law after the expiration of four years as from the date of filing the application for registration of the invention, or the expiration of three years as from the date of granting the invention patent;

c) Where a person who wishes to use the invention fails to reach an agreement with the holder of the exclusive right to enter into the contract to license such invention irrespective of efforts made within a reasonable time in negotiating a mutually acceptable price and reasonable conditions;

d) Where the holder of the exclusive right to use such invention is deemed to have performed anti-competitive practices prohibited by the law on competition.

2. The holder of the exclusive right to use an invention may request termination of the use right when the grounds for licensing stipulated in Clause 1 of this Article no longer exist and are unlikely to recur, provided that such termination shall cause damage to the licensee of the invention.

Article 146. Limiting conditions of the exercise of the licensed right to inventions under a binding decision

1. The right to use a licensed invention under a binding decision of a competent authority must comply with the following conditions:

a) Such licensed right is non-exclusive;

b) Such licensed right is only limited to a sufficient scope and duration in order to achieve objectives of the licensing, and to mainly supply such licensed inventions for domestic markets, except for the case stipulated at Point d Clause 1 Article 145 set out in this Law.

With respect to an invention in the field of semi-conductor technology, the licensing shall be only aimed at serving public and non-commercial purposes or dealing with anti-competitive practices prohibited by the law on competition;

c) The licensee must neither assign nor sublicense such right to others, except where the assignment of the licensee’s business establishment concurrently happens and the right to use such inventions are not sublicensed to others;

d) The licensee must pay the holder of the exclusive right to use the invention an acceptable compensation, depending on the economic value of such right in each case and the compensation framework stipulated by the Government.

2. In addition to the conditions stipulated in Clause 1 of this Article, the licensed right to an invention in the case stipulated in Clause 2 of Article 137 of this Law must also satisfy the following conditions:

a) The holder of the exclusive right to use the principal invention shall also be licensed to use dependent inventions under reasonable conditions;

b) The licensee of the right to use the principal invention must not assign such right, except where the assignment of all rights to dependent inventions is carried out.

Article 147. Authority and procedures for the licensing of the right to an invention to be carried out under a binding decision

1. The Ministry of Science and Technology shall issue decisions on the licensing of the right to inventions at the request for the licensing in the cases stipulated at Points b, c and d, Clause 1, Article 145 of this Law.

Ministries and ministerial-level bodies shall, after consulting with the Ministry of Science and Technology, issue decisions on the licensing of the right to inventions managed under their respective authority in the case stipulated at Point a Clause 1 Article 145 of this Law.

2. Decisions on the licensing of the right to inventions must determine appropriate scope and conditions of use in accordance with the provisions set out in Article 146 of this Law.

3. The competent authority to decide on the licensing of the right to an invention must promptly notify their decision to the holder of the exclusive right to use such invention.

4. A decision on the licensing of the right to an invention or on the refusal to license the right to an invention may be faced with any complaint or lawsuit in accordance with laws.

5. The Government shall provide specific regulations on the licensing of the right to inventions as stipulated in this Article.

SECTION 4. REGISTRATION OF THE CONTRACT FOR TRANSFER OF INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY RIGHTS

Article 148. Validity of the contract for the assignment of industrial property rights

1. As for the industrial property rights established on the basis of registration as prescribed in the provisions of Point a Clause 3 of Article 6 set out in this Law, the contract to assign an industrial property right shall be valid only when it is registered with the competent authority for industrial property rights.

2. As for the industrial property rights established on the basis of registration according to the provisions of Point a Clause 3 Article 6 set out in this Law, the contract for the licensing of the right to an industrial property object shall be valid as agreed upon by the parties involved but shall only apply its legal value to a third party as being registered with the competent authority for industrial property rights.

3. Validity of the contract to use an industrial property object licence shall be automatically terminated upon the termination of the licensor’s industrial property rights.

Article 149. Application file for registration of a contract for transfer of industrial property rights

An application file for registration of the contract for use of an industrial property object or of the contract for assignment of an industrial property right shall be composed of:

1. A declaration for registration according to the sample form.

2. An original or a valid copy of the contract.

3. The original of the protection certificate in the case of assignment of an industrial property right.

4. The co-owners’ written consent, or a written explanation of the reason for disagreement of any co- owner with the assignment of property rights, where the industrial property right is jointly owned.

5. Fee or charge payment receipts.

6. A power of attorney, if the application is filed by a representative.

Article 150. Processing of application files for registration of the contract for transfer of industrial property rights

The Government shall provide regulations on the procedures for receiving and processing application files for registration of the contract for the licensing of an industrial property object and the contract for assignment of an industrial property right.

CHAPTER XI. INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY REPRESENTATION

Article 151. Industrial property representation services

1. Industrial property representation services shall comprise:

a) Representing organizations or individuals before competent authorities in the establishment and enforcement of industrial property rights;

b) Providing consultancy on issues related to procedures for the establishment and enforcement of industrial property rights;

c) Other services related to procedures for the establishment and enforcement of industrial property rights.

2. Industrial property representatives shall comprise organizations providing industrial property representation services (hereinafter referred to as industrial property representation service organizations) and individuals practicing industrial property representation within such organizations (hereinafter referred to as industrial property agents).

Article 152. Scope of representative’s right to industrial property

1. Industrial property representation service organizations shall only provide services within the scope of authorization and may re-authorize other industrial property representation service organizations when they obtain written consent from the principal.

2. Industrial property representation service organizations may voluntarily waive their industrial property representation service business after having lawfully transferred all incomplete representation jobs to other industrial property representation service organizations.

3. Industrial property representatives must not perform the following activities:

a) Concurrently represent different parties in dispute over industrial property rights;

b) Withdraw applications for protection certificates, declare waiver of protection or withdraw appeals against the establishment of industrial property rights without consent from the principal;

c) Deceive their clients regarding the conclusion and execution of the contract for industrial property representation services.

Article 153. Responsibilities of industrial property representatives

1. Industrial property representatives shall have the following responsibilities:

a) To clearly notify fee and charge amounts and rates related to procedures for establishment and enforcement of industrial property rights, and service charge amounts and rates according to the service charge tariff registered at the competent authority for industrial property rights;

b) To preserve confidentiality of information and documents related to cases in which they act as representatives;

c) To truthfully and fully inform the principal of all notices and requests from the competent authority to establish and enforce industrial property rights; to deliver protection certificates and other decisions to the principal in a timely manner;

d) To protect the rights and legitimate interests of the principal by means of promptly satisfying all requests of the competent agency that has authority to ensure that the principal shall establish and enforce the exercise of their industrial property rights;

dd) To notify the competent agency who has authority to establish and ensure the enforcement of industrial property rights to all changes in the name, address of and other information about the principal when necessary.

2. Industrial property representation service organizations shall be civilly liable to the principal for such representation performed by industrial property agents on behalf of such service organizations.

Article 154. Conditions for industrial property representation service business [24]

Organizations that satisfy the following conditions may provide industrial property representation services as industrial property representation service organizations:

1. Being law-practicing businesses, cooperatives or organizations, or scientific and technological service organizations lawfully established and operating, except foreign law-practicing organizations operating in Vietnam;

2. Having the function of providing industrial property representation services, which is stated in their business registration certificates or operation registration certificates (below collectively referred to as business registration certificates);

3. Their heads or persons authorized by their heads must satisfy the conditions for industrial property representation service practice, specified in Clause 1, Article 155 of this Law.

Article 155. Conditions of industrial property representation service practices

1. An individual who satisfies the following conditions shall be permitted to practice industrial property representation service:

a) Having a practice certificate of industrial property representation service;

b) Working for one industrial property representation service organization.

2. Any individual who satisfies the following conditions shall be granted a practice certificate of industrial property representation service:

a) Being a Vietnamese citizen with full capacity for civil acts;

b) Residing permanently in Vietnam;

c) Having a university degree;

d) Having been engaged personally in the domain of industrial property law for five consecutive years or more, or in the examination of assorted industrial property registration applications at national or international industrial property offices for five consecutive years or more, or having graduated from a training course on industrial property law recognized by the competent body;

dd) Not being a civil servant working in the competent agency that has authority to establish and ensure the enforcement of industrial property rights;

e) Having passed an examination on the industrial property representation profession organized by the competent agency.

3. The Government shall specifically provide for detailed programs on training in industrial property law and on examination for the industrial property representation profession, and on the grant of a practice certificate of industrial property representation service.

Article 156. Recording and deleting names of industrial property representation service organizations; withdrawal of industrial property representation service practicing certificates

1. Organizations and individuals who satisfy the conditions for industrial property representation service business or practice stipulated in Articles 154 and 155 of this Law shall, at their request, be recorded in the National Register of Industrial Property Representatives and published in the Official Gazette of Industrial Property by the competent authority for industrial property rights.

2. Where there are grounds to confirm that an industrial property representative no longer satisfies the business or practice conditions stipulated in Articles 154 and 155 of this Law, the competent authority for industrial property rights shall delete the name of such industrial property representative in the National Register of Industrial Property and publish such deletion in the Official Gazette of Industrial Property.

3. Industrial property representation service organizations which breach the provisions of Clause 3 of Article 152 and Article 153 of this Law shall be subject to punitive actions in accordance with law.

4. Industrial property agents who make professional mistakes during their practicing or who breach the provisions set out at Point c Clause 3 Article 152 and Point a Clause 1 Article 153 of this Law shall, depending on the nature and severity of their mistake or breach, be subject to a caution, monetary fine or withdrawal of their practicing certificate of industrial property representation service.

PART IV. RIGHTS TO PLANT VARIETIES

CHAPTER XII. CONDITIONS FOR PROTECTION OF RIGHTS TO PLANT VARIETIES

Article 157. Organizations and individuals whose rights to plant varieties are eligible for protection [25]

1. Organizations and individuals that have rights to plant varieties protected are those that select and breed or discover and develop plant varieties or invest in the selection and breeding or the discovery and development of plant varieties or are transferred rights to plant varieties.

2. Organizations and individuals defined in Clause 1 of this Article include Vietnamese organizations and individuals; organizations and individuals of foreign countries which have concluded with the Socialist Republic of Vietnam agreements on the protection of plant varieties: foreign organizations and individuals that have permanent offices or residences in Vietnam or have establishments producing or trading in plant varieties in Vietnam: foreign organizations and individuals that have permanent offices or residences or establishments producing or trading in plant varieties in countries which have concluded with the Socialist Republic of Vietnam agreements on the protection of plant varieties.

Article 158. General conditions for plant varieties to be eligible for protection

Plant varieties eligible for protection means plant varieties which have been selected and bred or discovered and developed, are specified on the list of State protected plant species promulgated by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development; and are new, distinct, uniform, stable and given a proper plant taxonomy.

Article 159. Novelty of a plant variety

A plant variety shall be deemed new if reproductive materials or harvested materials of such variety have not yet been sold or otherwise distributed for the purpose of exploitation in the territory of Vietnam by the registration right holder defined in Article 164 of this Law or his or her licensee one (01) year before the filing date of the application for registration, or for exploitation outside the territory of Vietnam six (06) years before the filing date of the application for registration for timber trees or vines, or four (4) years for other plant varieties.

Article 160. Distinctness of plant varieties [26]

1. A plant variety will be considered distinct if it is clearly distinguishable from any other plant variety whose existence is a matter of common knowledge at the time of filing the application or the specified date on which the priority is given, as the case may be.

2. Plant varieties whose existence is a matter of common knowledge defined in Clause 1 of this Article are those falling into one of the following cases:

a) Their reproductive or harvested materials have been widely used in the market of any country at the time of filing of the protection registration application;

b) They have been protected or registered in the list of plant varieties in any country;

c) They are subject matters of protection registration applications or applications for registration in the list of plant varieties in any country, provided that these applications are not rejected.

Article 161. Uniformity of a plant variety

A plant variety shall be deemed uniform if, subject to variation which may be expected from the particular features of its propagation, it is sufficiently uniform in its relevant characteristics.

Article 162. Stability of a plant variety

A plant variety shall be deemed stable if its relevant originally described characteristics remain unchanged after repeated propagation or, in the case of a particular cycle of propagation, at the end of each cycle.

Article 163. Taxonomy of plant varieties [27]

1. The registrant shall designate with the state management agency in charge of rights to plant varieties a proper taxonomy for a plant variety which must be the same as the taxonomy already registered for protection in any country which has concluded with the Socialist Republic of Vietnam an agreement on the protection of plant varieties.

2. The taxonomy of a plant variety shall be considered proper if it is distinguishable from those of other plant varieties of common knowledge in the same or similar species.

3. Taxonomy of plant varieties shall be considered improper in the following cases:

a) They consist of numerals only, unless such numerals are relevant to characteristics or the breeding of such varieties;

b) They violate social ethics;

c) They may easily cause misleading as to features or characteristics of such varieties;

d) They may easily cause misleading as to identifications of the breeders;

dd) They are confusingly identical or similar to marks, trade names or geographical indications protected before the date of publication of protection registration applications of such plant varieties;

e) They affect prior rights of other organizations or individuals.

4. Organizations and individuals that offer for sale or market reproductive materials of plant varieties shall use the denominations of such plant varieties as stated in their protection titles even after the expiration of the term of protection.

5. When taxonomy of plant varieties are combined with trademarks, trade names or indications similar to denominations of plant varieties already registered for sale offer or marketed, such denominations must still be distinguishable.

CHAPTER XIII. ESTABLISHMENT OF RIGHTS TO PLANT VARIETIES

SECTION 1. ESTABLISHMENT OF RIGHTS TO PLANT VARIETIES

Article 164. Registration of rights to plant varieties

1. In order to obtain protection of rights to plant varieties, an organization or individual must file an application for registration for protection with the competent authority for rights to plant varieties.

2. Organizations and individuals having the right to register plant varieties for protection (hereinafter referred to as registrants) shall include:

a) Breeders who have personally selected and bred or discovered and developed the plant variety by their own efforts and at their own expense;

b) Organizations and individuals who fund breeders to select and breed or discover and develop the plant variety by job assignment or hiring, unless otherwise agreed;

c) Organizations and individuals to whom are transferred, or who inherit the right to register for protection of the plant variety.

3. As for plant varieties which are selected and bred or discovered and developed with the use of State Budget funds or under projects managed by the State, the rights to such plant varieties shall belong to the State. The Government shall issue specific regulations governing the registration of rights to plant varieties stipulated in this clause.

Article 165. Registration of rights to plant varieties [28]

1. Organizations and individuals defined in Article 157 of this Law may file applications for registration of rights to plant varieties (hereinafter referred to as protection registration applications) directly or through their lawful representatives in Vietnam.

2. Organizations that satisfy the following conditions may provide services of representing rights to plant varieties in the capacity as rights-to-plant varieties representation service organizations:

a) Being Vietnamese law-practicing businesses, cooperatives or organizations, scientific and technological service organizations which are lawfully established and operating, except foreign law-practicing organizations practicing in Vietnam:

b) Having the function of providing rights-to-plant varieties representation services as stated in their business registration certificates or operation registration certificates (hereinafter collectively referred to as business registration certificates);

3. Heads of those organizations or persons authorized by heads of those organizations who satisfy the conditions specified in Clauses 4 and 5 of this Article may provide services of representing rights to plant varieties.

4. Individuals shall be allowed to provide services of representing rights to plant varieties when satisfying the following conditions:

a) Possessing a practice certificate of rights-to-plant varieties representation service;

b) Working in a rights-to-plant varieties representation service organization.

5. Individuals who satisfy the following conditions will be granted rights-to-plant varieties representation service practice certificates:

a/ Being a Vietnamese citizen and having the full civil act capacity;

b) Residing permanently in Vietnam;

c) Possessing a university degree;

d) Having personally conducted legal activities related to rights to plant varieties for five or more consecutive years, or personally examined various applications for registration of rights to plant varieties in a national or international office for rights to plant varieties for five or more consecutive years, or graduated from a training course on the law on rights to plant varieties as recognized by a competent agency;

dd) Being other than civil servants or public employees currently working in state agencies competent to establish and secure the enforcement of rights to plant varieties;

e) Having passed an examination of the profession of representing rights to plant varieties, organized by a competent agency.

6. The Government shall specify lawful representatives for filing applications and rights-to-plant varieties representation service organizations.

Article 166. “First come, first served” principle applicable to application for the protection of plant variety right

1. Where two or more parties independently file applications for registration for protection on different days for the same plant variety, a plant variety protection certificate shall only be granted to the earliest valid registrant.

2. Where there are a number of applications for registration for protection of the same plant variety filed on the same day, a plant variety protection certificate shall only be granted to the registrant whose name is used for the filing of the sole application as agreed upon by all the other registrants. Where these registrants fail to reach agreement, the State administrative body for rights to plant varieties shall consider a grant of a plant variety protection certificate to the party deemed to be the first breeder who selected and bred or discovered and developed such variety.

Article 167. Priority principle for application for registration of protection

1. A registrant may claim priority right where an application for registration for protection is filed within twelve (12) months from the date of filing an application for registration for protection for the same plant variety in a country which has concluded an agreement on plant variety protection with the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. The date on which the first filing occurred shall not be included in this time-limit.

2. In order to enjoy priority right, the registrant must express the claim for the priority right in his or her application for registration for protection. Within three (3) months after filing the application, the registrant must produce copies of documents on the first application certified by the competent body and samples or other evidence proving that the variety in both applications was the same, and the registrant must pay a fee. The registrant may supply necessary information, documents or materials to the State administrative body for rights to plant varieties for examination according to the provisions of articles 176 and 178 of this Law within two (2) years of expiry of the duration for enjoying the priority right, or within an appropriate duration depending on the species of the plant variety stated in the application after a first application is rejected or withdrawn.

3. Where an application for registration for protection is eligible for priority right, the priority date shall be the first filing date.

4. Within the time-limit stipulated in clause 1 of this article, the filing of another application or the publication or use of the plant variety the subject matter of the first application for registration for protection shall not be deemed a ground for rejecting the application for registration for protection eligible for the priority right.

Article 168. Plant variety protection certificates, and the National Register of Protected Plant Varieties

1. A protection certificate for a plant variety shall state the denomination and species of such variety, the name of the owner of rights to such plant variety (hereinafter referred to as the protection certificate holder), the name of the plant variety breeder and the duration of the term of protection of rights to the plant variety.

2. The State administrative body for rights to plant varieties shall record the grant and contents of a protection certificate in the National Register of Protected Plant Varieties, and shall archive such information.

Article 169. Validity of plant variety protection certificates

1. A plant variety protection certificate shall be valid throughout the entire territory of Vietnam.

2. Plant variety protection certificates shall be valid from the grant date up until the expiry of a period of twenty-five (25) years for timber trees and vines; and of twenty (20) years for other plant varieties.

3. Plant variety protection certificates may have their validity terminated or they may be invalidated pursuant to the provisions of Articles 170 and 171 of this Law.

Article 170. Suspension and restoration of validity of plant variety protection certificates

1. The validity of a plant variety protection certificate may be suspended in the following cases:

a) The protected plant variety no longer satisfies the conditions of uniformity and stability as at the time of grant of the certificate;

b) The protection certificate holder fails to pay the validity maintenance fee according to regulations;

c) The protection certificate holder fails to supply necessary documents and reproductive materials for maintaining and preserving the plant variety according to regulations;

d) The protection certificate holder fails to change the denomination of the plant variety at the request of the State administrative body for rights to plant varieties.

2. In the cases stipulated at Point a, c and d, Clause 1 of this Article, the relevant competent agency for rights to plant varieties shall issue a decision on suspension of validity of the plant variety protection certificate.

3. In the case stipulated at Point b Clause 1 of this Article, upon the expiry of the time-limit for payment of the validity maintenance fee, the relevant competent authority for rights to plant varieties shall issue a decision on suspension of validity of the plant variety protection certificate as from the first day of the next valid year for which the validity maintenance fee was not paid.

4. In the case stipulated at Point a Clause 1 this Article, any organization or individual may request the competent authority for rights to plant varieties to suspend the validity of the plant variety protection certificate.

Based on the results of considering the application for suspension of a plant variety protection certificate and the opinions of relevant parties, the relevant State administrative body for rights to plant varieties shall either issue a decision to suspend the validity of the certificate or shall refuse the application.

5. In the cases stipulated in Clause 1 of this Article, the relevant competent authority for rights to plant varieties shall publish such suspension in a specialized magazine, clearly stating the reasons therefor, and concurrently send a notice about such suspension to the certificate holder.

Within thirty (30) days from the date of notification, the certificate holder may file a request for application of remedies to the reasons why validity was suspended with the competent authority for rights to plant varieties and pay the fee for restoration of validity of the plant variety protection certificate.  Within ninety (90) days after the date of filing the request, the protection certificate holder must remedy the reasons why validity was suspended, applicable to the cases stipulated at Point b, c and d of Clause 1 of this Article. The competent authority for rights to plant varieties shall consider and restore the validity of the protection certificate and publish such restoration in a specialized magazine.

In the case stipulated at Point a of Clause 1 of this Article, the validity of the plant variety protection certificate shall be restored after its holder successfully proves that the plant variety has satisfied the conditions of uniformity and stability and after this has been so certified by the competent authority for rights to plant varieties.

Article 171. Cancellation of effectiveness of plant variety protection certificates

1. The effectiveness of a plant variety protection certificate shall be cancelled in the following cases:

a) The application for registration for protection of the plant variety was filed in the name of a person who did not have the registration right, except where the right to such plant variety was assigned to the holder of the registration right;

b) The protected plant variety failed to satisfy the conditions of novelty or distinctness at the time of grant of the plant variety protection certificate;

c) The plant variety failed to satisfy the conditions of uniformity or stability where the plant variety protection certificate was granted on the basis of results of technical tests conducted by the registrant.

2. During the valid term of a plant variety protection certificate, any organization or individual may request the competent authority for rights to plant varieties to cancel the effectiveness of a plant variety protection certificate.

Based on the results of the examination of a request for cancellation of effectiveness of a plant variety protection certificate and opinions of the relevant parties, the State administrative body for rights to plant varieties shall either issue a notice of refusal to cancel or shall issue a decision on cancellation of effectiveness of the plant variety protection certificate.

3. Where a plant variety protection certificate is cancelled, all transactions arising on the basis of the grant of the plant variety protection certificate shall be null and void, and such null and void transactions shall be dealt with in compliance with the Civil Code.

Article 172. Amendment and re-grant of plant variety protection certificates

1. A protection certificate holder may request the competent authority for rights to plant varieties to amend or correct errors related to the name and address of the holder, on payment of fees and charges.  Where such errors were made by the State administrative body for rights to plant varieties, such body must correct such errors, and protection certificate holders shall not have to pay fees and charges.

2. A protection certificate holder may request the State administrative body for rights to plant varieties to re-grant a plant variety protection certificate when such certificate was lost or damaged, provided that the holder pays fees and charges.

Article 173. Publication of decisions related to plant variety protection certificates

Decisions on the grant, re-grant, suspension, cancellation, and amendment of plant variety protection certificates shall be published by the competent authority for rights to plant varieties in a specialized magazine on plant varieties within sixty (60) days after such decisions are issued.

SECTION 2. APPLICATIONS FOR REGISTRATION FOR PROTECTION, AND PROCESSING APPLICATIONS

Article 174. Applications for registration of protection

1. An application for registration of protection of a plant variety right shall contain the following documents:

a) A declaration made by filling in the given form;

b) Photos and a technical declaration made on the stipulated sample form;

c) Power of attorney, where the application is filed by a representative;

d) A proof of the registration right where the registrant is a transferee of the registration right;

dd) A proof of the priority right where the application contains a claim for such priority right;

e) Fee or charge payment receipts.

2. Applications for registration for protection and source documents of transactions between an applicant for registration and the State administrative body for rights to plant varieties shall be made in Vietnamese, except for the following documents which may be made in another language but shall be translated into Vietnamese at the request of the State administrative body for rights to plant varieties:

a) Power of attorney;

b) A proof of the applicant’s legal right to registration;

c) A proof of the applicant’s priority right;

d) Other supportive documents.

3. A proof of the priority right of an application for registration of protection of rights to a plant variety shall comprise:

a) Copies of the first application(s) certified by the receiving agency;

b) A proof of transfer or inheritance of the priority right if such right is acquired from another person.

4. Each application shall be registered only for the protection of one plant variety.

Article 175. Receipt of applications for registration of protection, and filing dates

1. An application for registration of protection shall be received by the relevant competent authority for rights to plant varieties only when the application encloses all the documents stipulated in Clause 1 of Article 174 of this Law.

2. The filing date of an application shall be the date on which such application is received by the relevant State administrative body for rights to plant varieties.

Article 176. Examination of the application form for registration of protection

1. The competent authority for rights to plant varieties shall conduct an examination of an application form within fifteen (15) days of receipt of such application, in order to determine the validity of such application.

2. An application for registration of protection shall be deemed invalid in the following cases:

a) It fails to satisfy the formal requirements as stipulated;

b) The plant variety stated in such application does not belong to a plant species on the list of protected plant species;

c) The application is filed by a person who does not have the registration right, including where the registration right belongs to many organizations or individuals but one or more of them do not agree to register.

3. The competent agency for rights to plant varieties shall carry out the following procedures:

a) Notify a refusal to accept the application in the cases stipulated at Point b and c of Clause 2 of this Article, clearly stating the reasons therefor;

b) Notify the registrant of errors for correction in the case stipulated at Point a of Clause 2 of this Article, setting a time-limit of thirty (30) days after the receipt of the notice for the correction of such errors by the registrant;

c) Notify the refusal to accept the application where the registrant fails to correct errors or where the registrant does not make a reasonable appeal against the notice stipulated at Point b of this Clause;

d) Notify the acceptance of the application, request the registrant to provide samples of the plant variety to the testing institution for technical tests and procedures stipulated in Article 178 of this Law where such application is valid or where the registrant has properly corrected the errors or send acceptable opinions on objecting to the notice stipulated at Point b of this Clause.

Article 177. Publication of applications for registration of protection

1. Where an application is accepted as valid, the State administrative body for rights to plant varieties shall publish such valid application in a specialized magazine on plant varieties within ninety (90) days from the date of acceptance of the application.

2. The published contents of an application shall include the serial number and filing date of the application, the representative (if any), the registrant, the owner, the taxonomy of the plant variety, the name of the plant species, and the date on which the application was accepted as being valid.

Article 178. Substantive examination of contents of applications for registration of protection

1. The competent authority for rights to plant varieties shall conduct a substantive examination of applications already accepted as being valid. The examination shall be carried out in respect of:

a) Examination of the novelty and proper taxonomy of the plant variety;

b) Examination of results of technical tests of the plant variety.

2. Technical tests means experiments conducted to determine the distinctness, uniformity and stability of a plant variety.

The technical test shall be conducted by the competent authority or by an organization or individual capable of testing plant varieties in compliance with regulations of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

The competent authority for rights to plant varieties may use previous technical test results.

3. The time-limit for examination of technical test results shall be ninety (90) days from the date of receipt of such technical test results.

Article 179. Amendment and supplementation of applications for registration for protection

1. Before the relevant competent authority for rights to plant varieties notifies a refusal to grant a plant variety protection certificate or notifies its decision on grant of a plant variety protection certificate, the registrant shall have the following rights:

a) To amend or supplement the application without changing the nature of the application;

b) To request the recording of changes of the registrant’s name or address;

c) To request the recording of a change of registrant due to assignment of the application pursuant to a contract or as a result of inheritance or bequest.

2. The person requesting the conduct of the procedures stipulated in Clause 1 of this Article must pay fees and charges.

Article 180. Withdrawal of applications for registration of protection

1. Before the relevant competent authority for rights to plant varieties decides or refuses to grant a plant variety protection certificate, the registrant may withdraw the application. A request for withdrawal of an application must be made in writing.

2. From the moment a registrant withdraws an application for protection registration, all subsequent procedures related to such application shall cease; and fees and charges already paid for procedures which have not yet been carried out shall be refunded at the request of the registrant.

Article 181. Opinions of third parties on the grant of a plant variety protection certificate

As from the date of publication of an application for registration for protection of a plant variety in a specialized magazine on plant varieties up until before a decision on grant of a plant variety protection certificate is issued, any third party shall be permitted to provide an opinion to the State administrative body for rights to plant varieties challenging the grant of such plant variety protection certificate. An opinion must be made in writing and accompanied by documents and evidence to support it.

Article 182. Refusal to grant a plant variety protection certificate

An application for protection registration shall be rejected and the grant of a plant variety protection certificate shall be refused where the relevant plant variety fails to satisfy the conditions stipulated in Articles 176 and 178 of this Law. In a case of refusal to grant a plant variety protection certificate, the competent authority for rights to plant varieties shall carry out the following procedures:

1. Notify the intended refusal to grant a plant variety protection certificate, clearly stating the reasons therefor and setting a time-limit for the registrant to correct errors or oppose the intended refusal.

2. Notify the refusal to grant a plant variety protection certificate where the registrant fails to correct errors and makes no opposition to the intended refusal stipulated in Clause 1 of this Article.

3. Carry out the procedures stipulated in Article 183 of this Law where the registrant has corrected errors or made a justifiable objection to the intended refusal stipulated in Clause 1 of this Article.

Article 183. Grant of plant variety protection certificates

Where an application for registration for protection is not rejected as provided for in Article 182 of this Law and the registrant pays the fee, the competent authority for rights to plant varieties shall issue a decision on granting a plant variety protection certificate and shall record it in the National Register of Protected Plant Varieties.

Article 184 Complaints about the grant or the refusal to grant a plant variety protection certificate

1. The registrant and any third party shall have the right to lodge a complaint about the decision or the refusal to grant a plant variety protection certificate.

2. Handling of appeals against a decision or refusal to grant a plant variety protection certificate shall comply with the law on appeals and denunciations.

CHAPTER XIV. CONTENTS AND LIMITATIONS RELATING TO RIGHTS TO PLANT VARIETIES

SECTION 1. CONTENTS OF RIGHTS TO PLANT VARIETIES

Article 185. Rights of breeders of plant varieties

The breeder of a plant variety shall have the following rights:

1. To have his or her name as the breeder recorded in the plant variety protection certificate, the National Register of Protected Plant Varieties, and published documents on the plant variety;

2. To receive remuneration pursuant to the provisions set out at Point a Clause 1 Article 191 of this Law.

Article 186. Rights of protection certificate holders [29]

1. A protection certificate holder has the right to exercise or authorize others to exercise the following rights to reproductive materials of a protected plant variety:

a) To conduct production or propagation;

b) To process them for the purpose of propagation;

c) To offer them for sale;

d) To sell them or conduct other marketing activities:

dd) To export them;

e) To import them;

g) To store them for conducting acts specified at Points a. b. c. d. e and f of this Clause.

2. Rights of a plant variety protection title holder provided for in Clause 1 of this Article are applicable to materials harvested from the illegal use of reproductive materials of a protected plant variety, unless the protection title holder does not exercise his/her rights to reproductive materials though having art-opportunity to do so.

3. To prevent others from using the plant variety under Article 188 of this Law.

4. To pass by inheritance or bequeath or assign the rights to the plant variety under Chapter XV of this Law.

Article 187. Extension of rights of protection certificate holders [30]

Rights of a protection certificate holder may be extended to the following plant varieties:

1. Plant varieties which originate mainly from the protected plant variety, unless such protected plant variety itself originates from another protected plant variety.

A plant variety is considered originating from a protected plant variety if such plant variety still retains the expression of the essential characteristics resulting from the genotype or combination of genotypes of the protected variety, except differences resulting from impacts on the protected variety.

2. Plant varieties which are not definitely distinct from the protected plant variety.

3. Plant varieties the production of which requires the repeated use of the protected plant variety.

Article 188. Infringement of the right to a plant variety

The following acts shall be deemed an infringement of the rights of a protection certificate holder:

1. Make use of rights of such protection certificate holder without his or her permission.

2. Use a plant variety taxonomy which is identical or similar to a plant taxonomy protected for a plant variety of the same species or a species closely linked to the protected plant variety.

3. 3. Use a protected plant variety without paying the remuneration in accordance with Article 189 of this Law.

Article 189. Provisional rights to plant varieties

1. Provisional rights to a plant variety means rights of the registrant for protection of such plant variety, which arise from the date of publication of the application for registration for protection until the date of grant of the plant variety protection certificate. Where a protection certificate of such plant variety is not granted, the protection registrant shall not also have these provisional rights.

2. Where the registrant is aware of the fact that the plant variety registered for protection is being used by another person for commercial purposes, the plant variety protection registrant may notify in writing such user of the fact that an application for registration for protection of the plant variety has been filed, clearly specifying the filing date and the date of publication of such application, so that the user may either stop using or continue using the plant variety.

3. Where a user who has been notified in accordance with clause 2 of this article continues using the plant variety, the plant variety protection certificate holder shall have the right, upon the grant of the certificate, to demand such plant variety user pay compensation equivalent to the licensing price of such plant variety within the corresponding use scope and duration.

SECTION 2. LIMITATIONS ON RIGHTS TO PLANT VARIETIES

Article 190. Limitations on rights of plant variety protection certificate holders [31]

1. The following acts are not regarded as infringements of rights to protected plant varieties:

a) Using plant varieties for personal and non­commercial purposes;

b) Using plant varieties for testing purposes;

c) Using plant varieties to create new plant varieties, except the case specified in Article 187 of this Law;

d) Using harvested materials of protected plant varieties by individual production households for self-propagation and cultivation in the next season on their own land areas.

2. Rights to plant varieties are not applicable to acts related to materials of protected plant varieties which have been sold or otherwise brought into the Vietnamese or foreign markets by protection certificate holders or their licensees, except the following acts:

a) Acts relating to further propagation of such plant varieties:

b) Acts relating to export of reproductive materials of such plant varieties to countries where the genera or species of such plant varieties are not protected, unless such materials are exported for consumption purpose.

Article 191. Obligations of protection certificate holders and breeders of plant varieties

1. A protection certificate holder shall have the following obligations:

a) To pay remuneration to the breeder of the plant variety as agreed upon; in the absence of such agreement, the remuneration level must comply with the provisions of law;

b) To pay the fee for maintenance of validity of the plant variety protection certificate in accordance with regulations;

c) To preserve the protected plant variety, to supply reproductive materials of the protected plant variety to the State administrative body for rights to plant varieties, and to maintain the stability of the protected plant variety in accordance with regulations.

2. The breeder of a plant variety shall be obliged to help the protection certificate holder to maintain reproductive materials of the protected plant variety.

CHAPTER XV. TRANSFER OF RIGHTS TO PLANT VARIETIES

Article 192. Licensing of plant varieties

1. Licensing of a plant variety means permission from the protection certificate holder granted to another person to conduct one or more acts within the holder’s right to use the plant variety.

2. Where the right to use a plant variety is under co-ownership, the licensing of such plant variety to another person must be permitted by all co-owners.

3. The licensing of a plant variety must be effected in the form of a written contract.

4. A plant variety licensing contract must not contain terms which unreasonably restrict the rights of the licensee, particularly restrictions neither deriving from nor aimed at protecting the rights of the licensor to the licensed plant variety.

Article 193. Rights of parties in a licensing contract

1. The licensor shall have the right to permit or not permit the licensee to sub-license the use right to a third party.

2. The licensee shall have the following rights:

a) To license the use right to a third party if so permitted by the licensor;

b) To request the licensor to take necessary and appropriate measures to prevent infringement by a third party causing loss and damage to the licensee;

c) To take necessary measures to prevent a third party’s infringements if, within a time-limit of three months from the date of receipt of the request stipulated at Point b this Clause, the licensor fails to act as requested.

Article 194. Assignment of rights to plant varieties [32]

1. Assignment of rights to a plant variety means the transfer by the plant variety protection certificate holder of all rights to that plant variety to the assignee. The assignee will become the plant variety protection certificate holder from the date of registration of the assignment contract with a slate management agency in charge of rights to plant varieties according to procedures prescribed by laws.

2. In case rights to a plant variety are under joint ownership, the assignment of these rights to another person must be agreed upon by all co-owners.

3. The assignment of rights to a plant variety must be effected in the form of written contract.

4. The assignment of rights to a plant variety generated from the State budget must comply with the Law on Technology Transfer.

Article 195. Bases and conditions for the compulsory licensing of plant varieties

1. In the following cases, the rights to use a plant variety shall be licensed to another organization or individual under a decision of the competent authority defined in Clause 1 of Article 196 of this Law without permission from the protection certificate holder or his or her exclusive licensee (hereinafter referred to as the holder of the exclusive right to use the plant variety):

a) The use of such plant variety is to serve the public interest and non-commercial purposes, or national defence and security, food security and nutrition of the people or to meet other urgent social needs;

b) Any person who demand and has capacity to use such plant variety fails to reach agreement with the holder of the exclusive right to use such plant variety in a bid to enter into a licensing contract though they have made best efforts within a reasonable period to negotiate a satisfactory price and commercial conditions;

c) The holder of the exclusive right to use such plant variety is deemed to have conducted anti- competitive practices prohibited by the law on competition.

2. The holder of the exclusive right to use a plant variety may request termination of the use right when the bases for licensing stipulated in Clause 1 of this Article cease to exist and are unlikely to recur, provided that termination of such use right will not be prejudicial to the licensee.

3. The right to use a plant variety licensed pursuant to a decision of a competent authority must satisfy the following conditions:

a) Such licensed use right is non-exclusive;

b) Such licensed use right is limited within a scope and duration sufficient to attain the licensing objective, and the protected object after being licensed is used to meet the domestic market except for the case stipulated at Point c of Clause 1 of this Article;

c) The licensee must neither assign nor sublicense such right to others, except where the assignment of the licensee’s business establishment concurrently happens and the right to use such inventions are not sublicensed to others;

d) The licensee must pay the holder of the exclusive right to use the plant variety an acceptable compensation, depending on the economic value of such right in each case and the compensation framework stipulated by the Government.

4. The Government shall specify cases of compulsory licensing of plant varieties and the compensation price framework stipulated at Point d of Clause 3 of this Article.

Article 196. Authority and procedures for the licensing of the right to use the plant variety

1. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development shall issue decisions on licensing of plant varieties within their scope of state management on the basis of considering requests for the licensing of use right in respect of cases stipulated in Clause 1 of Article 195 of this Law.

Ministries and ministerial-level bodies shall, after consulting with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, issue decisions on licensing of plant varieties within their respective state management for the cases stipulated in Clause 1 of Article 195 of this Law.

2. Decisions on the licensing of the right to inventions must specify appropriate scope and conditions of use in accordance with the provisions set out in Clause 3 Article 195 of this Law.

3. The competent agency granted an authority to issue a decision on licensing the right to use a plant variety must promptly notify such decision to the holder of the exclusive right to use the plant variety.

4. Decisions on licensing of plant varieties or refusal to license plant varieties may lead to any appeal or lawsuit as instituted by laws.

5. The Government shall provide specific regulations on the licensing of the right to use plant varieties as stipulated in this Article.

Article 197. Rights of protection certificate holders in cases of compulsory licensing of plant varieties

A protection certificate holder subject to compulsorily license the plant variety shall have the following rights:

1. To receive compensation corresponding to the economic value of the licensed use right or equivalent to the licensing price under a contract with an equivalent scope and term.

2. To request the competent authority for rights to plant varieties to amend, terminate validity of or invalidate the compulsory licensing when the conditions for such compulsory licensing no longer exist and when such amendment, termination of validity or invalidation will not cause loss or damage to the licensees who gain their right from such compulsory licensing.

PART V. PROTECTION OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS

CHAPTER XVI. GENERAL PROVISIONS ON PROTECTION OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS

Article 198. Self-protection right

1. Subject of the right shall be granted the right to apply the following measures to protect the intellectual property rights of such right-subject:

a) To apply technological measures to prevent acts of infringement of its intellectual property rights;

b) To request any organization or individual who commits an act of infringement of the intellectual property rights of the holder to terminate such act, make a public apology or rectification, and pay damages;

c) To request the competent authority to deal with acts of infringement of its intellectual property rights in accordance with the provisions of this Law and other relevant laws;

d) To initiate a lawsuit at a court or a claim at an arbitration centre to protect the legitimate rights and interests of the holder.

2. Organizations and individuals who suffer any loss and damage caused by acts of infringement of intellectual property rights or who discover acts of infringement of intellectual property rights which cause any loss and damage to consumers or society shall have the right to request the competent authority to deal with such acts in accordance with the provisions of this Law and other relevant laws.

3. Organizations and individuals who suffer any loss and damage or who are likely to suffer any loss and damage caused by acts of unfair competition shall have the right to request the competent authority to take civil actions stipulated in Article 202 of this Law and the administrative actions stipulated in the law on competition.

Article 199. Handling measures against the infringement of intellectual property rights

1. Any organization or individual who commits an act of infringement of the intellectual property rights of another organization or individual shall, depending upon the nature and seriousness of such infringement, be dealt with by the application of civil, administrative or criminal punitive actions.

2. In necessary cases, the competent authority may apply provisional urgent measures and measures to control intellectual property related imports and exports, preventive measures and measures to secure enforcement of an administrative penalty in accordance with the provisions of this Law and other relevant laws.

Article 200. Authority to handle infringements of intellectual property rights

1. The following bodies shall, within the scope of their respective duties and powers, have authority to deal with acts of infringement of intellectual property rights: courts, inspectorates, market management offices, customs offices, police offices and People’s Committees at all levels.

2. The application of civil and criminal measures shall fall within the authority of courts.

In necessary cases, courts may apply provisional urgent measures stipulated by laws.

3. The application of administrative remedies shall fall within the authority of inspectorates, Police offices, market management offices, customs offices and people’s committees at all levels. In necessary cases, such bodies may apply preventive measures stipulated by laws or measures to secure payment of administrative fines stipulated by laws.

4. The application of measures to control intellectual property-related imports and exports shall fall within the authority of customs offices.

Article 201. Intellectual property assessment [33]

1. Intellectual property assessment refers to the use of professional knowledge and expertise of organizations or individuals defined in Clauses 2 and 3 of this Article to assess and lead to the conclusion on matters in relation to intellectual property rights.

2. Businesses, cooperatives, public service providers or law firms, except foreign ones in Vietnam which satisfy the following conditions may be eligible to perform intellectual property assessment:

a) Hire employees and supplying technical facilities that can meet requirements for this assessment as prescribed by laws;

b) Demonstrate their competence in performing intellectual property assessment as described in their certificate of business registration, or their certificate of operation registration:

c) Ensure their heads or authorized persons possess intellectual property assessor’s cards.

3. Individuals eligible to fully satisfy the following conditions may be granted intellectual property assessor’s cards by competent authorities:

a) Being a Vietnamese citizen and fully capable of civil acts;

b) Permanently residing in Vietnam:

c) Hiring employees with good moral and ethical standards;

d) Holding a university’s degree or higher in a relevant major or discipline that match the sector described in the assessor’s card, gaining hands-on experience in such sector for the period of more than 5 years and passing the professional examination.

4. Competent agencies who have authority to handle infringements of intellectual property rights shall have the right to request intellectual property assessment when handling cases or matters under their jurisdiction.

5. Intellectual property right holders and other related organizations and individuals may request intellectual property assessment to protect their legitimate rights and interests.

6. The Government shall provide detailed regulations on intellectual property assessment organizations and their activities.

CHAPTER XVII. APPLICATION OF CIVIL MEASURES IN DEALING WITH INFRINGEMENTS OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS

Article 202. Civil measures

Courts may apply the following civil measures in dealing with organizations and individuals who have committed acts of infringement of intellectual property rights:

1. Compulsory termination of the infringing acts.

2. Compulsory public apology and rectification.

3. Compulsory performance of civil obligations.

4. Compulsory payment of damages for loss.

5. Compulsory destruction, distribution or use for non-commercial purposes of goods, raw materials and facilities used largely for the production or trading of goods which infringed intellectual property rights, provided that such destruction, distribution or use will not affect the exploitation of rights by intellectual property right-holders.

Article 203. Litigant’s right and burden of proof

1. The plaintiff and the defendant to a lawsuit regarding infringement of intellectual property rights shall have the right and bear the burden of proof stipulated in Article 79 of the Civil Procedure Code and this Article.

2. The plaintiff must prove that he is the holder of the intellectual property right by producing one of the following forms of evidence:

a) Copies of the copyright registration certificate, related right registration certificate or protection certificate; or an extract of the National Register of Copyright and Related Rights, the National Register of Industrial Property or the National Register of Protected Plant Varieties;

b) Necessary evidence proving the basis for establishment of copyright or related rights in the absence of a copyright registration certificate, related right registration certificate; necessary evidence proving the right to a trade secret, trade name or well-known mark;

c) Copy of the license contract for an intellectual property object where the use right is licensed under a contract.

3. The plaintiff shall bear the burden of proving acts of infringement of intellectual property rights or acts of unfair competition.

4. In a lawsuit regarding infringement of the right to an invention which is a production process, the defendant shall bear the burden of proving that the product of the defendant was produced by a process other than the protected process in the following cases:

a) The product manufactured by the protected process is brand-new;

b) The product manufactured by the protected process is not new, but the invention owner believes that the product of the defendant is manufactured by the protected process and fails to identify the process used by the defendant in spite of having applied appropriate measures.

5. Where a party to a lawsuit regarding infringement of intellectual property rights can prove that appropriate evidence proving such party’s claim is under the control of the other party and is therefore inaccessible, the former party shall have the right to request the court to compel the latter party to produce such evidence.

6. When making a claim for compensation for damages for loss, the plaintiff must prove the plaintiff’s actual loss and damage and specify the basis for determining the amount of compensation for damages in accordance with Article 205 of this Law.

Article 204. Principles for determining loss and damage incurred by an infringement of intellectual property rights

1. Loss and damage incurred by acts of infringement of industrial property rights shall comprise:

a) Material loss and damage including property loss, a drop in income and profit, loss of business opportunity, and reasonable expenses for mitigating such damage or loss;

b) Non-material loss and damage including damage to honor, dignity, prestige, reputation and other spiritual loss caused to authors of literary, artistic and scientific works; to performers; to authors of inventions, industrial designs, layout designs; and to breeders of plant varieties.

2. The extent of damage shall be determined on the basis of actual losses suffered by intellectual property right holders due to acts of infringement of intellectual property rights.

Article 205. Bases for determining amount of damages incurred by an infringement of intellectual property rights

1. Where the plaintiff proves that an act of infringement of intellectual property rights has caused the plaintiff’s material damage, the plaintiff shall have the right to request the court to decide the amount of damages in one of the following bases:

a) Total material damage calculated in an amount of money plus profit gained by the defendant as a result of the act of infringement of intellectual property rights, where the reduction in profit amount of the plaintiff has not yet been included in such total material damage;

b) The price of the licensing of an intellectual property object on the assumption that the defendant would be licensed by the plaintiff to use that object under a licensing contract within a scope corresponding to the act of infringement which was committed;

c) Where it is impossible to determine the amount of damages in terms of material damage on the bases stipulated at Point a and b of this Clause, such amount of damages shall be set by the court depending on the extent of loss but do not exceed five hundred million Vietnamese dong (VND 500,000,000).

2. Where a plaintiff proves that the act of infringement of intellectual property rights caused the plaintiff spiritual damage, the plaintiff shall have the right to request the court to decide on the amount of damages, depending on the extent of loss, which may vary from five million Vietnamese dong (VND 5,000,000) to fifty million Vietnamese dong (VND 50,000,000).

3. In addition to the amount of damages stipulated in Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article, an industrial property right-holder shall also have the right to request the court to compel the organization or individual who have committed the act of infringement of industrial property rights to pay reasonable costs of hiring a lawyer.

Article 206. Right to request the court to apply provisional urgent measures

1. Upon or after the initiation of a lawsuit, an intellectual property right holder shall have the right to request the court to apply provisional measures in the following cases:

a) In a danger of irreparable damage to such intellectual property right holder;

b) Goods suspected of infringement of intellectual property rights or evidence related to the act of infringement of industrial property rights are likely to be dispersed or destroyed unless they are protected in time.

2. A court may make a decision applying provisional urgent measures at the request of an industrial property right holder as stipulated in Clause 1 of this Article before hearing the party subject to such measures.

Article 207. Provisional urgent measures

1. The following provisional urgent measures may be applied to goods suspected of infringing upon intellectual property rights or to raw materials or facilities of production or trading of such goods:

a) Retention;

b) Distraint;

c) Sealing; prohibiting any alteration of the original state; prohibiting any movement;

d) Prohibiting transfer of ownership.

2. Other provisional urgent measures may be applied in accordance with the Civil Procedure Code.

Article 208. Obligations of petitioners for provisional urgent measures

1. Petitioner for provisional urgent measures shall bear the burden of proving their right provided for in Clause 1 of Article 206 of this Law by producing the documents and evidence stipulated in Clause 2 of Article 203 of this Law.

2. A petitioner for provisional urgent measures shall be obliged to pay compensation for loss caused to a person subject to such measures in a case where the latter is found not to have infringed upon industrial property rights. To secure the performance of this obligation, a petitioner for provisional urgent measures shall give a pledge in one of the following forms:

a) A sum of money equal to twenty (20) per cent of the value of the goods subject to the application of provisional urgent measures, or at least twenty million Vietnamese dong (VND 20,000,000) where it is impossible to value such goods;

b) A deed of guarantee issued by a bank or other credit institution.

Article 209. Cancellation of application of provisional urgent measures

1. The court shall issue a decision to cancel the application of provisional urgent measures in the case stipulated in Clause 1 of Article 122 of the Civil Procedure Code or in a case where the person subject to such measures proves that such application was unfounded.

2. In a case of cancellation of a provisional urgent measure, the court shall consider refunding the petitioner a pledge stipulated in Clause 2 of Article 208 of this Law. Where a request for the application of a provisional urgent measure was unfounded which may thus cause loss to the person subject to such measure, the court shall compel the petitioner to pay compensation for such loss.

Article 210. Authority and procedure concerning the application of provisional urgent measures

The authority and procedure concerning the application of provisional urgent measures shall adhere to the provisions of Chapter VIII, Part One of the Civil Procedure Code.

CHAPTER XVIII. HANDLING OF INFRINGEMENTS OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS BY APPLICATION OF ADMINISTRATIVE AND CRIMINAL MEASURES; CONTROL OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY-RELATED IMPORTS AND EXPORTS

SECTION 1. HANDLING OF INFRINGEMENTS OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS BY THE APPLICATION OF ADMINISTRATIVE AND CRIMINAL MEASURES

Article 211. Infringements of intellectual property right subject to administrative penalties [34]

1. Organizations and individuals that commit any of the following acts of infringing upon intellectual property rights shall be subject to administrative penalties:

a) Infringing upon intellectual property rights which causes damage to authors, owners, consumers or society;

b) Producing, importing, transporting or trading in intellectual property counterfeit goods defined in Article 213 of this Law or assigning others to do so;

c) Producing, importing, transporting, trading in or storing stamps, labels or other articles bearing a counterfeit mark or geographical indication or assigning others to do so.

2. The Government shall specify acts of infringing upon intellectual property rights which shall be subject to administrative penalty, penalty type and fine rates, and procedures.

3. Organizations and individuals that commit acts of unfair competition in intellectual property shall be administratively fined under the competition law.

Article 212. Acts of infringement of industrial property rights which shall be subject to criminal penalties

Any individual who commits an act of infringement of intellectual property rights involving a criminal element shall be criminally prosecuted in accordance with the criminal law.

Article 213. Intellectual property counterfeit goods

1. Intellectual property counterfeit goods regulated in this Law comprise goods bearing counterfeit marks and goods bearing counterfeit geographical indications (hereinafter referred to as counterfeit mark goods) defined in Clause 2 of this article and pirated goods defined in Clause 3 of this Article.

2. Counterfeit mark goods means goods or their packages bearing a mark or sign which is identical with or indistinguishable from a mark or geographical indication currently protected for those very goods, without permission from the mark owner or organization managing the geographical indication.

3. Pirated goods means copies made without permission from the copyright holder or related right holder.

Article 214. Forms of administrative penalty and mitigation [35]

1. Organizations and individuals that commit acts of infringing upon intellectual property rights defined in Clause 1 Article 211 of this Law shall be compelled to terminate their infringements and subject to one of the main penalty type as follows:

a) Caution;

b) Fine.

2. Depending on the nature and seriousness of their infringements, intellectual property rights-infringing organizations or individuals are also subject to either of the following additional penalties:

a) Confiscation of intellectual property counterfeit goods, raw materials and means used mainly for the purpose of production or trading of these intellectual property counterfeit goods;

b) Suspension of business activities in domains where infringements have been committed.

3. In addition to the penalties specified in Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article, intellectual property rights infringers are also subject to either or both of the following mitigation efforts:

a) Compulsory destruction or distribution or use for non-commercial purposes of intellectual properly counterfeit goods as well as raw materials and means used mainly for production or trading of these intellectual property counterfeit goods, provided that the destruction, distribution or use does not affect the exploitation of rights by intellectual property right-holders;

b) Compulsory transportation out of Vietnamese territory of in-transit goods infringing upon intellectual property rights or compulsory re-exportation of intellectual property counterfeit goods, as well as imported means, raw materials and materials used mainly for production or trading of these intellectual property counterfeit goods, after infringing elements have been removed from these goods.

4. Fine rate and authority to impose administrative sanctions against infringements of intellectual property rights shall comply with the law on handling of administrative violations.

Article 215. Preventive measures and/or measures to secure enforcement of administrative penalties

1. In the following cases, organizations and individuals shall have the right to request the competent authority to apply preventive measures and/or measures to secure enforcement of the administrative penalties stipulated in Clause 2 of this Article:

a) An act of infringement of intellectual property rights is likely to cause serious loss and damage to consumers or society;

b) Material evidence of the infringement is likely to be dispersed or there are indications that the offender will evade responsibility;

c) Enforcement of a decision imposing an administrative penalty must be guaranteed.

2. Preventive measures and/or measures to secure enforcement of administrative penalties which may be applied in accordance with administrative procedures to acts of infringement of intellectual property rights shall comprise:

a) Temporary detention;

b) Temporary custody of infringing goods, material evidence and facilities;

c) Frisk search

d) Searches of means of transport and objects; searches of places where infringing goods, material evidence and facilities are hidden;

dd) Other administrative preventive measures in accordance with the law on dealing with administrative breaches.

SECTION 2. CONTROL OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RELATED IMPORTS AND EXPORTS

Article 216. Measures to control intellectual property related imports and exports

1. Measures to control intellectual property related imports and exports shall comprise:

a) Suspension of customs procedures for goods suspected of infringing intellectual property rights;

b) Inspection and supervision to detect goods showing signs of infringing upon intellectual property rights.

2. Suspension of customs procedures for goods suspected of infringing upon intellectual property rights means a measure to be taken at the request of an intellectual property right-holder in order to collect information and evidence on the goods consignment in question so that the intellectual property right holder may exercise the right to request that the infringing act be dealt with and to request the application of provisional urgent measures, preventive measures and/or measures to secure enforcement of administrative penalties.

3. Inspection and supervision to detect goods showing signs of infringing upon intellectual property rights mean a measure to be taken at the request of an intellectual property right holder in order to collect information for the exercise of the right to request suspension of customs procedures.

4. If any intellectual property counterfeit goods described in Article 213 of this Law are found in the course of application of the measures stipulated in Clauses 2 and 3 of this Article, the customs office shall have the right and responsibility to apply administrative remedies to deal with such goods in accordance with Articles 214 and 215 of this Law.

Article 217. Obligations of petitioners for the application of measures to control intellectual property related imports and exports

1. A petitioner for application of a measure to control intellectual property related imports or exports shall have the following obligations:

a) To prove that the applicant is an intellectual property right holder by producing the documents and evidence stipulated in Clause 2 of Article 203 of this Law;

b) To supply sufficient information to identify goods suspected of infringing upon intellectual property rights or to detect goods showing signs of infringing upon intellectual property rights;

c) To file a written request to the customs office and to pay fees and charges stipulated by laws;

d) To pay damages and other expenses incurred to persons subject to control measures in a case where the controlled goods are found not to have infringed upon industrial property rights.

2. In order to secure the performance of the obligation stipulated at Point d of Clause 1 of this Article, a petitioner shall provide a pledge in one of the following forms:

a) A sum of money equal to twenty (20) per cent of the value of the goods consignment subject to the application of the measure of suspension of customs procedures, or at least twenty million Vietnamese dong (VND 20,000,000) where it is impossible to value such goods;

b) A deed of guarantee issued by a bank or other credit institution.

Article 218. Procedures for application of the measure in suspending customs procedures [36]

1. When persons requesting the suspension of customs procedures have fulfilled their obligations specified in Article 217 of this Law, customs offices shall issue decisions on suspension of customs procedures with regard to goods parcels in question.

2. The duration of suspension of customs procedures is ten working days after the petitioner for suspension of customs procedure receives the customs office’s notice of such suspension. In case the petitioner for suspension of the customs procedure gives a justifiable reason for failure to complete these procedures, this duration may be prolonged but does not exceed twenty working days, provided that the petitioner leaves a pledge as prescribed in Clause 2, Article 217 of this Law.

3. Upon the expiration date specified in Clause 2 of this Article, if the petitioner for suspension of customs procedure does not file a civil lawsuit and customs offices decide not to accept the cases for handling of administrative violations of goods parcels of exporters or importers according to administrative procedures, customs offices have the following responsibilities:

a) To continue carrying out customs procedures for goods parcels in question;

b) To compel the petitioner for suspension of customs procedures to compensate all the damage caused to owners of goods parcels due to their unreasonable petition, and pay expenses for the warehousing and preservation of goods as well as other expenses incurred by customs offices and other related agencies, organizations and individuals under the customs law;

c) To refund to the petitioner for suspension of customs procedure the remaining amount of pledge after the obligation of paying compensations and expenses specified at Point b of this Clause is fulfilled.

Article 219. Inspection and supervision to detect goods suspected of infringement of intellectual property rights

Where an intellectual property right-holder requests inspection and supervision to detect goods showing signs of infringement of intellectual property rights and the customs office then finds such a goods consignment, the customs office shall promptly notify the petitioner thereof. If the petitioner does not request the suspension of customs procedures with regard to the offending goods consignment and the customs office does not issue a decision to consider the application of the administrative penalties stipulated in Articles 214 and 215 of this Law within a period of three working days from the date of notification, then the customs office must continue carrying out customs procedures for the goods consignment in question.

PART VI. EXECUTION PROVISIONS (37)

Article 220. Transitional provisions [38]

1. Copyright and related rights protected under legal documents which took effect before the effective date of this Law continue to be protected under this Law if they remain in the term of protection by that date.

2. Applications for registration of copyright, related rights, inventions, utility solutions, industrial designs, trademarks, appellations of origin of goods, layout-designs or plant varieties, which have been filed with competent agencies before the effective date of this Law, continue to be processed under legal documents effective at the filing time.

3. All rights and obligations specified in protection certificates under the provisions of law which comes into force before the effective date of this Law and procedures for maintenance, renewal, modification, invalidation, licensing, ownership assignment, settlement of disputes relating to these protection certificates are governed by this Law, except grounds for invalidation of protection certificates which are subject to the provisions of law which are effective at the time of grant of these protection certificates. This provision also applies to decisions on registration of appellations of origin of goods issued under the provisions of law which come into force before the effective date of this Law. State management agencies in charge of industrial property rights shall carry out procedures for the grant of geographical indication registration certificates in respect of appellations of origin of goods.

4. Trade secrets and trade names which have been existing and protected under the Government’s Decree No. 54/2000/ND-CP of October 3, 2000, on the protection of industrial property rights to trade secrets, geographical indications, trade names and the protection of the right to repression of industrial property-related unfair competition, continue to be protected under this Law.

5. From the effective date of this Law, geographical indications, including those protected under the Decree mentioned in Clause 4 of this Article, may only be protected after they are registered under this Law.

Article 221. Entry into force

This Circular has come into force as from July 01, 2006.

Article 222. Implementation guidelines

The Government and the Supreme People’s Court shall providing instructions on the implementation of this Law./. 

LAW 07/2022/QH15

June 29, 2022

AMENDING AND SUPPLEMENTING A NUMBER OF ARTICLES OF THE LAW ON INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY1

Pursuant to the Constitution of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam;

The National Assembly promulgates the Law Amending and Supplementing a Number of Articles of Law No. 50/2005/QH11 on Intellectual Property, which had a number of articles amended and supplemented under Law No. 36/2009/QH12 and Law No. 42/2019/QH14.

Article 1. To amend and supplement a number of articles of the Law on Intellectual Property

1. To amend and supplement a number of clauses of Article 4 as follows:

a/ To amend and supplement Clauses 8, 9 and 10; add Clauses 10a, 10b, 10c and 10d below Clause 10; and amend and supplement Clause 11 and add Clause 11a below Clause 11, as follows:

“8. Derivative work means a work that is created on the basis of one or more than one existing work by being translated from one language into another, or which is adapted, compiled, annotated, selected, modified, musically transformed and otherwise transformed.

  • Published work, phonogram or video recording means a work, phonogram or video recording that has been distributed with the permission of the copyright holder or related rights holder for being made available to the public in whatever form in a reasonable quantity of copies.
  1. Reproduction means the making of copies of the whole or part of a work or a phonogram or video recording by whatever mode or in whatever form.

10a. Royalty means an amount of money paid for the creation or transfer of copyright or related rights to a work, performance, phonogram, video recording or broadcast, including also royalty for authors and remuneration.

10b. Technological measure for rights protection means a measure that uses any technique, technology, equipment or device that, in the course of its normal operation, has the main function of protecting the copyright and related rights against acts performed without permission of the copyright holder or related rights holder.

10c. Effective technological measure means a technological measure for rights protection taken by the copyright holder or related rights holder to control the use of a work, performance, phonogram, video recording, broadcast or encrypted program-carrying satellite signal through an access control application, protection protocol or reproduction control mechanism.

10d. Rights management information means information identifying works, performances, phonograms, video recordings, broadcasts or encrypted program-carrying satellite signals; authors, performers, copyright holders, related rights holders and exploitation or use conditions; and identification numbers or codes showing the above information. Rights management information must be incorporated in

1 Publication Nos 573-574 (16/7/2022)

copies or appear simultaneously with works, performances, phonograms, video recordings or broadcasts when such works, performances, phonograms, video recordings or broadcasts are transmitted to the public.

  1. Broadcasting means the transmission by wireless means of either sounds or images or both sounds and images, either reproduced sounds or images or both reproduced sounds and images of a work, performance, phonogram, video recording or broadcast to the public, including also satellite transmission and transmission of encrypted signals in case decrypting devices are provided by broadcasting organizations to the public or provided with the consent of broadcasting organizations.

11a. Communication to the public means the transmission to the public of works; sounds and images of performances; or sounds, images or reproduced sounds or images fixed in phonograms or video recordings by any means other than broadcasting.”;

b/ To add Clause 12a below Clause 12 and amend and supplement Clause 13 as follows:

“12a. Confidential invention means an invention identified by a competent agency or organization to be a state secret in accordance with the law on protection of state secrets.

13. Industrial design means the external appearance of a product or a part to be assembled into a complex product, embodied by three-dimensional configurations, lines, colors, or a combination of these elements, and visible in the course of exploitation of utilities of such product or complex product.”;

c/ To amend and supplement Clause 20 as follows:

“20. Well-known mark means a mark widely known by relevant members of the public throughout

Vietnam’s territory.”;

d/ To amend and supplement Clause 22 and add Clause 22a below Clause 22 as follows:

“22. Geographical indication means a sign that is used to indicate the geographical origin of a product from a specific region, locality, territory or country.

22a.  Homophonic  geographical  indications  means  geographical  indications  that  have  the  same

pronunciation or spelling.”.

2.   To amend and supplement Clause 2, Article 7 as follows:

“2. The exercise of intellectual property rights must neither be prejudicial to the State’s interests, public interests, or lawful rights and interests of organizations and individuals nor violate other relevant regulations. Organizations and individuals that  exercise intellectual property rights related to the national flag, national emblem or national anthem of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam may not prevent or obstruct the popularization and use of the national flag, national emblem or national anthem.”.

3.   To amend and supplement Clauses 2 and 3, Article 8 as follows:

“2. To encourage and promote innovation activities and exploitation of intellectual assets through providing financial support, tax and credit incentives, and other investment support and incentives in accordance with law in order to contribute to socio-economic development and improvement of the people’s material and spiritual life.

3. To provide financial support for the creation, acquisition and exploitation of intellectual property rights for public interests; to encourage organizations and individuals at home and abroad to provide donations for innovation activities and the protection of intellectual property rights.”.

4. To add Article 12a above Article 13 in Section 1, Chapter I of Part Two as follows:

“Article 12a. Authors, co-authors

  1. Author means a person who directly creates a work. In case two or more persons have jointly created a work with the intention that their contributions are combined as a whole in the complete work, these persons are co-authors.
  • Persons who provide support, contribute opinions or provide materials for others to create works are not regarded as authors or co-authors.
  • The exercise of moral rights and economic rights to a work with co-authors must be agreed upon by such co-authors, unless such work has a separable part that may be used independently without causing prejudice to the parts of other co-authors or unless otherwise provided by law.”.

5. To amend and supplement Articles 19, 20 and 21 as follows:

“Article 19. Moral rights

Moral rights of authors include the following rights:

  1. To title their works.

Authors may license the right to title their works to organizations or individuals that acquire economic rights specified in Clause 1, Article 20 of this Law;

  • To attach their real names or pseudonyms to their works; to have their real names or pseudonyms acknowledged when their works are published or used;
  • To publish their works or authorize other persons to publish their works;
  • To protect the integrity of their works from being distorted by others; to prevent other persons from modifying or mutilating their works in whatever form prejudicial to their honor and reputation.

Article 20. Economic rights

  1. Economic rights of authors include the following rights: a/ To make derivative works;

b/ To display their works to the public directly or indirectly through phonograms, video recordings or any technical devices at places where the public may access but the public cannot freely choose the time of display and each part of works to be displayed;

c/ To reproduce directly or indirectly the whole or part of their works by any means or in whatever form, except the case specified at Point a, Clause 3 of this Article;

d/ To distribute or import for distribution to the public by sale or other forms of ownership transfer original works or copies thereof in the physical form, except the case specified at Point b, Clause 3 of this Article;

dd/ To broadcast or communicate their works to the public by wire or wireless means, via electronic information networks or by any other technical means, covering also the offering of works to the public in such a way that the public may access at places and time they choose;

e/ To lease original cinematographic works or copies thereof and computer programs, unless such computer programs are not main objects of the lease.

  • The rights specified in Clause 1 of this Article shall be exclusively exercised by authors or copyright holders, or permitted by authors or copyright holders to other organizations or individuals for exercise in accordance with this Law.

Organizations and individuals shall, when wishing to exercise one, several or all of the rights specified in Clause 1 of this Article, and Clause 3, Article 19, of this Law, ask for permission of and pay royalties and other material benefits (if any) to copyright holders, except the cases specified in Clause 3 of this Article, and Articles 25, 25a, 26, 32 and 33, of this Law. In case the making of derivative works affects the moral rights specified in Clause 4, Article 19 of this Law, the written consent of authors is required.

  • Copyright holders of works may not prevent or prohibit other organizations and individuals from:

a/ Reproducing such works only for exercising other rights in accordance with this Law; temporarily reproducing such works according to a technological process or in the course of operation of devices for transmission within a network among third parties through intermediaries, or legally utilizing such works not for independent economic purposes, with copies thereof automatically and irrestorably deleted;

b/ Subsequently distributing or importing for distribution original works or copies thereof that have been previously distributed or permitted by copyright holders for distribution.

Article 21. Copyright to cinematographic works and dramatic works

  1. Copyright to cinematographic works is provided as follows:

a/ Screenwriters and directors may enjoy the rights specified in Clauses 1, 2 and 4, Article 19 of this Law;

b/ Cameramen, montage-makers, music composers, fine-art designers, sound, lighting and visual- effect designers, actors/actresses, and persons performing other creative jobs in the making of cinematographic works may enjoy the rights specified in Clause 2, Article 19 of this Law;

c/ Organizations and individuals that invest funds and physical-technical facilities for the production of cinematographic works may become holders of the rights specified in Clause 3, Article 19 and Clause 1, Article 20 of this Law, unless otherwise agreed upon in writing; and are obliged to pay royalties and other materials benefits (if any) under contracts signed with the persons specified at Points a and b of this Clause;

d/ Organizations and individuals that invest funds and physical-technical facilities for the production of cinematographic works may reach agreement with the persons specified at Point a of this Clause on titling or modification of such works;

dd/ In case screenplays or music works in cinematographic works are used independently, the authors or copyright holders of the screenplays or music works may enjoy copyright to such screenplays or music works independently, unless otherwise agreed upon in writing.

  • Copyright to dramatic works is provided as follows:

a/ Drama script authors may enjoy the rights specified in Clauses 1, 2 and 4, Article 19 of this Law;

b/ Literary work authors, music work composers, theater directors, music conductors, choreographers, stage and costume designers, and persons performing other creative jobs in the making of dramatic works may enjoy the rights specified in Clause 2, Article 19 of this Law;

c/ Organizations and individuals that invest funds and physical-technical facilities for the making of dramatic works may become holders of the rights specified in Clause 3, Article 19 and Clause 1, Article 20 of this Law, unless otherwise agreed upon in writing; and are obliged to pay royalties and other material benefits (if any) under contracts signed with the persons specified at Points a and b of this Clause;

d/ Organizations and individuals that invest funds and physical-technical facilities for the making of dramatic works may reach agreement with the persons specified at Point a of this Clause on titling or modification of such works;

dd/ In case literary works or music works in dramatic works are used independently, the authors or copyright holders of the literary works or music works may enjoy copyright to such literary or music works independently, unless otherwise agreed upon in writing.”.

6.   To amend and supplement Clause 1, Article 22 as follows:

“1. Computer program means a set of instructions expressed in the form of command, code, diagram or any other form and, when incorporated in a device or an equipment operated by a programming language, capable of enabling such computers or equipment to perform a job or achieve a designated result. Computer programs may be protected like literary works, irrespective of whether they are expressed in the form of source code or machine language.

Authors and copyright holders of computer programs may reach written agreement on repair or upgrading of such computer programs. Organizations and individuals having the right to legally use copies of computer programs may make backup copies to replace such copies once they are deleted or damaged or can no longer be used but may not transfer backup copies to other organizations and individuals.”.

7.    To amend and supplement Article 25 and add Article 25a below Article 25; and amend and supplement Article 26, as follows:

“Article 25. Exception cases in which copyright is not regarded as being infringed upon

  1. Cases of use of published works in which permission of authors or payment of royalties is not required but the provision of information on names of authors and origin of the works is required:

a/ Duplication of the works for personal scientific research or learning purpose and not for commercial purposes. This provision does not apply to case of reproduction with a reproducing device;

b/ Reasonable reproduction of part of the works with a reproducing device for personal scientific research or learning purpose and not for commercial purposes;

c/ Reasonable use of the works for illustration in lectures, publications, performances, phonograms, video recordings or broadcasts for teaching purpose. Such use may cover the provision of the works in an internal computer network on the condition that there must be technical measures to ensure that only learners and teachers in a certain class may access the works;

d/ Use of the works in official-duty activities of state agencies;

dd/ Reasonable recitation of the works for commentary, introduction or illustrative purpose without misrepresenting the authors’ view; for writing newspaper articles or use in periodical publications, broadcasts or documentaries;

e/ Use of the works in library activities not for commercial purposes, covering reproduction of the works archived in libraries for preservation on the condition that copies must be marked as copies for archive and with limited access in accordance with the library and archive laws; reasonable reproduction of

part of the works with a reproducing device for other persons’ research or learning purpose; reproduction or transmission of the archived works for inter-library loan via the computer network, on the condition that the number of readers at a time does not exceed the number of copies of the works held by such libraries, unless it is permitted by the rights holders, and such use does not apply in case the works have been provided on the market in the digital form;

g/ Performance of dramatic, music or dance works or other forms of art performances in mass cultural, communication or mobilization activities not for commercial purposes;

h/ Photographing or televising of fine-art, architectural, photographic or applied-art works displayed at public places for the purpose of presenting images of such works not for commercial purposes;

i/ Importation of copies of others’ works for personal use not for commercial purposes;

k/ Reproduction by re-publishing on newspapers, periodical publications or broadcasts or otherwise communicating to the public of lectures or speeches presented before the public within a scope appropriate to the purpose of current event reporting, unless the authors claim that they hold the copyright of such lectures or speeches;

l/ Photographing, audio-recording, video-recording or broadcasting of events for the purpose of current event reporting, with the use of works heard or seen in such events;

m/ Use of works by visually impaired people, people with print disability or people with other disabilities who are unable to access and read works by normal methods (below collectively referred to as people with disabilities) and their nurturers or caretakers and organizations satisfying the Government- specified conditions under Article 25a of this Law.

  • The use of works specified in Clause 1 of this Article must neither be contradictory to the normal exploitation of such works nor unreasonably cause prejudice to lawful interests of the author or copyright holder.
  • The reproduction of works specified in Clause 1 of this Article is not applicable to architectural works, fine-art works and computer programs, and the compilation of collections or anthologies of works.
  • The Government shall detail this Article.

Article 25a. Exception cases in which people with disabilities are not treated as copyright infringers

  1. People with disabilities and their nurturers or caretakers may reproduce, perform or communicate works in accessible format copies when they have the lawful right to access original works or copies thereof. An accessible format copy means a copy of a work expressed in a manner or form suitable to people with disabilities and may only be used for personal purposes of people with disabilities and may involve appropriate and necessary technical modifications that enable people with disabilities to access the work.
  • Organizations satisfying the Government-specified conditions may reproduce, distribute, perform or communicate works in accessible format copies when they have the right to access original works or copies thereof and operate not for profit-making purposes.
  • Organizations satisfying the Government-specified conditions may distribute or communicate accessible format copies to counterparts under treaties to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a contracting party without having to obtain permission of copyright holders.
  • Organizations satisfying the Government-specified conditions may distribute or communicate accessible format copies to overseas people with disabilities under treaties to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a contracting party without having to obtain permission of copyright holders on

the condition that, before doing so, they do not know or have no grounds to know that such copies will be used for any other subjects other than people with disabilities.

  • People with disabilities and their nurturers or caretakers or organizations satisfying the Government- specified conditions may import accessible format copies from counterparts under treaties to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a contracting party in the interest of people with disabilities without having to obtain permission of copyright holders.
  • The Government shall detail this Article. Article 26. Limitations on copyright
  • Cases of use of published works in which permission of authors is not required but the payment of royalties and provision of information on names of authors and sources and origin of such works are required:

a/ Broadcasting organizations that use published works or works permitted by copyright holders to be fixed on phonograms or video recordings to be published for commercial purposes for making their broadcasts which are sponsored, advertised or charged in whatever form are not required to obtain permission of but have to pay royalties to copyright holders since the commencement of the use. Royalty levels and payment methods shall be agreed upon by the parties; in case no agreement can be reached, the parties shall comply with regulations of the Government.

Broadcasting organizations that use published works or works permitted by copyright holders to be fixed on phonograms or video recordings to be published for commercial purposes for making their broadcasts which are not sponsored, advertised or charged in whatever form are not required to obtain permission of but have to pay royalties to copyright holders since the commencement of the use under regulations of the Government;

b/ For works permitted by copyright holders to be fixed on phonograms or video recordings to be published for commercial purposes, organizations and individuals that use such phonograms or video recordings in their business and commercial activities are not required to obtain permission of but have to pay royalties to copyright holders of such works as agreed upon since the commencement of the use; in case no agreement can be reached, they shall comply with regulations of the Government. The Government shall provide in detail business and commercial activities mentioned in this Clause.

  • The use of works specified in Clause 1 of this Article must neither be contradictory to the normal exploitation of such works nor unreasonably cause prejudice to lawful interests of  authors  and copyright holders.
  • The use of works in the cases specified in Clause 1 of this Article is not applicable to cinematographic works.
  • Vietnamese organizations and individuals that enjoy preferences applicable to developing countries regarding the right to translate works from foreign languages into Vietnamese and the right  to reproduce such works in their teaching or research activities not for commercial purposes under treaties to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a contracting party shall comply with regulations of the Government.
  • Organizations and individuals that wish to exploit or use published works of Vietnamese organizations and individuals but cannot find or identify copyright holders of such works shall comply with regulations of the Government.”.

8. To amend and supplement Article 28 as follows:

“Article 28. Acts of infringing upon copyright

  1. Infringing upon the moral rights specified in Article 19 of this Law.
  • Infringing upon the economic rights specified in Article 20 of this Law.
  • Failing to perform or improperly performing the obligations specified in Articles 25, 25a and 26 of this Law.
  • Intentionally canceling or deactivating effective technological measures taken by authors or copyright holders to protect copyright to their works for the purpose of performing the acts specified in this Article and Article 35 of this Law.
  • Manufacturing, distributing, importing, offering for sale, selling, promoting, advertising, marketing, leasing or stockpiling for commercial purposes equipment, products or components, introducing or providing services when knowing or having grounds to know that such equipment, products, components or services are manufactured or used to deactivate effective technological measures for copyright protection.
  • Intentionally deleting, removing or modifying rights management information without permission of authors or copyright holders when knowing or having grounds to know that the performance of such acts will instigate, enable, facilitate or conceal acts of infringing upon copyright in accordance with law.
  • Intentionally distributing, importing for distribution, broadcasting, communicating or providing to the public copies of works when knowing or having grounds to know that rights management information has been deleted, removed or changed without permission of copyright holders; or when knowing or having grounds to know that the performance of such acts will instigate, enable, facilitate or conceal acts of infringing upon copyright in accordance with law.
  • Failing to implement or improperly implementing regulations for being exempted from legal liability of intermediary service providers specified in Clause 3, Article 198b of this Law.”.

9. To amend and supplement Articles 29, 30, 31, 32 and 33 as follows:

“Article 29. Rights of performers

  1. Performers have moral rights and economic rights to their performances in accordance with this Law.

In case performers are not concurrently rights holders of performances, they may enjoy the moral rights specified in Clause 2 of this Article; rights holders of performances may enjoy the economic rights specified in Clause 3 of this Article.

  • Moral rights include the following rights:

a/ To be acknowledged when performing or distributing phonograms or video recordings, or broadcasting performances;

b/ To protect the integrity of performed figures and prevent others from distorting, modifying or mutilating works in whatever form prejudicial to the honor and reputation of performers.

  • Economic rights include exclusive rights to exercise or authorize others to exercise the following rights:

a/ To fix their live performances on phonograms or video recordings;

b/ To directly or indirectly reproduce the whole or part of their performances which have been fixed on phonograms or video recordings by any device or in whatever form, except the case specified at Point a, Clause 5 of this Article;

c/ To broadcast or communicate to the public their unfixed performances in a manner accessible by the public, unless such performances are intended for broadcasting;

d/ To distribute or import for distribution to the public their original performances and copies thereof fixed in a physical form by mode of sale or other modes of ownership transfer, except the case specified at Point b, Clause 5 of this Article;

dd/ To commercially lease to  the  public their original  performances and copies thereof fixed in phonograms or video recordings, even after such originals and copies are distributed by performers or with permission of performers;

e/ To broadcast or communicate to the public their fixed performances, including also to provide to the public fixed performances in a manner accessible by the public at places and time they choose.

  • When exploiting or exercising one, several or all of the rights specified in Clause 3 of this Article, organizations and individuals shall obtain permission of holders of rights to such performances and pay royalties and other material benefits (if any) to the rights holders in accordance with law or as agreed upon in case such exploitation or exercise is not provided by law, except the cases specified in Clause 5 of this Article, and Articles 25, 25a, 26, 32 and 33 of this Law.
  • Holders of rights to performances may not prevent other organizations and individuals from:

a/ Reproducing performances only to exercise other rights in accordance with this Law; temporarily reproducing performances according to a technological process or in the course of operation of equipment to transmit or broadcast performances within a network among third parties through intermediaries, or lawfully utilizing their performances fixed on phonograms or video recordings not for independent economic purposes, with copies automatically and irrestorably deleted;

b/ Subsequently distributing or importing for distribution original performances, copies thereof or fixed performances which have been previously distributed by rights holders or by other parties permitted by rights holders.

Article 30. Rights of producers of phonograms and video recordings

  1. Producers of phonograms and video recordings have the exclusive right to exercise or authorize other organizations and individuals to exercise the following rights:

a/ To reproduce the whole or part of their phonograms or video recordings by any devices or in whatever form, except the case specified at Point a, Clause 3 of this Article;

b/ To distribute or import for distribution to the public by the mode of sale or other modes of ownership transfer their original phonograms or video recordings or copies thereof in the physical form, except the case specified at Point b, Clause 3 of this Article;

c/ To commercially lease to the public their original phonograms or video recordings or copies thereof, even after such phonograms or video recordings are distributed by themselves or with their permission;

d/ To broadcast or communicate to the public their phonograms or video recordings, including also to provide to the public of phonograms or video recordings in a manner accessible by the public at places and time they choose.

  • When exploiting or exercising one, several or all of the rights specified in Clause 1 of this Article, organizations and individuals shall obtain permission of holders of rights to phonograms or video recordings and pay royalties and other material benefits (if any) to the rights holders in accordance with law or as agreed upon in case such exploitation or exercise is not provided by law, except the cases specified in Clause 3 of this Article, and Articles 25, 25a, 26, 32 and 33 of this Law.
  • Holders of rights to phonograms or video recordings may not prevent other organizations and individuals from:

a/ Reproducing phonograms or video recordings only to exercise other rights in accordance with this Law; temporarily reproducing phonograms or video recordings according to a technological process or in the course of operation of equipment to transmit or broadcast phonograms or video recordings within a network among third parties through intermediaries, or lawfully utilizing phonograms or video recordings not for independent economic purposes, with copies automatically and irrestorably deleted;

b/ Subsequently distributing or importing for distribution original phonograms or video recordings and copies thereof which have been previously distributed by rights holders or by other parties permitted by rights holders.

Article 31. Rights of broadcasting organizations

  1. Broadcasting organizations have the exclusive right to exercise or permit others to exercise the following rights:

a/ To make broadcasts or rebroadcast their broadcasts;

b/ To directly or indirectly reproduce the whole or part of their fixed broadcasts by any device or in whatever form, except the case specified at Point a, Clause 3 of this Article;

c/ To fix their broadcasts;

d/ To distribute or import for distribution to the public by the mode of sale or other forms of ownership transfer their fixed broadcasts in the physical form, except the case specified at Point b, Clause 3 of this Article.

  • When exploiting or exercising one, several or all of the rights specified in Clause 1 of this Article, organizations and individuals shall obtain permission of holders of rights to broadcasts and pay royalties and other material benefits (if any) to the rights holders in accordance with law or as agreed upon in case such exploitation or exercise is not provided by law, except the cases specified in Clause 3 of this Article, and Articles 25, 25a, 26, 32 and 33 of this Law.
  • Holders of rights to broadcasts may not prevent other organizations and individuals from:

a/ Reproducing broadcasts only to exercise other rights in accordance with this Law; temporarily reproducing broadcasts according to a technological process or in the course of operation of equipment to transmit or broadcast broadcasts within a network among third parties through intermediaries, or lawfully utilizing broadcasts not for independent economic purposes, with copies automatically and irrestorably deleted;

b/ Subsequently distributing or importing for distribution fixed broadcasts which have been previously distributed by rights holders or by other parties permitted by rights holders.

Article 32. Exception cases in which related rights are not regarded as being infringed upon

  1. Cases of use of a published performance, phonogram, video recording or broadcast in which permission of authors and payment of royalties are not required but the provision of information on such performance, phonogram, video recording or broadcast is required:

a/ Live audio recording or video recording of part of the performance for the teaching purpose not for commercial purposes or for current event reporting;

b/ Reproduction or assistance for people with  disabilities to reproduce part of the performance, phonogram, video recording or broadcast for personal scientific research or learning purpose and not for commercial purposes;

c/ Reasonable reproduction of part of the performance, phonogram, video recording or broadcast for personal teaching and not for commercial purposes, unless such performance, phonogram, video recording or broadcast has been published for the teaching purpose;

d/ Reasonable recitation of the performance, phonogram, video recording or broadcast for the current event reporting purpose;

dd/ Temporary duplication by the broadcasting organization for the broadcasting purpose  when enjoying the broadcasting right.

  • The use of performances, phonograms, video recordings and broadcasts specified in Clause 1 of this Article must neither be contradictory to the normal exploitation of such performances, phonograms, video recordings and broadcasts nor unreasonably cause prejudice to lawful interests of performers, phonogram or video recording producers and broadcasting organizations.
  • The Government shall detail this Article. Article 33. Limitations on related rights
  • Cases of use of published phonograms or video recordings in which permission of authors is not required or but the payment of royalties and provision of information on such phonograms or video recordings is required:

a/ Organizations or individuals that use published phonograms or video recordings for commercial purposes for making their broadcasts which are sponsored, advertised or charged in whatever form are not required to obtain permission of but have to pay royalties to performers, producers of such phonograms or video recordings and broadcasting organizations since the commencement of the use. Royalty levels and payment methods shall be agreed upon by the parties; in case no agreement can be reached, the parties shall comply with regulations of the Government.

Organizations or individuals that use published phonograms or video recordings for commercial purposes for making their broadcasts which are not sponsored, advertised or charged in whatever form are not required to obtain permission of but have to pay royalties to performers, producers of such phonograms or video recordings and broadcasting organizations since the commencement of the use under regulations of the Government;

b/ Organizations and individuals that use published phonograms or video recordings for commercial purposes in their business and commercial activities are not required to obtain permission of but have to pay royalties to performers, producers of such phonograms or video recordings and broadcasting organizations as agreed upon since the commencement of the use; in case no agreement can be reached, they shall comply with regulations of the Government. The Government shall provide in detail business and commercial activities mentioned at this Point.

  • The use of phonograms or video recordings specified in Clause 1 of this Article must neither be contradictory to the normal exploitation of performances, phonograms, video recordings or broadcasts

nor unreasonably cause prejudice to lawful interests of performers, producers of phonograms or video recordings and broadcasting organizations.

  • Organizations and individuals that wish to exploit or use published phonograms and video recordings of Vietnamese organizations and individuals but cannot find or identify related rights holders shall comply with regulations of the Government.”.

10. To amend and supplement Article 35 as follows:

Article 35. Acts of infringing upon related rights

  1. Infringing upon the rights of performers specified in Article 29 of this Law.
  • Infringing upon the rights of producers of phonograms and video recordings specified in Article 30 of this Law.
  • Infringing upon the rights of broadcasting organizations specified in Article 31 of this Law.
  • Failing to perform or improperly performing the obligations specified in Articles 32 and 33 of this Law.
  • Intentionally canceling or deactivating effective technological measures taken by related rights holders to protect their rights for the purpose of performing the acts specified in this Article and Article 28 of this Law.
  • Manufacturing, distributing, importing, offering for sale, selling, promoting, advertising, marketing, leasing or stockpiling for commercial purposes equipment, products or components, introducing or providing services when knowing or having grounds to know that such equipment, products, components or services are manufactured or used to deactivate effective technological measures for protection of related rights.
  • Intentionally deleting, removing or modifying rights management information without permission of related rights holders when knowing or having grounds to know that the performance of such acts will instigate, enable, facilitate or conceal acts of infringing upon related rights in accordance with law.
  • Intentionally distributing, importing for distribution, broadcasting, communicating or providing to the public fixed performances or copies thereof or phonograms, video recordings or broadcasts when knowing or having grounds to know that rights management information has been deleted, removed or modified without permission of related rights holders; when knowing or having grounds to know that the performance of such acts will instigate, enable, facilitate or conceal acts of infringing upon copyright in accordance with law.
  • Manufacturing, assembling, modifying, distributing, importing, exporting, offering for sale, selling or leasing equipment and systems when knowing or having grounds to know that such equipment and systems are used to or mainly help illegally decrypt encrypted program-carrying satellite signals.
  1. Intentionally receiving or continuing to distribute encrypted program-carrying satellite signals when such signals have been decrypted without permission of legal distributors.
  1. Failing to implement or improperly implementing regulations for being exempted from legal liability of intermediary service providers specified in Clause 3, Article 198b of this Law.”.

11.    To amend and supplement Article 36 as follows:

“Article 36. Copyright holders

Copyright holders mean  organizations and individuals that hold one, several or all of the rights specified in Clause 3, Article 19 and Clause 1, Article 20 of this Law.”.

12.    To amend and supplement Articles 41, 42, 43 and 44 and add Article 44a below Article 44 in Chapter III of Part Two as follows:

Article 41. Copyright holders being rights assignees

  1. Organizations and individuals that are assigned one, several or all of the rights specified in Clause 3, Article 19 and Clause 1, Article 20 of this Law as agreed upon in contracts are copyright holders.
  • Organizations and individuals that currently manage or acquire rights to anonymous works may enjoy rights of holders until names of authors and co-authors are identified. When names of authors and co-authors are identified, holders of copyright to such works, and rights and obligations related to copyright of the organizations and individuals that currently manage or acquire rights shall be determined in accordance with this Law and other relevant laws.

Article 42. Copyright holders or related rights holders being the State

  1. The State shall act as the representative of holders of copyright or related rights to:

a/ Works, performances, phonograms, video recordings and broadcasts that are created under orders placed, tasks assigned or bids tendered by the state budget-using agencies;

b/ Works, performances, phonograms, video recordings and broadcasts with copyright or related rights assigned by copyright holders, related rights holders, copyright co-holders or related rights co-holders to the State;

c/ Works, performances, phonograms, video recordings and broadcasts with their terms of protection having not yet expired of which copyright holders, related rights holders, copyright co-holders or related rights co-holders die in default of heirs, or the heirs renounce succession or are deprived of the right to succession.

  • The State shall act as the representative for management of copyright or related rights to:

a/ Works, performances, phonograms, video recordings and broadcasts for which it is impossible to find or identify copyright holders, related rights holders, copyright co-holders or related rights co- holders in accordance with law;

b/ Anonymous works until names of their authors, co-authors, copyright holders or copyright co-holders are identified, except the case specified in Clause 2, Article 41 of this Law.

  • Agencies using state budget funds to place orders, assign tasks or organize bidding for creation of works, performances, phonograms, video recordings and broadcasts shall act as the State’s representatives to exercise rights of copyright holders or related rights holders in the case specified at Point a, Clause 1 of this Article.

The state management agency in charge of copyright and related rights shall act as the State’s representative to exercise rights of copyright holders or related rights holders in the cases specified at Points b and c, Clause 1, and Clause 2, of this Article.

  • The Government shall detail Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article; and provide royalty levels and payment methods in the cases specified in Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article.

Article 43. Works, performances, phonograms, video recordings and broadcasts belonging to the public

  1. Works with their terms of protection having expired under Clause 2, Article 27 of this Law, and performances, phonograms, video recordings and broadcasts with their terms of protection having expired under Article 34 of this Law will belong to the public.
  • All organizations and individuals have the right to use the works, performances, phonograms, video recordings and broadcasts specified in Clause 1 of this Article but shall respect moral rights of authors and performers provided in this Law and other relevant laws.
  • The Government shall detail the use of works, performances, phonograms, video recordings and broadcasts belonging to the public.

Article 44. Related rights holders

  1. Related rights holders are provided as follows:

a/ Performers that use their time and invest their finance and physical-technical facilities for making performances will become holders of rights to their performances, unless otherwise agreed upon with related parties;

b/ Producers of phonograms and video recordings that use their time and invest their finance and physical-technical facilities for producing phonograms and video recordings will become holders of rights to such phonograms and video recordings, unless otherwise agreed upon with related parties;

c/ Broadcasting organizations will become holders of rights to their broadcasts, unless otherwise agreed upon with related parties.

  • Related rights holders being organizations that assign their attached units and individuals to make performances, phonograms, video recordings or broadcasts will become holders of the relevant rights specified in Clause 3, Article 29, Clause 1, Article 30, and Clause 1, Article 31, of this Law, unless otherwise agreed upon.
  • Related rights holders being organizations or individuals that enter into contracts with other organizations or individuals for making performances, phonograms, video recordings or broadcasts will become holders of the relevant rights specified in Clause 3, Article 29, Clause 1, Article 30, and Clause 1, Article 31, of this Law, unless otherwise agreed upon.
  • Organizations and individuals that inherit related rights in accordance with the law on inheritance will become holders of the relevant rights specified in Clause 3, Article 29, Clause 1, Article 30, and Clause 1, Article 31, of this Law.
  • Organizations and individuals that are assigned one, several or all of rights as agreed upon in contracts will become holders of one, several or all of the relevant rights specified in Clause 3, Article 29, Clause 1, Article 30, and Clause 1, Article 31, of this Law.

Article 44a. Principles of determination and division of royalties

  1. Copyright co-holders and related rights co-holders shall reach agreement on the division of royalties in proportion to their contributions to the creation of the whole work, performance, phonogram, video recording or broadcast and their capital contribution portions and in conformity with the form of exploitation or use.
  • Royalties division proportions when a phonogram or video recording is used under Clause 1, Article 26 and Clause 1, Article 33 of this Law shall be agreed upon by the copyright holder, performer and related rights holder of such phonogram or video recording; in case no agreement can be reached, they shall comply with regulations of the Government.
  • Royalties shall be determined according to the set brackets and levels depending on type, form, quality, quantity or frequency of exploitation or use of works; harmony of interests of creators, organizations and individuals exploiting or using and the public enjoying such works, and in conformity with socio-economic conditions at the time and locations of exploitation or use.”.

13. To amend and supplement Clauses 1 and 2, Article 47 as follows:

“1. Licensing of copyright and related rights means the permission by copyright holders or related rights holders for other organizations and individuals to use for a definite term one, several or all of the rights specified in Clauses 1 and 3, Article 19; Clause 1, Article 20; Clause 3, Article 29; Clause 1, Article 30; and Clause 1, Article 31, of this Law.

2. Authors may not license their moral rights specified in Clauses 2 and 4, Article 19 of this Law. Performers may not license their moral rights specified in Clause 2, Article 29 of this Law.”.

14. To amend and supplement Articles 49 and 50 as follows:

“Article 49. Registration of copyright, registration of related rights

  1. Registration of copyright or registration of related rights means the filing of dossiers by authors, copyright holders or related rights holders with a competent state agency for recording of information on authors, works, copyright holders and related rights holders.
  • The filing of dossiers of application for copyright registration certificates or related rights registration certificates is not a compulsory formality for enjoyment of copyright or related rights in accordance with this Law.
  • Organizations and individuals that are granted copyright registration certificates or related rights registration certificates are not obliged to bear the burden of proof of such copyright and related rights upon occurrence of disputes, unless rebutting proofs are adduced.
  • Organizations and individuals shall pay charges and fees when carrying out copyright registration or related rights registration procedures for grant, re-grant, renewal or invalidation of copyright registration certificates or related rights registration certificates.
  • The Government shall provide in detail conditions, order and procedures for grant of copyright registration certificates and related rights registration certificates.

Article 50. Dossiers for registration of copyright and related rights

  1. Authors, copyright holders and related rights holders may personally file or authorize other organizations or individuals to file dossiers for registration of copyright or related rights by hand- delivery, by post or via the Online Public Service Portal to the state management agency in charge of copyright and related rights.
  • A dossier for registration of copyright or related rights must comprise: a/ A written declaration for registration of copyright or related rights.

The written declaration must be made in Vietnamese and contain adequate information on the applicant, author, copyright holder or related rights holder; time of completion; summarized contents of the work, performance, phonogram, video recording or broadcast; names of the author and copyright holder, title of the work used to make the derivative work, in case the to-be-registered work is a derivative work; time, place and form of publication; information on certificate re-grant or renewal (if any), and the commitment on responsibility for information stated in the application. The declaration

must be signed or finger-printed by the author, copyright holder or related rights holder, unless he/she is physically unable to do so.

The Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism shall provide forms of written declarations for registration of copyright and registration of related rights;

b/ Two copies of the work subject to copyright registration, or two copies of the fixed object subject to related rights registration;

c/ A letter of authorization, in case the applicant is an authorized person;

d/ Documents proving that the applicant is the holder of the right to freedom of creation or acquires such right from creation task assignment, entry into a creation contract, inheritance, or assignment of rights;

dd/ The written consent of co-authors, for works of joint authorship;

e/ The written consent of co-holders, if the copyright or related rights is/are under joint ownership.

  • The documents specified at Point c, d, dd and e, Clause 2 of this Article must be made in Vietnamese. Documents in foreign languages must be translated into Vietnamese.”.

15.    To amend and supplement Article 52 as follows:

Article 52. Time limit for granting copyright registration certificates or related rights registration certificates

Within fifteen working days after receiving a valid dossier, the state management agency in charge of copyright and related rights shall grant a copyright registration certificate or related rights registration certificate to the applicant. In case of refusal to grant a copyright registration certificate or related rights registration certificate, the state management agency in charge of copyright and related rights shall notify such in writing to the applicant, clearly stating the reason.”.

16.    To amend and supplement Article 55 as follows:

Article 55. Re-grant, renewal and invalidation of copyright registration certificates and related rights registration certificates

  1. In case a copyright registration certificate or related rights registration certificate is lost or damaged, the competent state agency specified in Clause 2, Article 51 of this Law shall re-grant such certificate within seven working days after receiving a valid dossier. In case of request for change of the copyright holder or related rights holder; information on the work, author or copyright holder; or information on the subject matter of related rights or related rights holder, the competent state agency specified in Clause 2, Article 51 of this Law shall renew the copyright registration certificate or related rights registration certificate within twelve working days after receiving a valid dossier.

In case of refusal to re-grant or renew the copyright registration certificate or related rights registration certificate, the state management agency in charge of copyright and related rights shall notify such in writing to the applicant, clearly stating the reason.

  • In case the holder of a copyright registration certificate or related rights registration certificate is not the author, copyright holder or related rights holder, or the registered work, phonogram,  video recording or broadcast is ineligible for protection, the competent state agency specified in Clause 2, Article 51 of this Law shall invalidate such certificate.
  • In case an organization or individual detects that the grant of a copyright registration certificate or related right registration certificate is contrary to this Law, it/he/she may request the state management agency in charge of copyright and related rights to invalidate such certificate.
  • Within fifteen working days after receiving one of the following documents, the competent state agency shall issue a decision to invalidate a copyright registration certificate or related rights registration certificate:

a/ A legally effective court judgment or ruling or a decision of a state agency competent to handle acts infringing upon intellectual property rights as specified in Article 200 of this Law regarding invalidation of the copyright registration certificate or related rights registration certificate;

b/ A written request, made by the organization or individual that has been granted the copyright registration certificate or related rights registration certificate, for invalidation of such certificate.

5. The Government shall detail this Article.”.

17.    To amend and supplement the title of Chapter VI in Part Two as follows:

“Chapter VI

COPYRIGHT AND RELATED RIGHTS COLLECTIVE REPRESENTATION ORGANIZATIONS,

COPYRIGHT AND RELATED RIGHTS CONSULTANCY AND SERVICE ORGANIZATIONS”.

18.    To amend and supplement Article 56 as follows:

“Article 56. Copyright and related rights collective representation organizations

  1. Copyright and related rights collective representation organizations are voluntary, self-funded and not-for-profit organizations established under agreement among authors, copyright holders and related rights holders, operating in accordance with law for performance of mandate of copyright and related rights, and submitting to the state management by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of copyright and related rights collective representation activities.
  • Copyright and related rights collective representation organizations shall carry out the following activities as authorized in writing by authors, copyright holders and related rights holders:

a/ Performing the management of copyright and related rights; conducting negotiations for licensing, collection and division of royalties and other material benefits from the permitted exercise of authorized rights;

b/ Protecting lawful rights and interests of their members; organizing conciliations upon occurrence of disputes.

  • Copyright and related rights collective representation organizations have the following rights and obligations:

a/ To take responsibility for ensuring publicity and transparency of their management and administration activities to competent state agencies; the authorizing authors, copyright holders and related rights holders; and exploiting and using organizations and individuals;

b/ To draw up lists of the authorizing authors, copyright holders and related rights holders; works, performances, phonograms, video recordings and  broadcasts currently under their management; scope of authorization; validity of authorization contracts; and plans on and results of the collection and division of royalties;

c/ To formulate and submit royalty levels and payment methods to the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism for approval. The Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism shall approve royalty levels and payment methods on the basis of the principles specified in Clause 3, Article 44a of this Law;

d/ To collect and divide royalties in accordance with their charters and letters of authorization of authors, copyright holders and related rights holders containing agreements on division levels or percentages, methods and time of division, ensuring publicity and transparency in accordance with law.

The collection and division of royalties from foreign counterpart organizations or international organizations must comply with the law on foreign exchange management;

dd/ To retain part of total collected royalties to pay for the performance of their tasks on the basis of agreements of the authorizing authors, copyright holders and related rights holders. The royalty retention level shall be adjusted on the basis of agreements of the authorizing authors, copyright holders and related rights holders and may be determined in percentage of total collected royalties;

e/ To divide royalties collected from the licensing of exploitation or use to authors, copyright holders and related rights holders after subtracting the expenses specified at Point dd of this Clause;

g/ To make annual reports and extraordinary reports on their collective representation activities to competent state agencies; to submit to the examination and inspection by competent state agencies;

h/ To carry out activities in support of culture development of, promotion of creation and other social activities;

i/ To enter into cooperation and conclude agreements on reciprocal representation in the protection of copyright and related rights with counterpart bodies of international organizations and of other countries;

k/ To set up their organizational structure and apparatus, ensuring that the authorizing authors, copyright holders and related rights holders have the right to act as self-nominated candidates of or be elected as holders of their leading, managerial and control titles.

  • In case a work, phonogram, video recording or broadcast is related to rights and interests of more than one copyright and related rights collective representation organization authorized to manage it, such organizations may reach agreement to let one among them to represent them in conducting negotiations for use licensing, collection and division of royalties in accordance with their charters and letters of authorization.
  • In case copyright and related rights collective representation organizations cannot find or contact the authorizing authors, co-authors, copyright holders, related rights holders, copyright co-holders  or related rights co-holders after five years’ search in order to divide the collected royalties, they shall hand over such royalties to the competent state agency for management after subtracting management and search expenses in accordance with this Law and other relevant laws.

After receiving the royalties, the competent state agency shall continue making notices of search for subsequent five years. Upon the expiration of this time limit, if the competent state agency is still unable to find or contact the authors, co-authors, copyright holders, related rights holders, copyright co- holders, related rights co-holders and persons with related rights and obligations as specified by law, such royalties shall be used for the promotion of creation, public communication and intensified protection of copyright and related rights. Within the above time limit, when the authors, co-authors, copyright holders, related rights holders, copyright co-holders, related rights co-holders and persons with related rights and obligations as specified by law are found or successfully contacted, such royalties shall, after subtracting management and search expenses, be paid to those persons in accordance with law.

  • The Government shall detail this Article.”.

19.    To amend and supplement Clause 1, Article 60 as follows:

“1. An invention shall be considered novel if it does not fall into one of the following cases:

a/ Being publicly disclosed through use or by means of a written description or any other form, inside or outside the country, before the filing date or priority date, as applicable, of the invention registration application.

b/ Being disclosed in another invention registration application with an earlier filing date or priority date but published on or after the filing date or priority date of such application.”.

20.    To amend and supplement Clause 1, Article 72 as follows:

“1. Being a visible sign in the form of letters, words, drawings, images, holograms, or a combination

thereof, represented in one or more than one color or audiographic symbol;”.

21.    To amend and supplement a number of clauses of Article 73 as follows:

a/ To amend and supplement Clause 1 as follows:

“1. Signs identical with or confusingly similar to national flags, national emblems and national anthems of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and other countries, and the International (L’Internationale);”;

b/ To add Clauses 6 and 7 below Clause 5, Article 73 as follows:

“6. Signs that are original shapes of goods or that come into compulsory existence due to technical properties of goods;

7. Signs containing copies of works, unless it is permitted by owners of such works.”

22.    To amend and supplement a number of points of Clause 2, Article 74 as follows:

a/ To amend and supplement Points a, b and c as follows:

“a/ Simple shapes and geometric figures, numerals, letters or scripts of uncommon languages, unless

such signs are widely used and recognized as a mark before the filing date;

b/ Conventional signs or symbols, pictures or common names in any language of goods or services, common shapes of goods or part thereof, common shapes of goods packages or containers that are regularly used and widely recognized before the filing date;

c/ Signs indicating the time, place and method of manufacturing, category, quantity, quality, properties, ingredients, intended utility, value or other characteristics, which are descriptive of goods or services, or signs making goods considerably more valuable, unless such signs become distinctive through use before the filing date;”;

b/ To amend and supplement Points dd and e as follows:

“dd/ Signs indicating the geographical origin of goods or services, unless such signs are widely used and recognized as a mark before the filing date or have been registered as collective marks or certification marks in accordance with this Law;

e/ Signs identical with or confusingly similar to marks of other organizations and individuals protected for identical or similar goods or services on the basis of registration applications with earlier filing dates

or priority dates, as applicable, including mark registration applications filed under treaties to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a contracting party, unless the validity of the registration of such marks is terminated under Point d, Clause 1, Article 95 or the registration of such marks is invalidated under Article 96 according to the procedures specified at Point b, Clause 3, Article 117 of this Law;”;

c/ To amend and supplement Points h and i as follows:

“h/ Signs identical with or confusingly similar to marks of other organizations and individuals protected for identical or similar goods or services, the validity of registration certificates of which has been terminated for no more than 03 (three) years, unless the validity of registration of such marks is terminated under Point d, Clause 1, Article 95 according to the procedures specified at Point b, Clause 3, Article 117 of this Law;

i/ Signs identical with or confusingly similar to others’ marks recognized as well-known marks before the filing date for registration applications of goods or services which are identical with or similar to those bearing well-known marks, or for registration applications of dissimilar goods or services, if the use of such marks is likely to affect the distinctiveness of the well-known marks or the mark registration is aimed at taking advantage of the reputation of the well-known marks;”;

d/ To amend and supplement Point n and add Points o and p below Point n as follows:

“n/ Signs identical with or insignificantly different from others’ industrial designs which have been or are being protected on the basis of industrial design registration applications with filing dates or priority dates earlier than those of the mark registration applications;

o/ Signs identical with or confusingly similar to names of plant varieties which have been or are being protected in Vietnam if such signs are registered for plant varieties of the same species or similar species or products harvested from plant varieties;

p/ Signs identical with or confusingly similar to names or images of characters or figures in works within the scope of others’ copyright protection and widely known to the public before the filing date, unless it is permitted by owners of such works.”.

23.    To amend and supplement the first paragraph of Article 75 as follows:

“Criteria for the consideration and evaluation of a mark as a well-known mark shall be chosen from

several or all of the following criteria:”.

24.    To amend and supplement Article 79 as follows:

“Article 79. General conditions for geographical indications eligible for protection

  1. A geographical indication will be eligible for protection if it satisfies the following conditions:

a/ The product bearing the geographical indication geographically originates from the area, locality, territory or country corresponding to such geographical indication;

b/ The product bearing the geographical indication has a reputation, quality or characteristics mainly attributable to geographical conditions of the area, locality, territory or country corresponding to such geographical indication.

  • Homophonic geographical indications satisfying the conditions specified in Clause 1 of this Article will be eligible for protection if they are used in practice in a manner not leading to consumers’ confusion as to geographical origin of products bearing such geographical indications and adhering to the principle of fair treatment among organizations and individuals manufacturing products bearing such geographical indications.”.

25. To amend and supplement Article 86 and add Article 86a below Article 86 as follows:

“Article 86. Right to register inventions, industrial designs and layout-designs

  1. The following organizations and individuals have the right to register inventions, industrial designs and layout-designs:

a/ Authors who have created inventions, industrial designs or layout-designs with their own efforts and expenses;

b/ Organizations and individuals that have provided funds and material facilities to authors in the form of job assignment or hiring, and organizations and individuals assigned to manage genetic resources that have provided genetic resources or traditional knowledge about genetic resources under contracts on access to genetic resources and sharing of benefits, unless otherwise agreed upon by the parties or except the cases specified in Article 86a of this Law.

  • In case more than one organization or individual have jointly created or invested in the creation of an invention, industrial design or a layout-design, such organizations and individuals all have the registration right, which may only be exercised with their consensus.
  • Organizations and individuals that have the registration right provided in this Article may assign that right to other organizations and individuals in the form of written contract, bequeathal or inheritance in accordance with law, even in case registration applications have been filed.

Article 86a. Right to register inventions, industrial designs and layout-designs being outcomes of the state budget-funded science and technology tasks

  1. For inventions, industrial designs and layout-designs being outcomes of science and technology tasks wholly funded by the state budget, the right to register them shall be given to organizations in charge of such tasks in an automatic and non-refundable manner, except the cases specified in Clause 3 of this Article.
  • For inventions, industrial designs and layout-designs being outcomes of science and technology tasks funded by the state budget as part of various funding sources, the portion of the right to register them in proportion to the amount of state budget funds shall be given to organizations in charge of such tasks in an automatic and non-refundable manner, except the cases specified in Clause 3 of this Article.
  • The right to register inventions, industrial designs and layout-designs being outcomes of science and technology tasks in the field of national defense and security is provided as follows:

a/ In case such science and technology tasks are wholly funded by the state budget, the right to register inventions, industrial designs and layout-designs belongs to the State;

b/ In case such science and technology tasks are funded by the state budget as part of various funding sources, the portion of the right to register inventions, industrial designs and layout-designs in proportion to the amount of state budget funds belongs to the State.

c/ The state owner’s representative shall exercise the registration right provided at Points a and b of this Clause.

4. The Government shall detail this Article.”.

26. To amend and supplement Article 88 as follows:

“Article 88. Right to register geographical indications

  1. The right to register Vietnamese geographical indications belongs to the State. The State allows organizations and individuals manufacturing products bearing geographical indications, collective organizations representing such organizations and individuals or administrative management agencies of localities to which such geographical indications pertain to exercise the right to register geographical indications. Organizations and individuals that exercise the right to register geographical indications will not become owners of such geographical indications.
  • Foreign organizations and individuals that are holders of rights to geographical indications in accordance with laws of countries of origin have the right to register such geographical indications in Vietnam.”.

27. To add Article 89a below Article 89 as follows:

“Article 89a. Security control of inventions before overseas filing of registration applications

1. For inventions in technical fields that are likely to impact national defense and security, have been created in Vietnam and fall under the registration right of individuals who are Vietnamese citizens and permanently reside in Vietnam or of organizations established in accordance with Vietnam’s law, registration applications may only be filed overseas after they are filed in Vietnam for the performance of security control procedures.

2. The Government shall detail Clause 1 of this Article.”.

28.    To amend and supplement Clause 2, Article 92 as follows:

“2. Protection titles of geographical indications must record organizations managing such geographical indications, protected geographical indications, particular characteristics of products bearing such geographical indications, and particular characteristics in terms of geographical conditions and geographical areas bearing such geographical indications.”.

29.    To add Clauses 8 and 9 below Clause 7, Article 93 as follows:

“8. An international registration of a mark under the Madrid Protocol and Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks which designates Vietnam shall become effective from the date the state management agency in charge of industrial property rights issues a decision on acceptance of protection of the mark in such international registration or from the date following the date of expiration of the time limit of twelve months after the International Office issues a notice of international registration of such mark which designates Vietnam, whichever comes first. The validity duration of international registrations of marks shall be counted in accordance with the Madrid Protocol and Madrid Agreement.

9. An international registration of a mark under the Hague Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Industrial Designs which designates Vietnam shall become effective from the date the state management agency in charge of industrial property rights issues a decision on acceptance of protection of the industrial design in such international registration or from the date following the date of expiration of the time limit of six months after the International Office announces the international registration of such industrial design, whichever comes first. The validity duration of international registrations of industrial designs shall be counted in accordance with the Hague Agreement.”.

30. To amend and supplement Articles 95 and 96 as follows:

“Article 95. Termination of validity of protection titles

  1. The validity of a protection title shall be wholly or partially terminated in the following cases:

a/ The protection title holder fails to pay the validity maintenance or prolongation charge or fee under regulations;

b/ The protection title holder declares to relinquish the industrial property rights;

c/ The protection title holder no longer exists or the holder of a mark registration certificate is no longer engaged in business activities without any lawful heir;

d/ The mark has not been used by its owner or his/her licensee without justifiable reasons for five consecutive years prior to the date a request for validity termination is made, unless the use is commenced or resumed at least three months before the request for termination is made;

dd/ The holder of a mark registration certificate, for collective marks, fails to control or ineffectively controls the implementation of the regulation on use of collective marks;

e/ The holder of a mark registration certificate, for certification marks, violates the regulation on use of certification marks or fails to control or ineffectively controls the implementation of such regulation;

g/ The geographical conditions decisive to reputation, quality or properties of products bearing a geographical indication have changed, resulting in the loss of reputation, quality or properties of such products;

h/ The use of the mark protected for goods or services by the mark owner or a person permitted by the mark owner leads to consumers’ misunderstanding about the nature, quality or geographical origin of such goods or services;

i/ The protected mark has become a common name of goods or services registered for such mark; k/ The foreign geographical indication is no longer protected in the country of origin.

  • In case the holder  of an invention patent or  a utility  solution patent fails to pay  the validity maintenance charge or fee within the law-specified time limit, the validity of the protection title shall, upon the expiration of such time limit, automatically terminate from the first day of the first valid year for which the validity maintenance charge or fee has not been paid.

In case the holder of a mark protection title or an industrial design protection title fails to pay the validity prolongation charge or fee within the law-specified time limit, the validity of such protection title shall, upon the expiration of such time limit, automatically terminate from the first day of the subsequent valid period for which the validity prolongation charge or fee has not been paid.

The state management agency in charge of industrial property rights shall record the termination of validity of protection titles in the National Register of Industrial Property and publish it in the Official Gazette of Industrial Property.

  • In case the holder of a protection title declares to relinquish industrial property rights provided at Point b, Clause 1 of this Article, the state management agency in charge of industrial property rights shall consider and decide to terminate the validity of such protection title.
  • Organizations and individuals may request the state management agency in charge of industrial property rights to terminate the validity of protection titles in the cases specified at Points c, d, dd, e, g, h, i and k, Clause 1 of this Article, provided that they have paid charges and fees.
  • Based on results of the examination of written requests for termination of validity of protection titles in the cases specified in Clauses 3 and 4 of this Article and opinions of related parties, the state management agency in charge of industrial property rights shall notify its refusal to terminate the validity of protection titles or shall decide to wholly or partially terminate the validity of protection titles.
  • For the cases specified at Points c, d, dd, e, g, h and i, Clause 1 of this Article, the validity of protection titles shall be terminated from the date the state management agency in charge of industrial property rights issues decisions on termination of validity of such protection titles.

For the case specified at Point k, Clause 1 of this Article, the validity of protection titles shall be terminated from the date geographical indications are no longer protected in countries of origin.

In case the state management agency in charge of industrial property rights issues a decision on termination of validity of a protection title under Clause 3 of this Article, the validity of such protection title shall be terminated from the date the state management agency in charge of industrial property rights receives a written declaration of the protection title holder.

  • The provisions of Clauses 1 thru 6 of this Article shall also apply to the termination of validity of international registrations of marks and industrial designs.

Article 96. Invalidation of protection titles

  1. A protection title shall be wholly invalidated in the following cases: a/ The mark registration applicant has bad intentions;

b/ The invention registration application is filed in contravention of regulations on security control, for the inventions specified in Article 89a of this Law;

c/ The invention registration application is made for the invention directly created based on genetic resources or traditional knowledge of genetic resources but does not disclose or inaccurately discloses the origin of the genetic resources or traditional knowledge of genetic resources stated in the application.

  • A protection title shall be wholly or partly invalidated if the whole or part of such protection title fails to comply with this Law’s provisions on the right to register, conditions for protection, modification and supplementation of registration application, disclosure of invention, and the first-to-file principle in the following cases:

a/ The registration applicant has neither had nor been assigned the right to register inventions, industrial designs, layout-designs or marks;

b/ The subject matter of industrial property does not satisfy the conditions for protection specified in Article 8 and Chapter VII of this Law;

c/ The modification or supplementation of the industrial property registration application results in expansion of the scope of the subject matter disclosed or stated in the application or results in change of the nature of the subject matter subject to registration stated in the application;

d/ The invention is not fully and clearly disclosed to the extent that it may be realized by a person with average knowledge in the relevant art;

dd/ The invention is granted the protection title beyond the scope of disclosure in the initial description of the invention registration application;

e/ The invention does not adhere to the first-to-file principle specified in Article 90 of this Law.

  • For a protection title that is wholly or partly invalidated under Clause 1 or 2 of this Article, the wholly or partly invalidated contents do not become effective from the time of grant of the title.
  • Organizations and individuals may request the state management agency in charge of industrial property rights to invalidate protection titles in the cases specified in Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article, provided that they have to pay charges and fees.

The statute of limitations for exercising the right to request invalidation of a protection title is its whole term of protection, except cases of request for invalidation of protection titles for marks for the reason specified in Clause 2 of this Article, in which such statute of limitations is five years from the date of grant of the protection titles or from the date international registrations of marks take effect in Vietnam.

  • Based on results of the examination of the request for invalidation of a protection title and involved parties’ opinions, the state management agency in charge of industrial property rights shall decide on invalidation of the protection title or notify the refusal to invalidate it.
  • The provisions of Clauses 1 thru 5 of this Article also apply to the invalidation of international registrations of marks and industrial designs.

7. The Minister of Science and Technology shall detail Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article.”.

31. To amend and supplement Clauses 1 and 2, Article 97 as follows:

“1. The owner of a protection title or an organization or individual exercising the right to register geographical indications under Article 88 of this Law may request the state management agency in charge of industrial property rights to make modifications to the following information in such protection title, provided that it/he/she has to pay charges and fees:

a/ Modifications or error corrections in relation to the name and citizenship of the author or name and address of the protection title owner or the organization managing geographical indications;

b/ Modifications to the description of particular characteristics or quality or geographical areas bearing geographical indications; modifications to the regulation on use of collective marks or the regulation on use of certification marks.

2. At the request of the owner of a protection title or an organization or individual exercising the right to register geographical indications, the state management agency in charge of industrial property rights shall correct errors caused by its fault in such protection title. In this case, the protection title owner or organization or individual exercising the right to register geographical indications is not required to pay charges and fees.”.

32.    To add Point dd1 below Point dd, Clause 1, Article 100 as follows:

“dd1/ Documents on the origin of genetic resources or traditional knowledge of genetic resources in the invention registration application, for inventions directly created based on genetic resources or traditional knowledge of genetic resources;”.

33.    To amend and supplement Article 103 as follows:

“Article 103. Requirements for industrial design registration applications

  1. Documents identifying an industrial design registered for protection in an industrial design registration application include a set of photos or drawings and a description of the industrial design shown in the set of photos or drawings.
  • The set of photos or drawings of an industrial design must fully display features of the industrial design registered for protection to the extent that a person with average knowledge in the relevant art may, based on such features, identify that industrial design.
  • The description of an industrial design displayed in the set of photos or drawings must ordinally enumerate such photos or drawings and features of the industrial design.”.

34.    To amend and supplement Clause 2, Article 105 as follows:

“2. The sample of a mark must be described in order to clarify constituents of the mark and the comprehensive meaning of the mark (if any); if the mark consists of words or phrases of hieroglyphic languages, such words or phrases must be transcribed; if the mark consists of words or phrases in languages other than Vietnamese, such words or phrases must be translated into Vietnamese; if the mark consists of sounds, the sample of the mark must be a tape of sounds and a graphic version of such sounds.”.

35.    To add Point e below Point dd, Clause 1, Article 106 as follows:

“e/  Documents  explaining  use  conditions  and  format  of  geographical  indications  to  ensure  the

distinguishability of different geographical indications, for homonymous geographical indications.”.

36.    To add Clause 3 below Clause 2, Article 108 as follows:

“3. Registration applications for classified inventions must comply with regulations of the Government.”.

37.    To amend and supplement Point dd, and add Point e below Point dd, Clause 2, Article 109 as follows:

“dd/ The applicant fails to fully pay charges and fees under regulations;

e/ The invention registration application is filed in contravention of regulations on security control, for

inventions specified in Article 89a of this Law.”.

38.    To amend and supplement the title and a number of clauses of Article 110 as follows:

a/ To amend and supplement the title of Article 110 as follows:

“Article 110. Publicization of mark registration applications, publication of industrial property registration

applications”;

b/ To add Clause 1a before Clause 1 as follows:

“1a. Mark registration applications not yet accepted as valid by the state management agency in

charge of industrial property rights shall be publicized right after being received.”;

c/ To amend and supplement Clause 3 as follows:

“3. An industrial design registration application, a mark registration application or a geographical indication registration application shall be published within two months from the date it is accepted as valid. An industrial design registration application may be published later as requested by the applicant at the filing time, which must not exceed seven months from the filing date.”.

39.    To amend and supplement Article 112 and add Article 112a below Article 112 as follows:

“Article 112. Third party’s opinions on grant of protection titles

From the date an industrial property registration application is published in the Official Gazette of Industrial Property to the date prior to the date of issuance of a decision on grant of a protection title, any third party may express opinions to the state management agency in charge of industrial property rights on the grant or refusal to grant a protection title in respect of such application. Such opinions

shall be recorded in writing with supporting documents or must quote the source of information as proof.

The document stating the third party’s opinions shall be regarded as a source of reference information for the course of processing industrial property registration applications.

Article 112a. Objections/Opposition to industrial property registration applications

  1. Before the date of issuance of a decision on grant of a protection title, any third party may make objections to the grant of the protection title within:

a/ Nine months from the date the invention registration application is published;

b/ Four months from the date the industrial design registration application is published; c/ Five months from the date the mark registration application is published; or,

d/ Three months from the date the geographical indication registration application is published.

  • The objections specified in Clause 1 of this Article shall be recorded in writing or must quote the source of information as proof and subject to charge and fee.
  • The state management agency in charge of industrial property rights shall handle the objections specified in Clause 2 of this Article according to the order and procedures provided by the Minister of Science and Technology.”.

40. To add Clauses 3 and 4 below Clause 2, Article 114 as follows:

“3. The state management agency in charge of industrial property rights may use results of the substantive examination of registration applications for inventions that are identical to the inventions registered for protection, which is carried out by a foreign patent office in the course of evaluating their protectability.

4. The Minister of Science and Technology shall provide in detail the use of results of the substantive examination of invention registration applications mentioned in Clause 3 of this Article.”.

41.    To amend and supplement Clause 2, Article 116 as follows:

“2. As from the time the applicant declares the withdrawal of the application, all subsequent procedures

related to such application shall be terminated.”.

42.    To amend and supplement a number of clauses of Article 117 as follows:

a/ To amend and supplement Clause 1 and add Clause 1a below Clause 1 as follows:

“1. The grant of a protection title for an invention, an industrial design, a mark or a geographical indication registration application is refused in the following cases:

a/ There are grounds to believe that the subject matter stated in the application does not fully satisfy the conditions for protection;

b/ There are grounds to believe that the applicant does not have the right to register subject matters of industrial property or registers the mark with bad intentions;

c/ The application satisfies the conditions for the grant of a protection title but is not the one with priority date or first-to-file date falling into the case specified in Clauses 1 and 2, Article 90 of this Law;

d/ The application falls into a case specified in Clause 3, Article 90 of this Law but fails to get the consensus of all applicants;

dd/ The modification or supplementation of the application results in expansion of the scope of the subject matter disclosed or stated in such application or results in the change of the nature of the subject matter subject to registration stated in the application.

1a. In addition to the cases specified in Clause 1 of this Article, the grant of a protection title for an invention registration application shall be refused in the following cases:

a/ The invention registered for protection falls beyond the scope of disclosure stated in the initial description of the application;

b/ The invention is not fully and clearly disclosed in the invention description to the extent that it may be realized by a person with average knowledge in the relevant art;

c/ For the invention directly created based on genetic resources or traditional knowledge of genetic resources, the application does not disclose or inaccurately discloses the origin of the genetic resources or traditional knowledge of genetic resources;

d/ The application is filed in contravention of regulations on security control, for the inventions specified

in Article 89a of this Law.”;

b/ To amend and supplement Clause 3 as follows:

“3. For an industrial property registration application falling into the cases specified in Clause 1, 1a or 2 of this Article, the state management agency in charge of industrial property rights shall carry out the following procedures:

a/ Notifying results of the substantive examination, clearly stating the intended refusal to grant a protection title, reason for refusal, and time limit for the applicant to make an objection to such intended refusal;

b/ Suspending the application examination process in case the applicant files a request for such suspension and requests termination of validity or invalidation of the mark registration certificate in the exclusion cases specified at Points e and h, Clause 2, Article 74 of this Law. Based on results of the settlement of the request for termination of validity or invalidation of the mark registration certificate, the state management agency in charge of industrial property rights shall proceed with the application examination;

c/ Suspending the process of application examination in case of receiving a copy of the competent court’s notice of acceptance of the case that the third party initiates a lawsuit concerning the right to register subject matters of industrial property or the mark is registered with bad intentions. Based on the court’s settlement results, the state management agency in charge of industrial property rights shall proceed with the application examination;

d/ Deciding to refuse to grant a protection title if the applicant makes no objection or makes an unjustifiable objection to the intended refusal specified at Point a of this Clause.”.

43.    To amend and supplement Article 118 as follows:

“Article 118. Grant of protection titles, entry into the register

  1. If an industrial property registration application does not fall into the cases of refusal to grant protection titles specified in Clauses 1, 1a and 2, and at Point d, Clause 3, Article 117 of this Law, or

the applicant makes an justifiable objection to the intended refusal specified at Point a, Clause 3, Article 117 of this Law, the state management agency in charge of industrial property rights shall:

a/ Notify results of the substantive examination, clearly stating the intention to grant a protection title for the whole or part of the application that satisfies the conditions for protection, and set the time limit for the applicant to pay relevant charges and fees or make objections to results of the substantive examination;

b/ Decide to grant a protection title and make an entry into the National Register of Industrial Property if the applicant has paid relevant charges and fees.

  • If there is an objection to results of the substantive examination, the industrial property registration application in question shall be re-examined in terms of matters subject to the objection.”.

44. To add Article 119a below Article 119 in Section 3, Chapter VIII as follows:

“Article 119a. Filing and settlement of complaints about industrial property-related procedures

  1. Applicants and organizations and individuals with rights and interests directly related to decisions or notices concerning the processing of registration applications for establishment of rights, maintenance, extension, modification, termination of validity or invalidation of industrial property protection titles, or registration of contracts on licensing of industrial property rights, issued by the state management agency in charge of industrial property rights, may file complaints to the state management agency in charge of industrial property rights and initiate lawsuits at court in accordance with this Law and other relevant laws.
  • Vietnamese organizations and individuals, foreigners permanently residing in Vietnam, and foreign organizations and individuals having their production and business establishments in Vietnam shall file their appeals directly or through their lawful representatives in Vietnam. Foreigners not permanently residing in Vietnam and foreign organizations and individuals having no production and business establishments in Vietnam shall file their appeals through their lawful representatives in Vietnam.
  • Complaint contents must be expressed in an appeal, which must clearly state the full name and address of the complainant; serial number, date of signing, and content of the decision on or notice of the complaint; complaint contents, arguments and proofs of the complaint; and specific request for modification or cancellation of the relevant decision or notice. The appeal shall be filed in the paper form or electronic form via the online filing system.
  • For a complaint related to the registration right or other contents subject to re-examination, the complainant shall pay charge for the re-examination.
  • The time limit for complaint settlement must comply with the law on complaints. In case the state management agency in charge of industrial property rights carries out re-examination for the cases specified in Clause 4 of this Article or the complainant modifies or supplements the complaint dossier, the time of re-examination and time of dossier modification or supplementation shall not be counted into the time limit for complaint settlement in accordance with the law on complaints.

The time limit for re-examination must comply with Clause 3, Article 119 of this Law.

  • The filing and settlement of complaints not mentioned in this Article must comply with the law on

complaints.”.

45.    To amend and supplement a number of clauses of Article 121 as follows:

a/ To amend and supplement Clause 1 as follows:

“1. Owners of inventions or layout-designs mean organizations or individuals that are granted by the competent agency protection titles for respective subject matters of industrial property.

Owners of industrial designs mean organizations or individuals that are granted by the competent agency protection titles for such industrial designs or have internationally registered industrial designs recognized by the competent agency.

Owners of marks mean organizations or individuals that are granted by the competent agency protection titles for such marks or have internationally registered marks recognized by the competent agency or have well-known marks.”;

b/ To amend and supplement Clause 4 as follows:

“4. The owner of Vietnam’s geographical indications is the State.

The State shall grant the right to use geographical indications to organizations or individuals that produce products bearing such geographical indications in relevant localities and put such products on the market. The State shall directly exercise the right to manage geographical indications or grant that right to organizations representing interests of all organizations or individuals granted the right to use geographical indications.

The Government shall provide in detail the exercise of the right to manage geographical indications.”.

46.    To amend and supplement Clause 2, Article 123 as follows:

“2. Organizations and individuals that are granted the right to use or organizations that are granted the right to manage geographical indications under Clause 4, Article 121 of this Law or in accordance with law of the country of origin of geographical indications have the right to prohibit others from using such geographical indications under Point b, Clause 1 of this Article.”.

47.    To amend and supplement Point b, Clause 5, Article 124 as follows:

“b/ Selling, offering for sale, advertising for sale, displaying for sale, stockpiling for sale, or transporting

goods bearing protected marks;”.

48.    To amend and supplement Point b, Clause 2, Article 125 as follows:

“b/ Circulating, importing or utilizing products that have been put on the market, including also overseas markets, by owners, use rights licensees, even licensing of use rights under compulsory decisions, and persons having the use rights to subject matters of industrial property in accordance with this Law;”.

49.    To amend and supplement Article 128 as follows:

“Article 128. Obligation to protect test data

  1. In case the law requires applicants for licenses for circulation of pharmaceuticals or agro-chemical products to supply test results or any other data being trade secrets obtained from investment of considerable efforts, and applicants request such data to be kept secret, the competent licensing agency shall apply necessary measures so that such data will neither be used for unhealthy commercial purposes nor disclosed, unless the disclosure is necessary to protect the public.
  • For pharmaceuticals, from the date the secret data in an application are submitted to the competent agency mentioned in Clause 1 of this Article to the end of the five-year period counted from the date the applicant is granted a license, such agency may not grant licenses to any subsequent applicants if the said secret data are used in such applications without the consent of submitters of such data, except the case specified at Point d, Clause 3, Article 125 of this Law.
  • In case the agency competent to grant pharmaceutical circulation licenses permits a subsequent applicant to apply, based on the fact that a pharmaceutical has been granted a circulation license or data proving the safety and efficiency of a pharmaceutical already granted a circulation license, for a license for circulation of another pharmaceutical, the competent licensing agency shall publish on its portal or website the  information on the subsequent application at least five months before the pharmaceutical stated in the subsequent application is granted a circulation license, unless the grant of a circulation license needs to be carried out earlier under relevant regulations.
  • For agro-chemical products, from the time the secret data in a license application are submitted to the competent agency defined in Clause 1 of this Article to the end of the ten-year period counted from the date the applicant is granted a license, such agency may not grant licenses to subsequent applicants if the said secret data are used in such subsequent applications or it is based on the fact that the submitter of the said secret data is granted a circulation license without the consent of such submitter, except the case specified at Point d, Clause 3, Article 125 of this Law, or if deeming the licensing necessary to ensure national defense, security and nutrition for the people or to meet other urgent needs of the society.”.

50.    To amend and supplement Point d, Clause 1, Article 130 as follows:

“d/ Appropriating or using domain names identical with or confusingly similar to protected marks or trade names of others or geographical indications without having the right to use, with bad intentions, or abusing reputation or popularity of respective marks, trade names or geographical indications for the purpose of seeking illegal benefits.”.

51.    To add Article 131a below Article 131 in Section 1, Chapter IX, Part Three as follows:

“Article 131a. Payment of compensation to invention owners for delay in grant of pharmaceutical circulation licenses

  1. When carrying out procedures for maintenance of the validity of invention patents, invention patent owners are not required to pay charges for use of patents for the period of delay in the performance of procedures for registration of initial circulation of pharmaceuticals produced under such patents in Vietnam.
  • Procedures for pharmaceutical circulation registration shall be considered delayed if, upon the end of the two-year period from the date of receiving a complete dossier for circulation registration, the agency competent to grant pharmaceutical circulation licenses gives no initial reply in writing with respect to the dossier. The delay period shall be counted from the first day after the end of the two-year period from the date the agency competent to grant pharmaceutical circulation licenses receives a complete dossier to the date it gives an initial reply in writing.

3. The delay period due to the applicant’s fault or due to a reason beyond control of the competent state agency shall not be counted into the periods of time specified in Clause 2 of this Article.

  • In case the invention patent owner has paid a charge amount for use of the protection title for the period regarded as the delay period, the paid amount shall be subtracted from the amount of the subsequent period of validity maintenance or refunded.
  • In order not to pay charges for use of protection titles under Clause 1 of this Article, within twelve months after pharmaceuticals are granted circulation licenses, invention patent owners shall submit to the state management agency in charge of industrial property rights a document of the agency competent to grant pharmaceutical circulation licenses certifying the delay in performance of circulation registration procedures for such pharmaceuticals.

6. The Government shall detail this Article.”.

52. To add Article 133a below Article 133 as follows:

“Article 133a. The State’s rights to inventions, industrial designs and layout-designs being outcomes of the state budget-funded science and technology tasks

  1. The state owner representative shall publicize within ninety days for licensing of the right to register inventions, industrial designs and layout-designs being outcomes of the state budget-funded science and technology tasks to organizations and individuals that wish for registration in the following cases:

a/ Organizations in charge of science and technology tasks fail to fulfill the notification obligation under Clause 1, Article 136a of this Law;

b/ Organizations in charge of science and technology tasks send to the state owner representative a report stating that they do not wish for registration;

c/ Organizations in charge of science and technology tasks fail to file applications for registration of inventions, industrial designs and layout-designs within the time limit specified in Clause 2, Article 136a of this Law.

  • If failing to license the registration right to organizations or individuals under Clause 1 of this Article, the state owner representative shall publicize on portals or websites of agencies managing science and technology tasks contents of inventions, industrial designs and layout-designs being outcomes of state budget-funded science and technology tasks.
  • Competent state agencies may permit other organizations and individuals to use inventions, industrial designs and layout-designs being outcomes of state budget-funded science and technology tasks without having to obtain the consent of holders of the exclusive right in the following cases:

a/ Holders of the exclusive right do not apply within a reasonable time effective measures to use inventions, industrial designs and layout-designs being outcomes of science and technology tasks for which the State provides over 30% of the total capital amount as support;

b/ The use of inventions, industrial designs and layout-designs is for public and non-commercial purposes, national defense, security, disease prevention and treatment and nutrition for the people, or to meet other urgent needs of the society.

  • The payment of compensation to holders of the exclusive right in case competent state agencies permit other organizations and individuals to use inventions, industrial designs and layout-designs under Clause 3 of this Article is specified as follows:

a/ For inventions, industrial designs and layout-designs being outcomes of science and technology tasks wholly funded by the state budget, the permitted organizations and individuals may use them without having to pay compensation;

b/ For inventions, industrial designs and layout-designs being outcomes of science and technology tasks funded by the state budget among different funding sources, the permitted organizations and individuals are not required to pay compensation for the part of use rights corresponding to the amount of state budget funds but shall pay compensation for the part of use rights corresponding to the remaining investment capital amount. Compensation amounts payable to the holders of the exclusive right shall be determined under Point d, Clause 1, Article 146 of this Law.

5. The Government shall detail this Article.”.

53. To amend and supplement Article 135 as follows:

“Article 135. The obligation to pay remunerations to authors of inventions, industrial designs or layout- designs

  1. Except the case specified in Clause 2 of this Article, owners of inventions, industrial designs or layout-designs are obliged to pay remunerations to authors of such inventions, industrial designs or layout-designs as agreed; if no agreement is reached, the remuneration amount payable by an owner to an author must be equal to:

a/ 10% of the pre-tax profit amount earned by the owner from the use of an invention, industrial design or a layout-design; or,

b/ 15% of the total pre-tax amount received by the owner upon each payment for the licensing of an invention, industrial design or a layout-design.

  • For inventions, industrial designs and layout-designs being outcomes of state budget-funded science and technology tasks, an owner shall pay to an author a remuneration amount equal to:

a/ Between 10% and 15% of the pre-tax profit amount earned by the owner from the use of the invention, industrial design or layout-design; or,

b/ Between 15% and 20% of the total pre-tax amount received by the owner upon each payment for the licensing of the invention, industrial design or layout-design.

  • In case an invention, industrial design or a layout-design is created by co- authors, the remuneration amount specified in Clause 1 or 2 of this Article shall be applicable to the co-authors. The co-authors shall reach an agreement on the division of the remuneration amount paid by the owner.
  • The obligation to pay remunerations to authors of inventions, industrial designs or layout-designs shall exist throughout the term of protection of such inventions, industrial designs or layout-designs.”.

54. To add Article 136a below Article 136 as follows:

“Article 136a. Obligations of organizations in charge of science and technology tasks (below referred to as in-charge organizations) for inventions, industrial designs and layout-designs being outcomes of the state budget-funded science and technology tasks

  1. To notify the state owner representative within thirty days from the date inventions, industrial designs and layout-designs being outcomes of the state budget-funded science and technology tasks are created.
  • To file applications for registration for the establishment of rights to inventions, industrial designs and layout-designs being outcomes of state budget-funded science and technology tasks in Vietnam within six months from the date of sending a notice to the state owner representative.
  • To pay remunerations to authors of inventions, industrial designs and layout-designs under Article 135 of this Law.
  • For science and technology tasks for which the State provides up to 30% of the total funding amount as support, the after-tax profit amount earned from the use of, licensing of the right to use, assignment of rights, or contribution of capital with inventions, industrial designs or layout-designs corresponding to the State’s contributed capital amount after the payment of remunerations to authors shall be used under financial management regulations of in-charge organizations.
  • For science and technology tasks for which the State provides over 30% of the total funding amount as support, the division of the after-tax profit amount earned from the use of, licensing of the right to use, assignment of rights, or contribution of capital with inventions, industrial designs or layout-designs

being outcomes of state budget-funded science and technology tasks after the payment of remunerations to authors must comply with the following provisions:

a/ Making payment not exceeding 10% of the after-tax profit amount to brokers (if  any)  under brokerage contracts;

b/ For science and technology tasks wholly funded by the state budget, at least 50% of the remaining profit amount shall be used for investment in scientific and technological activities; the remainder shall be used under financial management regulations of in-charge organizations;

c/ For science and technology tasks using different funding sources, the remaining profit amount shall be divided to the parties in proportion to the rate of their capital amounts contributed to such tasks. The profit amount corresponding to the State’s contributed capital amount shall be used by in-charge organizations under Point b of this Clause.

  • In-charge organizations that are granted protection titles for inventions, industrial designs or layout- designs registered under Clauses 1 and 2, Article 86a of this Law are obliged to exercise industrial property rights under regulations, apply protection measures, and submit annual reports to agencies managing science and technology tasks on the exercise of rights, application of protection measures and division of profits.

7. The Government shall detail this Article.”.

55.    To add Clause 6 below Clause 5, Article 139 as follows:

“6. Rights to inventions, industrial designs and layout-designs being outcomes of state budget-funded science and technology tasks may only be assigned to organizations established under Vietnam’s law or Vietnamese citizens permanently residing in Vietnam. Ownership right licensees shall fulfill the respective obligations of in-charge organizations in accordance with this Law.”.

56.    To add Point dd below Point d, Clause 1, Article 145 as follows:

“dd/ The use of such invention aims to meet the demand for pharmaceuticals for disease prevention and treatment of other countries eligible to import such pharmaceuticals under treaties to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a contracting party.”.

57.    To amend and supplement a number of points of Clause 1, Article 146 as follows:

a/ To amend and supplement Point b as follows:

“b/ Such licensed use right is only limited to a scope and duration sufficient to achieve the licensing objectives, except the case specified at Point d, Clause 1, Article 145 of this Law. For an invention in semi-conductor technology, the licensing of the use right shall be only for public service and non- commercial purposes or for handling competition restraint practices in accordance with the competition law;”;

b/ To amend and supplement Point d and add Point dd below Point d as follows:

“d/ The licensee shall pay to the holder of the exclusive right to use the invention a compensation amount as agreed; if no agreement is reached, the payment of such amount must comply with the Government’s regulations, unless the invention use right is licensed under a compulsory decision for import of pharmaceuticals under the mechanism provided in the treaty to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a contracting party and the amount of compensation for the use of the invention licensed under such compulsory decision has been paid in the country of exportation;

dd/ The use right is licensed mainly for supply of pharmaceuticals to the domestic market, except the

cases specified at Points d and dd, Clause 1, Article 145 of this Law.”.

58.    To amend and supplement Clause 1, Article 147 as follows:

“1. The Ministry of Science and Technology shall issue decisions on licensing of the right to use inventions on the basis of considering requests for the licensing in the cases specified at Points b, c and d, Clause 1, Article 145 of this Law.

Ministries and ministerial-level agencies shall issue decisions on licensing of the right to use inventions in the fields under their respective state management in the cases specified at Points a and dd, Clause 1, Article 145 of this Law after consulting the Ministry of Science and Technology.”.

59.    To amend and supplement Clause 1, Article 153 as follows:

“1. Industrial property representatives have the following responsibilities:

a/ To notify charge and fee amounts and rates related to procedures for establishment and protection of industrial property rights for customers;

b/ To keep confidential information and documents related to cases in which they act as representatives;

c/ To truthfully and adequately inform all notices and requests of the state agency competent to establish and protect industrial property rights; to promptly deliver protection titles and other decisions to the represented parties;

d/ To promptly respond to requests of the state agency competent to establish and protect industrial property rights in favor of the represented parties in order to protect the latter’s lawful rights and interests;

dd/ To notify the state agency competent to establish and protect industrial property rights of changes in names and addresses of, and other information on, the represented parties when necessary.”.

60.    To amend and supplement Article 154 as follows:

“Article 154. Conditions for industrial property representation service provision

  1. A lawfully established and operating enterprise, cooperative, law-practicing organization or science and technology service organization that has at least one individual who possesses a certificate for industrial property representation service practice may provide industrial property representation services as industrial property representation service organizations, except the case specified in Clause 2 of this Article.
  • Foreign law-practicing  organizations  operating  in  Vietnam  may  not  provide industrial  property

representation services.”.

61.     To amend and supplement Clause 2 and add Clause 2a below Clause 2, Article 155 as follows:

“2. Except the case specified in Clause 2a of this Article, an individual who satisfies the following

conditions may be granted a certificate for industrial property representation service practice: a/ Being a Vietnamese citizen having full civil act capacity;

b/ Residing permanently in Vietnam;

c/ Possessing a university degree or an equivalent degree, in case he/she wishes to practice in fields related to marks, geographical indications, trade names, repression of unfair competition or trade secrets; or possessing a university degree or an equivalent degree in natural science or technical science in case he/she wishes to practice in fields related to inventions, industrial designs and layout- designs;

d/ Having personally engaged in the field of industrial property law for five years or more or in the examination of assorted industrial property registration applications at a national or  international industrial property office for five years or more, or having completed a training course on industrial property law as recognized by a competent agency;

dd/ Not currently working as a civil servant, public employee or employee in the state  agency competent to establish and protect industrial property rights;

e/ Having passed a test on industrial property representation operation organized by a competent agency.

2a. Vietnamese citizens who are lawyers and permitted to practice in accordance with the Law on Lawyers and permanently reside in Vietnam may be granted a certificate for industrial property representation service practice in fields related to marks, geographical indications, trade names, repression of unfair competition or trade secrets if they have completed a training course on industrial property law as recognized by a competent agency.”.

62.    To amend and supplement Clause 2, Article 156 as follows:

“2. In case an industrial property representative no longer satisfies the service provision or service practice conditions specified in Article 154 or 155 of this Law, the state management agency in charge of industrial property rights shall revoke the certificate for industrial property representation practice or delete the name of such industrial property representative from the National Register of Industrial Property and announce such in the Official Gazette of Industrial Property.”.

63.    To amend and supplement Clause 2, Article 157 as follows:

“2. Organizations and individuals defined in Clause 1 of this Article include Vietnamese organizations and individuals; foreign organizations and foreign individuals who are nationals of the member states of the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants or of countries that have concluded with the Socialist Republic of Vietnam agreements on the protection of plant varieties; foreign individuals who permanently reside in Vietnam or have plant variety production and trading establishments in Vietnam; foreign organizations that have plant variety production and trading establishments in Vietnam; and organizations and individuals that permanently reside or have plant variety production and trading establishments in territories of the countries being members of the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants.”.

64.    To amend and supplement Article 158 as follows:

“Article 158. General conditions for plant varieties eligible for protection

Plant varieties eligible for protection mean those that have been bred or discovered and developed, and are novel, distinct, uniform, stable and designated by proper denominations.”.

65.    To amend and supplement a number of points and clauses of Article 163 as follows:

a/ To amend and supplement Clause 1 as follows:

“1. An organization or individual that registers rights to plant varieties shall designate with the state management agency in charge of rights to plant varieties a proper denomination for a plant variety, which must be the same as the denomination already registered for protection in any country being member of the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants and the country having concluded with the Socialist Republic of Vietnam an agreement on the protection of plant varieties.”;

b/ To amend and supplement Point a, Clause 3 as follows:

“a/ They consist of numerals only, unless such numerals are relevant to characteristics or the breeding

of such varieties or consist of also denominations of species of such varieties;”;

c/ To amend and supplement Point c, Clause 3 as follows:

“c/ They might easily mislead as to features, characteristics or value of such varieties;”;

d/ To add Clause 6 below Clause 5 as follows:

“6. In case the denomination of a plant variety registered for protection does not satisfy the requirements specified in Clauses 2 and 3 of this Article, the state management agency in charge of rights to plant varieties may refuse such denomination and request the registrant to designate another denomination within thirty days from the date of request. The state management agency in charge of rights to plant varieties shall acknowledge the official denomination of a plant variety from the date of grant of a plant variety protection title.”.

66.    To amend and supplement Articles 164 and 165 as follows:

“Article 164. Registration of rights to plant varieties

  1. To obtain protection of rights to plant varieties, organizations and individuals shall file their protection registration applications with the state management agency in charge of rights to plant varieties.
  • Organizations and individuals having the right to register for protection of plant varieties (below referred to as registrants) include:

a/ Breeders who have personally bred or discovered and developed the plant varieties with their own efforts and expenses;

b/ Organizations and individuals that fund breeders to breed or discover and develop plant varieties in the form of job assignment or hiring, unless otherwise agreed upon by the parties or except the cases specified in Clauses 3 and 4 of this Article;

c/ Organizations and individuals that are licensed, inherit or take over the right to register for protection of plant varieties.

  • For plant varieties bred or discovered and developed as outcomes of science and technology tasks wholly funded by the state budget, the right to register such plant varieties shall be licensed to organizations in charge of such tasks automatically and without reimbursement.
  • For plant varieties bred or discovered and developed as outcomes of science and technology tasks funded by the state budget among different funding sources, the part of the right to register plant varieties in proportion to the amount of state budget funds shall be licensed to in-charge organizations automatically and without reimbursement.

Article 165. Representation of rights to plant varieties

  1. Vietnamese organizations and individuals; and foreign organizations and individuals permanently residing in Vietnam or having plant variety production and trading establishments in Vietnam shall file applications for registration of rights to plant varieties directly or through organizations providing rights- to-plant varieties representation services; while other organizations and individuals specified in Article

157 of this Law shall file applications through organizations providing rights-to-plant varieties representation services.

  • Organizations that satisfy the following conditions may provide rights-to-plant varieties representation services as rights representation service organizations:

a/ Being Vietnamese enterprises, cooperatives, law-practicing organizations or science and technology service organizations that are lawfully established and operate, except foreign law-practicing organizations operating in Vietnam;

b/ Having at least one individual who possesses a certificate for rights-to-plant varieties representation service practice.

  • Rights-to-plant varieties representation services include representing organizations and individuals before the state agency competent to establish and protect rights to plant varieties; providing consultancy on procedures for establishment and protection of rights to plant varieties; and providing other services related to procedures for establishment and protection of rights to plant varieties.
  • Representatives of rights to plant varieties have the following responsibilities:

a/ To notify customers of charge and fee amounts and rates related to procedures for establishment and protection of rights to plant varieties;

b/ To keep confidential information and documents related to cases in which they act as representatives;

c/ To truthfully and adequately inform notices and requests of the state agency competent to establish and protect rights to plant varieties; to promptly deliver plant variety protection titles and other decisions to the represented parties;

d/ To promptly respond to requests of the state agency competent to establish and protect rights to plant varieties for the represented parties in order to protect the latter’s lawful rights and interests;

dd/ To notify the state agency competent to establish and protect rights to plant varieties of changes in names and addresses of, and other information on, represented  parties; or changes in names, addresses and representatives of the representing parties;

e/ Organizations providing rights-to-plant varieties representation services shall bear civil liability for persons acting as representatives of rights to plant varieties in their capacity.

  • An individual may practice rights-to-plant varieties representation services if satisfying the following conditions:

a/ Possessing a certificate for rights-to-plant varieties representation service practice; b/ Operating in a rights-to-plant varieties representation service organization.

  • An individual may be granted a certificate for rights-to-plant varieties representation service practice if satisfying the following conditions:

a/ Being a Vietnamese citizen having full civil act capacity;

b/ Permanently residing in Vietnam;

c/ Possessing a university degree or an equivalent degree;

d/ Having personally engaged in legal affairs related to rights to plant varieties for five or more years, or having personally engaged in examination of applications for registration of rights to plant varieties in a national or international office for rights to plant varieties for five or more years, or having completed a training course on the law on rights to plant varieties as recognized by a competent agency;

dd/ Not working as a civil servant, public employee or employee in the state agency competent to establish and protect rights to plant varieties;

e/ Having passed a test of rights-to-plant varieties representation operation organized by a competent agency.

  • The Government shall provide in detail programs on training in the law on rights to plant varieties, testing of rights-to-plant varieties representation operation, and grant of certificates for rights-to-plant varieties representation service practice.”.

67.    To add Clause 6 below Clause 5, Article 170 as follows:

“6. The Government shall provide in detail the order and procedures for termination, restoration and

invalidation of plant variety protection titles.”.

68.    To amend and supplement Point a, Clause 1, Article 171 as follows:

“a/ The plant variety protection registration application is filed by a person who does not have the

registration right;”.

69.    To add Clause 3 below Clause 2, Article 172 as follows:

“3. The Government shall provide in detail the order and procedures for modification and re-grant of

plant variety protection titles.”.

70.    To amend and supplement Point d, Clause 3, Article 176 as follows:

“d/ Notifying the acceptance of the application if such application is valid or the registrant has satisfactorily corrected errors or has made a justifiable objection to the notice mentioned at Point b of this Clause, requesting the registrant to send samples of the variety to the testing institution for the performance of technical tests at least thirty days before the first cultivation counted from the date of issuance of a notice of acceptance of the registration application for protection of such plant variety, unless the registrant performs the plant variety testing by itself/himself/herself under Clause 2, Article 178 of this Law.”.

71.    To amend and supplement Clause 2, Article 180 as follows:

“2. From the time the registrant withdraws the protection registration application, all subsequent

procedures related to such application shall be terminated.”.

72.    To amend and supplement Article 183 as follows:

“Article 183. Grant of plant variety protection certificates

In case a protection registration application is not rejected under Article 182 of this Law and the registrant has paid the fee, the state management agency in charge of rights to plant varieties shall

decide to grant a plant variety protection certificate and record it in the National Register of Protected Plant Varieties.

Persons who register rights to plant varieties under Article 164 of this Law and are granted plant variety protection certificates by a competent state agency shall become holders of rights to plant varieties.”.

73.    To amend and supplement Clause 2, Article 189 as follows:

“2. In case the registrant is aware of the fact that the plant variety registered for protection has been subject to another person’s commission of acts specified in Articles 186 and 187 of this Law, from the time the application is declared to be accepted as valid, the plant variety protection registrant may notify in writing the user of the fact that a registration application for protection of the plant variety has been filed, clearly specifying the filing date and the date such application is accepted as valid for the latter to stop or continue using the plant variety.”.

74.    To amend and supplement Article 191 and add Articles 191a and 191b below Article 191 in Section 2, Chapter XIV, Part Four as follows:

“Article 191. Obligations of plant variety protection certificate holders

  1. Except the cases specified in Clause 2 of this Article, plant variety protection certificate holders are obliged to pay remunerations to plant variety breeders as agreed upon; if no agreement is reached, the remuneration amount payable to a plant variety breeder must be equal to:

a/ 10% of the pre-tax profit amount earned by the plant variety protection certificate holder from the use of protected plant varieties for production and business purposes;

b/ 15% of the total pre-tax amount received by the plant variety protection certificate holder upon each payment for the licensing of plant varieties; or,

c/ 35% of the total pre-tax amount received by the plant variety protection certificate holder upon the first assignment of rights to plant varieties, and the holder is not entitled to remunerations for the next assignment and the remunerations specified at Points a and b of this Clause.

  • For plant varieties being outcomes of the state budget-funded science and technology tasks, a plant variety protection certificate holder shall pay to a plant variety breeder a remuneration amount equal to:

a/ Between 10% and 15% of the pre-tax profit amount earned by the plant variety protection certificate holder from the use of protected plant varieties for production and business purposes;

b/ Between 15% and 20% of the total pre-tax amount received by the plant variety protection certificate holder upon each payment for the licensing of plant varieties; or,

c/ Between 20% and 35% of the total pre-tax amount received by the plant variety protection certificate holder upon the first assignment of rights to plant varieties, and the holder is not entitled to remunerations for the next assignment and the remunerations specified at Points a and b of this Clause.

  • In case a plant variety is bred by co-breeders, the remuneration amount specified in Clause 1 or 2 of this Article is payable to the co-breeders; and co-breeders shall agree by themselves on the division of the remuneration amount payable by the plant variety protection certificate holder.
  • The obligation to pay remunerations to breeders exists throughout the term of protection of plant varieties.
  • Fees for maintenance of validity of plant variety protection certificates shall be paid to agencies in charge of plant variety protection within three months from the date of grant of the certificates with regard to the first valid year, and in the first month of the next valid year with regard to subsequent years.
  • To preserve protected plant varieties, and provide information and reproductive materials of protected plant varieties at the request of agencies in charge of protection of plant varieties; to maintain the stability of protected plant varieties according to described characteristics at the time of grant of plant variety protection certificates.

Article 191a. Obligations of in-charge organizations for plant varieties bred or discovered and developed as outcomes of state budget-funded science and technology tasks

  1. To file applications for registration of rights to plant varieties within twelve months from the date of pre-acceptance test of science and technology tasks.
  • To pay remunerations to plant variety breeders under Article 191 of this Law.
  • For science and technology tasks for which the State provides up to 30% of the total fund as support, the after-tax profit amount earned from the use of, licensing of the right to use, assignment of rights, or contribution of capital with plant varieties corresponding to the State’s contributed capital amount after payment of remunerations to plant variety breeders shall be used under financial management regulations of in-charge organizations.
  • For science and technology tasks for which the State provides over 30% of the total fund as support, the division of the after-tax profit amount earned from the use of, licensing of the right to use, assignment of rights, or contribution of capital with plant varieties bred or discovered and developed as outcomes of state budget-funded science and technology tasks after payment of remunerations to plant variety breeders must comply with the following provisions:

a/ For science and technology tasks wholly funded by the state budget, at least 50% of the remaining profit amount shall be used for investment in scientific and technological activities; the remainder shall be used under financial management regulations of in-charge organizations;

b/ For science and technology tasks using different funding sources, the remaining profit amount shall be divided to the parties in proportion to their capital portions contributed to such tasks. The profit amount corresponding to the State’s contributed capital amount shall be used by in-charge organizations under Point a of this Clause.

  • In-charge organizations that are granted protection certificates for plant varieties registered under Clauses 3 and 4, Article 164 of this Law are obliged to exercise rights to plant varieties under regulations, apply protection measures and submit annual reports to agencies managing science and technology tasks on the exercise of rights, application of protection measures and division of profits.
  • The Government shall detail this Article.

Article 191b. The State’s rights to plant varieties bred or discovered and developed as outcomes of state budget-funded science and technology tasks

  1. The state owner representative shall publicly notify within ninety days for assignment of the right to register plant varieties bred or discovered and developed as outcomes of state budget-funded science and technology tasks to organizations and individuals that wish for registration in the following cases:

a/ Organizations in charge of science and technology tasks fail to perform the obligations specified in Article 191a of this Law;

b/ Organizations in charge of science and technology tasks send to the state owner representative a written report stating that they do not wish for registration.

  • If unable to assign the registration right to organizations and individuals under Clause 1 of this Article, the state owner representative shall publicly announce on portals or websites of agencies managing science and technology tasks information stating that the plant varieties bred or discovered and developed are outcomes of the state budget-funded science and technology tasks.
  • Competent state agencies may permit other organizations and individuals to use plant varieties bred or discovered and developed as outcomes of state budget-funded science and technology tasks without having to obtain the consent of holders of the exclusive right in the following cases:

a/ Holders of the exclusive right fail to apply within a reasonable period of time effective measures to use plant varieties bred or discovered and developed as outcomes of state budget-funded science and technology tasks for which the State provides over 30% of the total funding amount as support;

b/ The use of such plant varieties is for public service and non-commercial purposes, national defense, security, disease prevention and treatment and nutrition for the people, or to meet other urgent needs of the society.

  • The payment of compensation to holders of the exclusive right in case competent state agencies permit other organizations and individuals to use plant varieties under Clause 3 of this Article is provided as follows:

a/ For plant varieties bred or discovered and developed as outcomes of science and technology tasks wholly funded by the state budget, the permitted organizations and individuals are not required to pay compensation;

b/ For plant varieties bred or discovered and developed as outcomes of science and technology tasks funded by the state budget among different funding sources, the permitted organizations and individuals are not required to pay compensation for the part of use rights corresponding to the state budget funding amount but shall pay compensation for the part of use rights corresponding to the remaining investment capital amount. The compensation amount payable to holders of the exclusive right shall be determined under Point d, Clause 3, Article 195 of this Law.

5. The Government shall detail this Article.”.

75. To amend and supplement Clause 4 and add Clause 5 below Clause 4, Article 194 as follows:

“4. Rights to plant varieties bred or discovered and developed as outcomes of the state budget-funded science and technology tasks may only be assigned to organizations established under Vietnam’s law and Vietnamese citizens permanently residing in Vietnam. Rights assignees shall fulfill the obligations of in-charge organizations in accordance with this Law.

5. The Government shall detail this Article.”.

76. To amend and supplement a number of clauses of Article 198 as follows:

a/ To amend and supplement Points a and b, Clause 1 as follows:

“a/ Applying technological measures to protect rights and disseminate information on management of rights, or apply other technological measures to prevent acts of infringing upon intellectual property rights;

b/ Requesting organizations or individuals that commit acts of infringing upon intellectual property rights to terminate such acts, remove and delete infringing contents in the telecommunications network and the Internet, make public apologies or rectifications, and pay damages;”;

b/ To add Clause 1a below Clause 1 and amend and supplement Clauses 2 and 3 as follows:

“1a. Intellectual property rights holders may authorize other organizations or individuals to apply the measures specified in Clause 1 of this Article in order to protect their intellectual property rights.

  • Organizations and individuals that suffer damage caused by acts of infringing upon intellectual property rights or discover acts of infringing upon intellectual property rights which cause damage to consumers or to the society may request competent state agencies to handle such acts in accordance with this Law and other relevant laws.

Organizations and individuals that inherit copyright or rights of performers may request competent state agencies to handle acts of infringing upon the rights provided in Clause 4, Article 19 and at Point b, Clause 2, Article 29 of this Law.

  • Organizations and individuals that suffer damage or are likely to suffer damage caused by unfair competitive practices may request competent state agencies to apply the civil remedies provided in Article 202 of this Law.”.

77. To add Articles 198a and 198b below Article 198 as follows:

“Article 198a. Presumptions about copyright and related rights

In civil, administrative and criminal procedures on copyright and related rights, if no rebutting proof is adduced, copyright and related rights are presumed as follows:

  1. Conventionally acknowledged individuals and organizations that are authors, performers, producers of phonograms or video recordings, broadcasting organizations, producers of cinematographic works or publishing houses may be considered holders of rights to such works, performances, phonograms, video recordings or broadcasts;
  • Being conventionally acknowledged as mentioned in Clause 1 of this Article is construed as being acknowledged in original works, initial fixed versions of performances, phonograms, video recordings, broadcasts and relevant documents (if any) or in corresponding copies declared as lawful in case original works, initial fixed versions of performances, phonograms, video recordings, broadcasts and relevant documents no longer exist;
  • The individuals and organizations defined in Clause 1 of this Article are entitled to corresponding copyright or related rights.

Article 198b. Legal liability for copyright and related rights to intermediary service providers

  1. Intermediary service provider means an enterprise providing technical means for service users to upload digital contents in the telecommunications network and Internet; and providing online connectivity for the public to access and use digital contents in the telecommunications network and Internet.
  • Intermediary service providers shall apply technical measures and coordinate with competent state agencies and rights holders in implementing measures to protect copyright and related rights in the telecommunications network and Internet.
  • An intermediary service provider may be exempted from legal liability for acts of infringing upon copyright and related rights in the telecommunications network and Internet related to the provision or use of its services in the following cases:

a/ It only transmits digital contents or provides access to digital contents;

b/ In the course of information transmission, it automatically and temporarily performs the function of buffer storage to transmit information and make information transmission more efficient on the following conditions: only transforming information for technological reasons; complying with conditions  on access and use of digital contents; adhering to specific rules of updating digital contents in a manner that is widely recognized and used by a certain industry; refraining from preventing lawful use of technologies widely recognized in a certain industry to obtain data on the use of digital contents; removing digital contents or denying access to digital contents when knowing that digital contents have been removed from the originating source or the originating source has canceled access to such digital contents;

c/ It stores digital contents of service users at the latter’s request on the following conditions: not knowing that such digital contents infringe upon copyright and related rights; taking prompt actions to remove or prevent access to such digital contents when knowing that such digital contents infringe upon copyright and related rights;

d/ Other cases specified by the Government.

  • Intermediary service providers eligible for exemption from legal liability under Clause 3 of this Article are not required to supervise their own services or take the initiative in seeking evidences proving infringements.
  • Digital contents specified in this Article means works and subject matters of related rights that are protected under this Law and expressed in digital form.

6. The Government shall detail this Article.”.

78. To amend and supplement a number of clauses of Article 201 as follows:

a/ To amend and supplement Clause 1 and add Clause 1a below Clause 1; and amend and supplement Clause 2 and add Clause 2a below Clause 2, as follows:

“1. Intellectual property assessment means the use by organizations or individuals specified in Clauses 2 and 3 of this Article of their professional knowledge and expertise to assess and make conclusions on matters related to intellectual property rights. Intellectual property-related judicial assessment must comply with the law on judicial assessment.

1a. Intellectual property assessment includes: a/ Assessment of copyright and related rights; b/ Assessment of industrial property rights;

c/ Assessment of rights to plant varieties.

2. An enterprise, a cooperative, non-business unit or law-practicing organization established and operating in accordance with law and having at least one individual who possesses an intellectual property assessor card may perform intellectual property assessment, except the case specified in Clause 2a of this Article.

2a. Foreign law-practicing organizations operating in Vietnam may not provide intellectual property

assessment services.”;

b/ To amend and supplement Clauses 4 and 5 as follows:

“4. Principles of performance of assessment:

a/ Compliance with law, order and procedures for assessment; b/ Honesty, accuracy, objectivity, impartiality and timeliness;

c/ Making of professional conclusions only on matters within the requested scope; d/ Responsibility before law for assessment conclusions;

dd/ Determination of assessment expenses based on agreements between assessment requesters and assessing individuals or organizations.

5. Assessment conclusions shall serve as one of sources of evidence for competent agencies to handle cases or matters. Assessment conclusions are not made for acts of infringing upon intellectual property rights or dispute cases.”.

79. To amend and supplement Articles 212, 213 and 214 as follows:

“Article 212. Acts of infringing upon intellectual property rights subject to criminal handling

An individual or a commercial legal person that commits an act of infringing upon intellectual property rights which constitutes a crime shall be examined for penal liability.

Article 213. Intellectual property counterfeit goods

  1. Intellectual property counterfeit goods specified in this Law include goods bearing counterfeit marks and goods bearing counterfeit geographical indications and pirated goods specified in Clauses 2, 3 and 4 of this Article.
  • Goods bearing counterfeit marks are goods or their packages bearing marks or signs or their stamps or labels showing signs that are identical with or indistinguishable from marks currently protected for such goods without permission of mark owners.
  • Goods bearing counterfeit geographical indications are goods or their packages bearing signs or their stamps or labels showing signs that are identical with or indistinguishable from geographical indications currently protected for such goods and the affixture of such signs is made by organizations or individuals having no right to use geographical indications under Clause 4, Article 121 of this Law or laws of the countries of origin of such geographical indications.
  • Pirated goods are copies made without permission of copyright holders or related rights holders. Article 214. Administrative sanctions and remedies
  • Organizations and individuals that commit acts infringing upon intellectual property rights specified in Clause 1, Article 211 of this Law are subject to the application of administrative sanctions and remedies specified in the law on handling of administrative violations.
  • In addition to sanctions and remedies specified in the law on handling of administrative violations, intellectual property rights-infringing organizations and individuals are also subject to remedies of compelled distribution or use for non-commercial purposes of intellectual property counterfeit goods as

well as  raw materials, materials and means used mainly for the production or  trading of these intellectual property counterfeit goods, provided that such distribution or use does not affect the exploitation of rights by intellectual property rights holders and satisfies other conditions specified by the Government.

  • Administrative sanctions and the competence to administratively sanction infringements upon intellectual property rights must comply with the law on handling of administrative violations.”.

80.    To amend and supplement a number of clauses of Article 216 as follows:

a/ To amend and supplement Clause 2 as follows:

“2. Suspension of customs procedures for goods suspected of infringing upon intellectual property rights means a measure taken in the following cases:

a/ At the request of intellectual property rights holders in order to collect information and evidences on goods lots in question so that the intellectual property rights holders can exercise the right to request the handling of infringing acts and request the application of provisional urgent measures or preventive measures or measures to secure the administrative sanctioning;

b/ Customs offices shall take the initiative in suspending customs procedures in the course of inspection, supervision and control when detecting clear grounds to believe that imported or exported goods are intellectual property counterfeit goods.”;

b/ To add Clause 5 below Clause 4 as follows:

“5. The Government shall detail Point b, Clause 2 of this Article.”.

81.    To add Clause 4 below Clause 3, Article 218 as follows:

“4. In case a customs office takes the initiative in suspending customs procedures, it shall immediately notify the intellectual property rights holder if it has contact information and to the importer or exporter of the suspension.

Within ten working days after the notification, if the intellectual property rights holder does not initiate a civil lawsuit and the customs office decides not to accept the case according to procedures for handling of administrative violations, the customs office shall resume carrying out customs procedures for the goods lot in question.”.

82.    To replace or remove words and phrases in a number of articles as follows:

a/ To replace the phrase “plastic-art works” at Point g, Clause 1, Article 14 with the phrase “fine-art works”;

b/ To replace the word “performances” with the phrase “related rights”, and remove the phrase “Clause 1” in Clause 2, Article 16;

c/ To replace the phrase “Article 86” with the phrase “Articles 86 and 86a” in Clause 3, Article 60;

Clause 4, Article 65; and Clause 2, Article 71;

d/ To replace the phrase “validity maintenance fee” with the phrase “validity maintenance charge and fee” in Clause 1, Article 94;

dd/ To replace the phrase “validity prolongation fee” with the phrase “validity prolongation charge and fee” in Clause 2, Article 94;

e/ To replace the word “fee” with the phrase “charge and fee” in Clause 3, Article 94;

g/ To replace the phrase “filing fee” with the phrase “charge and fee” at Point c, Clause 1, Article 108;

h/ To replace the phrase “securing enforcement” with the word “protection” at Point a, Clause 1, Article 151;

i/ To replace the word “enforcement” with the word “protection” at Points b and c, Clause 1, Article 151;

k/ To replace the word “vines” with the phrase “woody climbing plants” in Article 159 and Clause 2,

Article 169;

l/ To remove the phrase “Point b and” at Point a, Clause 3, Article 176; m/ To remove the phrase “Point a, Clause 1” in Clause 2, Article 185; n/ To remove the phrase “in Clause 79” in Clause 1, Article 203;

o/ To remove the phrase “in Clause 1, Article 122” in Clause 1, Article 209;

p/ To remove the phrase “in Chapter VIII, Part One” in Article 210;

q/ To remove the phrase “and Article 215” in Clause 4, Article 216 and Article 219.

  • To annul Clause 19, Article 4; Article 5; Clause 3, Article 51; Clause 4, Article 117; Point b, Clause 2, Article 176; and Article 215.

Article 2. To amend and supplement a number of articles of other relevant laws

1.   To amend and supplement a number of articles of Law No. 54/2014/QH13 on Customs, which had a number of articles amended and supplemented under Law No. 71/2014/QH13 and Law No. 35/2018/QH14, as follows:

a/ To amend and supplement the title of Section 8, Chapter III as follows:

“Section 8

INSPECTION, SUPERVISION, SUSPENSION OF CUSTOMS PROCEDURES FOR INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS-RELATED EXPORTED AND IMPORTED GOODS”;

b/ To amend and supplement Clause 2, Article 73 as follows:

“2. Customs offices may decide to suspend customs procedures for imported or exported goods when intellectual property rights holders or legally authorized persons make written requests and provide evidences of their lawful holding of intellectual property rights and evidences of intellectual property rights infringements and have paid deposits or produced documents on guarantee by credit institutions as security for payment of compensation and expenses in accordance with law which may arise due to wrongful requests for suspension of customs procedures. Customs offices shall take the initiative in suspending customs procedures in the course of inspection, supervision and control when detecting clear grounds to believe that imported or exported goods are intellectual property counterfeit goods.”.

2.    To amend and supplement a number of articles of Law No. 29/2013/QH13 on Science and Technology, which had a number of articles amended and supplemented under Law No. 28/2018/QH14, as follows:

a/ To amend and supplement Article 41 as follows:

“Article 41. Right to own and use scientific research and technological development outcomes

  1. Organizations or individuals that invest funds and physical-technical facilities for the performance of science and technology tasks are owners of scientific research and technological development outcomes, unless otherwise  agreed  upon  by  the  parties to scientific research  and  technological development contracts.
  2. State owner representatives of outcomes of state budget-funded scientific research and technological development are as follows:

a/ The Minister of Science and Technology shall act as the representative of the owner of national science and technology task performance outcomes;

b/ Ministers, heads of ministerial-level agencies, heads of government-attached agencies, heads of other central state agencies or chairpersons of provincial-level People’s Committees shall act as representatives of the owners of performance outcomes of ministerial- or provincial-level or grassroots science and technology tasks they have approved;

c/ Heads of agencies or organizations other than those specified at Points a and b of this Clause shall act as representatives of the owners of performance outcomes of science and technology tasks they have approved.

  • State owner representatives specified in Clause 2 of this Article may consider assigning the whole or part of the right to own or use outcomes of state budget-funded scientific research and technological development under the Government’s regulations to organizations in charge of performing science and technology tasks or organizations or individuals that wish to use or exploit such scientific research and technological development outcomes, except the case specified in Clause 4 of this Article.
  • In case inventions, industrial designs, layout-designs or plant varieties are outcomes of state budget- funded science and technology tasks, the right to register such inventions, industrial designs, layout designs or plant varieties shall be assigned to organizations in charge of performing such science and technology tasks automatically and without refund or to other organizations and individuals in accordance with the Law on Intellectual Property. When granted protection titles, organizations in charge of performing science and technology tasks become owners of such inventions, industrial designs, layout-designs or plant varieties.
  • The Government shall provide in detail the right to own or use scientific research and technological development outcomes specified in this Article.”;

b/ To amend and supplement Article 43 as follows:

“Article 43. Division of profits upon the use, licensing, assignment or capital contribution with outcomes of state budget-funded scientific research and technological development

  1. At least 30% of profits earned from the use, licensing, assignment or capital contribution with outcomes of state budget-funded scientific research and technological development shall be divided to authors. The profit remainder shall be divided among owners, in-charge agencies and brokers under regulations of the Government, except the case specified in Clause 2 of this Article.
  • The division of profits from the use, licensing, assignment of rights or capital contribution with inventions, industrial designs, layout-designs or plant varieties that are outcomes of state budget- funded science and technology tasks and have their intellectual property rights protected must comply with the Law on Intellectual Property.”.

3.     To amend and supplement Point  a, Clause 4, Article 105 of Law No. 15/2017/QH14 on Management and Use of Public Property, which had a number of articles amended and supplemented under Law No. 64/2020/QH14, as follows:

“a/ To assign the right to use or own to organizations in charge of performing scientific and technological tasks to make the best use of outcomes of such tasks or use property to commercialize outcomes of scientific research and technological development. In case the outcomes of scientific research and technological development are inventions, industrial designs, layout designs or plant varieties, to assign such right in accordance with the Law on Intellectual Property;”.

4.   To amend and supplement a number of articles of Law No. 11/2012/QH13 on Prices which had a number of articles amended and supplemented under Law No. 61/2014/QH13 and Law No. 64/2020/QH14 as follows:

a/ To add Point d below Point c, Clause 1, Article 19 as follows:

“d/ Works, phonograms and video recordings in case of limitations on copyright and related rights

specified in the Law on Intellectual Property.”;

b/ To amend and supplement Point c, Clause 3, Article 19 as follows:

“c/ Setting price frameworks and specific prices for:

  • Land, water surface, groundwater and forests under the entire people’s ownership represented by the State, and domestic water;
  • Rates of rent or rent-purchase of social houses and official-duty houses built only with state budget funds; selling prices or rent rates of state-owned houses;
  • Medical examination and treatment services and education and training services provided at state-run medical examination and treatment establishments and education and training institutions;
  • Royalties for the exploitation or use of works, phonograms and video recordings in case of limitations on copyright and related rights specified in the Law on Intellectual Property;”;

c/ To add Point d below Point c, Clause 1, Article 22 as follows:

“d/ Royalty brackets and rates for the exploitation or use of works, phonograms and video recordings in case of limitations on copyright and related rights specified in the Law on Intellectual Property.”.

Article 3. Effect

  1. This Law takes effect on January 1, 2023, except the cases specified in Clauses 2 and 3 of this Article.
  • The provisions on the protection of sound marks take effect on January 14, 2022.
  • The provisions on the protection of test data for agrochemical products take effect on January 14, 2024.

Article 4. Transitional provisions

  1. Copyright and related rights eligible for protection before the effective date of this Law may continue to be protected in accordance with this Law if their term of protection has not yet expired.
  • Copyright and related rights registration applications filed with competent agencies before the effective date of this Law may continue to be processed in accordance with provisions of law effective at the time of filing.
  • An invention, industrial design, mark and geographical indication registration application filed with the state management agency in charge of industrial property rights before the effective date of this Law may continue to be processed in accordance with the provisions of law effective at the time of filing, except the following cases:

a/ Industrial design registration applications filed from August 1, 2020, for which decisions on grant of, or refusal to grant, protection titles before the effective date of this Law must comply with Clause 13, Article 4 of the Law on Intellectual Property, which was amended and supplemented under Point b, Clause 1, Article 1 of this Law;

b/ Industrial property registration applications for which decisions on grant of, or refusal to grant, protection titles before the effective date of this Law must comply with Points e and h, Clause 2, Article 74; Point e, Clause 1, Article 106; and Point b, Clause 3, Article 117, of the Law on Intellectual Property, which was amended and supplemented under Points b and c, Clause 22; Clause 35; and Point b, Clause 42, Article 1 of this Law;

c/ Security control of inventions stated in invention registration applications for which decisions on grant of, or refusal to grant, protection titles before the effective date of this Law must comply with Article 89a, which was supplemented under Clause 27, Article 1 of this Law;

d/ Industrial property registration applications for which results of the substantive examination are not notified before the effective date of this Law must comply with Article 118 of the Law on Intellectual Property, which was amended and supplemented under Clause 43, Article 1 of this Law.

4. The provisions of Articles 86, 86a, 133a, 135, 136a, 139, 164, 191, 191a, 191b and 194 of the Law

on Intellectual Property, which were amended and supplemented under Clauses 25, 52, 53, 54, 55, 66, 74 and 75, Article 1 of this Law, applicable to inventions, industrial designs, layout-designs and plant varieties being outcomes of the state budget-funded science and technology tasks shall apply to science and technology tasks assigned from the effective date of this Law.

  • Rights and obligations to industrial designs being part of products that are assembled into complex products under protection titles granted on the basis of registration applications filed before August 1, 2020, must comply with the provisions of law effective before the effective date of this Law.

Grounds for invalidation of protection titles must comply with provisions of law applicable for the consideration and grant of such protection titles.

  • Individuals who are granted certificates for industrial property representation service practice before the effective date of this Law may continue to practice industrial property representation services in accordance with their certificates. Individuals who pass tests on industrial property representation profession organized by competent agencies before the effective date of this Law may be granted certificates for industrial property representation service practice under Law No. 50/2005/QH11 on Intellectual Property, which had a number of articles amended and supplemented under Law No. 36/2009/QH12 and Law No. 42/2019/QH14.
  • Registration applications for protection of rights to plant varieties filed with competent agencies before the effective date of this Law may continue to be processed in accordance with the provisions of law effective at the time of filing. Individuals who are granted certificates for rights-to-plant varieties representation service practice before the effective date of this Law may continue to practice rights-to- plant varieties representation services in accordance with their certificates.
  • Lawsuits against intellectual property right infringements that are accepted by competent agencies before the effective date of this Law but remain incompletely settled will continue to be settled in accordance with Law No. 50/2005/QH11 on Intellectual Property which had a number of articles amended and supplemented under Law No. 36/2009/QH12 and Law No. 42/2019/QH14.

ANNOTATION

[1] The Law No. 36/2009/QH12 amends several provisions of the Law on Intellectual Property with promulgation bases as follows:

“Pursuant to the Constitution of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam in 1992 that has been changed and amended under the Resolution No. 51/2001/QH10; the National Assembly promulgates the Law on amendments and adjustments to several provisions of the Intellectual Property Law No. 50/2005/QH11.”

[2] This Article is amended in accordance with the regulation set out in Clause 1 Article 1 of the Law No. 36/2009/QH12 on amending several provisions of the Intellectual Property Law taking effect as from January 01, 2010.

[3] This Article is amended in accordance with the regulation set out in Clause 2 Article 1 of the Law No. 36/2009/QH12 on amending several provisions of the Intellectual Property Law taking effect as from January 01, 2010. 

[4] This Article is amended in accordance with the regulation set out in Clause 3 Article 1 of the Law No.36/2009/QH12 on amending several provisions of the Intellectual Property Law taking effect as from January 01, 2010.

[5] This Article is amended in accordance with the regulation set out in Clause 4 Article 1 of the Law No.36/2009/QH12 on amending several provisions of the Intellectual Property Law taking effect as from January 01, 2010.

[6] The phrase “the Ministry of Culture – Information” is replace with “the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism” in accordance with the regulations set out in Article 2 of the Law No. 36/2009/QH12 on amending several provisions of the Intellectual Property Law taking effect as from January 01, 2010.

[7] The phrase “the Ministry of Culture – Information” is replace with “the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism” in accordance with the regulations set out in Article 2 of the Law No. 36/2009/QH12 on amending several provisions of the Intellectual Property Law taking effect as from January 01, 2010.

[8] The phrase “the Ministry of Culture – Information” is replace with “the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism” in accordance with the regulations set out in Article 2 of the Law No. 36/2009/QH12 on amending several provisions of the Intellectual Property Law taking effect as from January 01, 2010.

[9] The phrase “the Ministry of Culture – Information” is replace with “the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism” in accordance with the regulations set out in Article 2 of the Law No. 36/2009/QH12 on amending several provisions of the Intellectual Property Law taking effect as from January 01, 2010.

[10] This Article is amended in accordance with the regulations set out in Clause 5 Article 1 of the Law No.36/2009/QH12 on amending several provisions of the Intellectual Property Law taking effect as from January 01, 2010.

[11] This Article is amended in accordance with the regulations set out in Clause 6 Article 1 of the Law No.36/2009/QH12 on amending several provisions of the Intellectual Property Law taking effect as from January 01, 2010.

[12] This Article is amended in accordance with the regulations set out in Clause 7 Article 1 of the Law No.36/2009/QH12 on amending several provisions of the Intellectual Property Law taking effect as from January 01, 2010.

[13] This Article is amended in accordance with the regulations set out in Clause 8 Article 1 of the Law No.36/2009/QH12 on amending several provisions of the Intellectual Property Law taking effect as from January 01, 2010.

[14] This Article is amended in accordance with the regulations set out in Clause 9 Article 1 of the Law No.36/2009/QH12 on amending several provisions of the Intellectual Property Law taking effect as from January 01, 2010.

[15] This Article is amended in accordance with the regulations set out in Clause 10 Article 1 of the Law No.36/2009/QH12 on amending several provisions of the Intellectual Property Law taking effect as from January 01, 2010.

[16] This Article is amended in accordance with the regulations set out in Clause 11 Article 1 of the Law No.36/2009/QH12 on amending several provisions of the Intellectual Property Law taking effect as from January 01, 2010.

[17] This Article is amended in accordance with the regulations set out in Clause 12 Article 1 of the Law No.36/2009/QH12 on amending several provisions of the Intellectual Property Law taking effect as from January 01, 2010.

[18] The phrase “the Ministry of Culture – Information” is replace with “the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism” in accordance with the regulations set out in Article 2 of the Law No. 36/2009/QH12 on amending several provisions of the Intellectual Property Law taking effect as from January 01, 2010.

[19] The phrase “the Ministry of Culture – Information” is replace with “the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism” in accordance with the regulations set out in Article 2 of the Law No. 36/2009/QH12 on amending several provisions of the Intellectual Property Law taking effect as from January 01, 2010.

[20] This Article is amended in accordance with the regulations set out in Clause 13 Article 1 of the Law No.36/2009/QH12 on amending several provisions of the Intellectual Property Law taking effect as from January 01, 2010.

[21] This Article is amended in accordance with the regulations set out in Clause 14 Article 1 of the Law No.36/2009/QH12 on amending several provisions of the Intellectual Property Law taking effect as from January 01, 2010.

[22] This Article is amended in accordance with the regulations set out in Clause 15 Article 1 of the Law No.36/2009/QH12 on amending several provisions of the Intellectual Property Law taking effect as from January 01, 2010.

[23] This Article is amended in accordance with the regulations set out in Clause 16 Article 1 of the Law No.36/2009/QH12 on amending several provisions of the Intellectual Property Law taking effect as from January 01, 2010.

[24] This Article is amended in accordance with the regulations set out in Clause 17 Article 1 of the Law No.36/2009/QH12 on amending several provisions of the Intellectual Property Law taking effect as from January 01, 2010.

[25] This Article is amended in accordance with the regulations set out in Clause 18 Article 1 of the Law No.36/2009/QH12 on amending several provisions of the Intellectual Property Law taking effect as from January 01, 2010.

[26] This Article is amended in accordance with the regulations set out in Clause 19 Article 1 of the Law No.36/2009/QH12 on amending several provisions of the Intellectual Property Law taking effect as from January 01, 2010.

[27] This Article is amended in accordance with the regulations set out in Clause 20 Article 1 of the Law No.36/2009/QH12 on amending several provisions of the Intellectual Property Law taking effect as from January 01, 2010.

[28] This Article is amended in accordance with the regulations set out in Clause 21 Article 1 of the Law No.36/2009/QH12 on amending several provisions of the Intellectual Property Law taking effect as from January 01, 2010.

[29] This Article is amended in accordance with the regulations set out in Clause 22 Article 1 of the Law No.36/2009/QH12 on amending several provisions of the Intellectual Property Law taking effect as from January 01, 2010.

[30] This Article is amended in accordance with the regulations set out in Clause 23 Article 1 of the Law No.36/2009/QH12 on amending several provisions of the Intellectual Property Law taking effect as from January 01, 2010.

[31] This Article is amended in accordance with the regulations set out in Clause 24 Article 1 of the Law No.36/2009/QH12 on amending several provisions of the Intellectual Property Law taking effect as from January 01, 2010.

[32] This Article is amended in accordance with the regulations set out in Clause 25 Article 1 of the Law No.36/2009/QH12 on amending several provisions of the Intellectual Property Law taking effect as from January 01, 2010.

[33] This Article is amended in accordance with the regulations set out in Clause 26 Article 1 of the Law No.36/2009/QH12 on amending several provisions of the Intellectual Property Law taking effect as from January 01, 2010.

[34] This Article is amended in accordance with the regulations set out in Clause 27 Article 1 of the Law No.36/2009/QH12 on amending several provisions of the Intellectual Property Law taking effect as from January 01, 2010.

[35] This Article is amended in accordance with the regulations set out in Clause 28 Article 1 of the Law No.36/2009/QH12 on amending several provisions of the Intellectual Property Law taking effect as from January 01, 2010.

[36] This Article is amended in accordance with the regulations set out in Clause 29 Article 1 of the Law No.36/2009/QH12 on amending several provisions of the Intellectual Property Law taking effect as from January 01, 2010.

[37] Article 3 of the Law No.36/2009/QH12 on amending several provisions of the Intellectual Property Law taking effect as from January 01, 2010 sets out the following regulations:

Article 3

1. This Law shall come into force from January 01, 2010.

2. The Government shall provide detailed instructions on the implementation of binding provisions of the Law; and provide guidance on other necessary contents in this Law in order to meet the Government’s demand for state management.”

[38] This Article is amended in accordance with the regulations set out in Clause 30 Article 1 of the Law No.36/2009/QH12 on amending several provisions of the Intellectual Property Law taking effect as from January 01, 2010.

Appendix I of Decree 31/2021/Vietnam elaborates the law on investment

Appendix II of Decree 31/2021/Vietnam elaborates the law on investment

Appendix III of Decree 31/2021/Vietnam elaborates the law on investment