Trademark plays an
important role in the business activities of the enterprise, helping to
position products and services in the minds of customers as well as make a
difference in the market. In the current competitive context, trademarks are
easily violated by illegal acts, easily affecting business results of
enterprises. According to the provisions of the Intellectual Property Law 2005
(amended and supplemented in 2009), a trademark is an intellectual property
that needs to be protected and the legal basis to protect it is a trademark
registration certificate.
1. Conditions for a
trademark to be registered for protection
Article 72 of the
Intellectual Property Law 2005 stipulates that trademarks are protected if the
following conditions are met:
a) A visible sign in the
form of letters, words, drawings, images, including holograms or a combination
thereof, expressed in one or more colors.
b) Having the ability to
distinguish the goods or services of the trademark owner from the goods and
services of another subject.
2. Procedures for
registration of trademark protection
2.1. Look up trademarks
(optional)
In order to assess the
ability to register a trademark and save time for enterprise, it is necessary
for the applicant to conduct a trademark search before filing an official
registration application. This is to determine if the trademark of an
enterprise is identical or similar to that of another registered trademark for
the same or similar products.
Search time: 02 days.
For searching, the
applicant should provide the following documents: 05 trademark samples; List of
branded goods/ ervices.
2.2. Trademark
registration (brand / logo):
If the search results
show that the trademark is not identical or similar to the trademark of any
registered individuals or organizations, the applicant should submit a
trademark registration application in the fastest time to have priority dates
soon.
2.3. Time of trademark
registration:
The application
for trademark registration will go through three stages:
a) Examining the form of
trademark registration applications:
During this period, if
the application satisfies the requirements, the National Office of Intellectual
Property (NOIP) will confirm the date of valid application, the number of valid
applications, the priority date of the application and notify the applicant of
the decision to accept the application. If there are deficiencies, the NOIP
will notify the applicant and within two months from the date of notification,
the applicant must correct the deficiencies.
Time limit for formality
examination: 03 months from the date of application to the NOIP.
b) Publication of the
registration application: 02 months from the date the application is formally
accepted.
If the application is
valid, it will be published by the NOIP in the Industrial Property Official
Gazette. This gazette is published monthly.
c) Substantive
examination: 07 months from the date of publication of the mark registration
application
At this stage, if the
application is recognized as valid, there is no dispute or complaint when it is
published, the NOIP will notify the applicant of the fee for substantive
examination. Then the NOIP will conduct the evaluation. The purpose of
substantive examination is to determine whether the object stated in the
application meets the protection standards prescribed by law.
Time for substantive
examination: 09 months from the date of notification of acceptance of valid
application.
If the result of
substantive examination shows that the trademark of the applicant is likely to
register, the NOIP will issue a Protection Title within 1 month thereafter.
3. Application dossier
for trademark registration
a) A trademark
registration declaration.
b) Documents, specimens,
information showing the trademark intended to be registered.
c) Power of attorney (if
the application is submitted through an intellectual property representation
organization).
d) List of products and
services that the enterprise intends to use the trademark.
e) A notarized copy of
the enterprise registration certificate, investment certificate if the owner is
an organization, the identity card or other equivalent papers of the individual
owner.
f) Receipt of fees and
charges.
The term of protection
of trademarks is 10 years from the date of filing of applications. The owner of
a protection title may extend it many times. Procedures for renewing a trademark protection certificate are carried out at the
National Office of Intellectual Property.
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solutions. Hope that clears things up a bit. Feel free to message me directly
to chat further about any other IP questions that you face.
