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Filling Requirements Content
INVENTIONS AND UTILITY SOLUTION
Guidelines on registration in Vietnam
1. Definition
Invention is a technical solution which must be of
worldwide novelty, involves inventive step and is applicable in
various social and economic fields.
Utility solution is a technical solution which must
also be of worldwide novelty and applicability but needs not to
possess an attribute of inventive step.
The subject matter of inventions and utility solutions
may be device, process, substance, microorganisms, cell culture,
and use thereof in accordance with a new function.
2. Patentability
In Vietnam, the following objects are excluded from
patentability:
- Scientific ideas, theories and discoveries;
- Methods and systems for economic organization and management;
- Methods and systems for education, teaching and training;
- Method for training pet;
- Language and information systems, systems for classification
and arrangement of documentation;
- Designs and schemes for construction;
- Solutions concerning only the appearance of products having
only aesthetic impression;
- Signs, diagrams, rules and regulations, symbols;
- Computer software, layout-designs of integrated circuits, mathematical
models and graphs or search and the like;
- Varieties of plants and animals;
- Methods for prevention, diagnosis and treatment of human and/or
animal diseases;
- Process of biological nature (except micro-organic process)
for production of plants and animals.
3. Patent Term
The term of a patent for invention is 20 years from
the legitimate filing date.
4. Examination procedures
In accordance with the current IP laws, patent applications
shall have to undergo two examination stages, namely formality and
substantive examination.
- Formality examination
The formality examination of patent application
for invention/utility solution will be carried out within three
(3) months from the filing date.
- Publication of legitimate patent application:
Patent applications, which have been accepted
by the National Office of Industrial Property (NOIP) to be legitimate,
shall be published in Volume A of the Industrial Property Gazette
(IP Gazette).
- Substantive examination
The substantive examination is only conducted
if it is requested. The request for substantive examination can
be filed by the applicant or any third party, and it must be filed
within a period of 42 months for invention and 36 months for utility
solution from the priority date.
The substantive examination will last 18 months
from the receipt of the request for substantive examination if the
request is submitted after publication of the application. In case
the request is submitted before the publication of the application,
this term shall be calculated from the date of publication of the
application.
5. Required Information and Documents
a. Information:
- Name and address of the applicant;
- Title of invention/utility solution;
- Data of convention priority, if any: (Application No.; Filing
date; Country)
- Name and address of the inventor(s) (nationality, residence).
b. Documents
- For national application:
- Patent specification including the patent description, claim,
abstract and drawing, if any, and Vietnamese translation thereof;
- Deed of Assignment from the Inventor(s) to the Applicant if the
Applicant and the Inventor(s) are not the same (this document
must be submitted at the request of the NOIP only in the case
the NOIP has reasonable grounds to doubt the Applicant's
eligibility);
- Certified copy of the priority document if priority right is
claimed. This copy should be filed within 3 months from the filing
date, but the data must be given at the date of filing;
- Power of Attorney (PoA) in favor of our firm (required at filing; a fax copy is acceptable
provided that the original is submitted within three months from
the filing date).
- Certified copi(es) of the priority document(s)
(and required their sworn English translation(s) - if the
priority document(s) are not in English - only when the
NOIP requests to submit the Vietnamese version(s) of the
priority document(s)), applicable where the Paris Convention
Priority is claimed (required
within three months from the filing date)
- For PCT application
For a PCT application, the time limit for entering
into the National Phase under Chapter I of PCT where Vietnam is
designated is 21 months, and under Chapter II where Vietnam is selected
is 31 months from the priority date.
To enter the National Phase, the following documents
are required:
- Copy of the PCT application and amendments thereof according
to Article 19 of PCT, If any;
- A
English version of the specification, claims, any text matter of
drawings and abstract (if any of those parts have been amended,
then both as originally filed and as amended under PCT Articles
19 or 34) for the purpose of translation into Vietnamese. (Please
send us in one month before the date of entry into Vietnamese
national phase so that we have enough time for preparing).;
- A Power of Attorney from the Applicant (required
within 34 months from the priority date)
- A Deed
of Assigment where the Applicant entering the National Phase is
different from the Applicant having filed the International
Application (required within 34 months from the priority
date);
(Notarization and/ or legalization for Power of Attorney and Deed of
Assignment are not required)
Investpro's Service
We provide services in relation to drafting patent
specification, filing and prosecuting the patent application, making
amendment of patent specification, payment of annuities and others
in respect of patent matters.
INDUSTRIAL DESIGN
Guidelines on registration in Vietnam
1. Patentability
An industrial design (ID) is the external appearance
of a product represented by lines, forms and colors or the combination
of these elements, which has world-wide novelty and may be served
as a pattern for manufacturing handicrafts and industrial products.
The following objects are excluded from patentability:
- External shape of products which is easily created by a person
having average qualification in the art;
- External shape of products dictated merely by their technical
and functional characters;
- External shape of civil and industrial construction works;
- Shape of products which is invisible in the process of normal
utilization;
- Design dictated merely by aesthetic consideration only.
2. Protection Term
The term of patent for industrial design is 5 years
from the filing date with the possibility of two consecutive renewals,
each of 5 years.
3. Examination Procedures
In accordance with Vietnam IP regulations, industrial
design applications shall have to undergo two examinations, the
first is formality and the second is substantive one.
- Formality examination:
The formality examination of industrial design
will be conducted within three (3) months from the filing date.
- Publication of legitimate application
All patent applications for industrial design,
which have been accepted to be legitimate by the NOIP, shall be
published in Volume A of the Industrial Property Gazette (IP Gazette)
within the second month from the date of the Notification of Acceptance
of the legitimate application.
- Substantive examination
The substantive examination is conducted to determine
the patentability of the claimed industrial design and will last
nine (9) months from the date of signature of the notification of
acceptance of the legitimate application.
4. Required Information and Documents for Registration
a. Information:
- Name and address of the applicant;
- Name and address of the designer;
- International Classification of design;
- Convention priority data (Application No., Filing date; Country),
if any.
b. Documents:
To file the ID application, the following documents
are required:
- Notarized Power of Attorney (PoA) in favor
of InvestPro ;
- Seven (7) sets of photographs or drawings embodying the ID;
- Specification/Description of the ID;
- Notarized Deed of Assignment, if any;
- Certified copy of the document for claiming the priority right
under the Paris Convention, if any;
- Document proving the ownership right to trademark if the claimed
ID includes the trademark
INVESTPRO's Services
We assist clients in drafting ID specification, filing
and prosecuting the application, processing information provided
by the examiners, renewal of ID patents, providing report and necessary
advice, conducting the searches, investigating design infringement
and proceeding with enforcement action, etc.
TRADEMARKS
Guidelines on registration in Vietnam
A trademark is may be in the form of letter, picture
or a combination thereof presented in one or several colors.
1. Examination Duration
According to Vietnam trademark regulations, trademark
application shall have to undergo two stages of examination. The
first stage is formality, which lasts for three (3) months and the
second one is substantive, which lasts for nine (9) months from
the date that application is accepted to be legitimate.
2. Validity term of protection and renewal
The validity term of trademark registration is 10
years from the legitimate filing date of the application. The term
is renewable for unlimited times, each of 10 years.
3. Required Information and Documents for Registration:
- Information:
- Full name and address of the applicant;
- List of goods/services covered by the claimed mark and respective
international class(es);
- Colors of the trademark to be claimed;
- Translation of the word mark into English, if the mark is in a
language other than English or French;
- Convention Priority Data (Application No.; Filing date; Country),
if any.
- Documents:
For filing trademark application, the following documents
are required:
- A notarized Power of Attorney (PoA);
It is advisable that one general PoA in which the specific marks
are not indicated can be used for filing various marks of the same
applicant;
- 20 Trademark specimens with the size not larger than 8x8 cm;
- Certified copy of priority document if the applicant claims to
enjoy priority right under the Paris Convention.
INVESTPRO's services
With highly educated and experienced patent &
trademark attorneys, we provide a wide range of professional services
ranging from simple trademark registration to sophisticated infringement
settlement.
RENEWAL PROCEDURES
1. Industrial Design
Documents
1.
A Notarized Power of Attorney from the Owner (required at filing);
2.
The original industrial design Patent (required at filing).
2. Trademark Registration
Documents
1.
A Notarized Power
of Attorney from the Owner (required at filing);
2.
The original
Certificate of Trademark Registration (required at filing).
RECOGNIZATION OF
WELL-KNOWN MARKS
Documents and Information
1.
A Power of Attorney from the Applicant duly certified by a Notary Public;
Legalization is not necessary (required at filing; a fax copy is
acceptable provided that the original is submitted within three
months from the filing date);
2.
A certified
copy of the Business Licence (required at filing);
3.
12 samples
of the mark to be recognized as being well-known (required at
filing);
4.
Documents
and information proving that the mark is well-known. They
should include, but not limited to, those which clearly show:
§
the estimated number of concerned consumers who may know the mark
through buying, selling, or using the products or services bearing
the mark, or through advertisement of the mark;
§
the
countries where the products or services bearing the mark are
circulated or provided;
§
the
turnover from selling the products or supplying services bearing the
mark, or number of products sold;
§
the
duration of continuous use of the mark;
§
the
countries where the mark is registered and recognized as being
well-known;
§
the
value of the mark in business transactions, such as assignment,
licensing, investment capital contribution, etc.
ASSIGNMENT AND LICENSE AGREEMENTS
Guidelines on registration in Vietnam
1. Required Documents for registration
For registration of both Assignment and License Agreement,
the following documents are required:
- 2 originals or 2 notarized copies of the Agreement, including
appendix(ces) thereof, if any; In case the Agreement is made in
foreign language, the Vietnamese translation is required;
- The original of title of IP protection (in case of assignment);
- or photocopy of title of IP protection (in case of license);
- In case of Sub-License:
- A photocopy of the certificate of registration of the relevant
exclusive master license agreement;
- A photocopy of the registered master license agreement.
- The written agreement made by the co-owners on the
license/assignment,
if the transferred IP right is under co-ownership;
- A notarized copy of Business License of the assignee/licensee
if it is a Vietnamese person or entity;
- A Power of Attorney (PoA) in favour of our firm for registration
of Agreement.
- If the PoA is signed by Vietnamese party, the signature should
be affixed the official seal of the company.
If the PoA is signed by foreign party, the signature
should be attested by notary public.
2. Unfair Restrictions prohibited in License Agreement
In accordance with the IP Law, the license agreement
must not contain the following provisions, which are considered
as unreasonably restrict the rights of the licensee:
- Provisions directly or indirectly preventing or limiting the
licensee from exporting licensed products to territories where
the licensor is not the owner of the respective IP rights or has
exclusive rights to import products bearing the respective IP
object;
- Provisions compelling the licensee to purchase all or part of
materials, components or equipment of the licensor or from sources
appointed by the licensor without the purpose of ensuring the
quality of the licensed products;
- Provisions forbidding the licensee from improving the licensed
IP object (except for the trademark) or compelling the licensee
to free-of-charge transfer to the licensor improvements created
by the licensee or the rights to apply for IP protection over
such improvements;
- Provisions forbidding the licensee to appeal against the validity
of the licensed IP right.
3. Registration Procedures
Agreement must be filed with the National Office of
Intellectual Property (NOIP) within sixty (60) days from the date
of Agreement. This duration can be extended for a certain period
of time with proper reason.
Agreement as filed shall be processed by NOIP for
a period of two (2) months from the filing date of the completed
dossier of Agreement.
4. Certification of the Vietnamese Translations
If Agreement and other documents attached to Agreement
are made in a foreign language, those documents must be translated
into Vietnamese and subsequently should be attested by the Notary
Office of Vietnam.
5. Certification of the signature
Under the licensing law, the assignment/licensing
agreement must be signed by the authorized representative of the
parties. These signatures must either be affixed official seal of
the company or attested by notary public.
INVESTPRO's Services
As an experienced and professional IP law firm, we
provide high quality services in respect of advising, drafting and
reviewing agreement and conducting procedure to register Agreement
with the NOIP.
TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER
guidelines on approval and REGISTRATION
IN Vietnam
1. Required Documents
For approval and registration of an Technology Transfer
Agreement, the following documents are required:
- Five original sets of application for approval of the Agreement
in the form given by Ministry of Science, Technology (MoST);
- Five original sets of the Agreements and its annexes;
- Feasibility study of the Technology reflects the basis of the
technology transfer, analyses and estimates of economic and financial
benefits to be gained from the use of the technology, a justification
of the term of the agreement.
- An estimate of the total payment price for the technology transfer
- An Unanimous Resolution by Company's Board of Management of
the technology transfer if either party to the agreement is the
foreign invested company which is duly established under the Law
of Foreign Investment in Vietnam;
- Power of Attorney issued by either transferor or transferee
in favour of InvestPro
2. Approving and Registering Procedures
- For Approval Case:
Within 45 days from the date of receipt of proper
application dossier for approval, the competent authority shall
have to evaluate the dossier.
In case the Agreement is approved the competent
authority will issue a decision on approval. In case of refusal,
they will issue a written notice specifying the reason of rejection.
- For Registration Case.
Within 7 days from the date of receipt of proper
application dossier, the competent authority
will grant certificate of registration of the Agreement.
- For Industrial Property Objects in the Technology
Transfer
In case the technology transfer involves licensing
the right to use industrial property objects, the licensing agreement
for IP object should be made into a separate part of the technology
transfer agreement. In this case the copy of the protection title
being protected must be enclosed;
The licensing agreements shall be subject to the industrial property
law and must be registered with the National Office of
Intellectual Property (NOIP).
3. Our Service
As an investment consulting and law firm we
provide any kind of assistance to obtain approval or registration
of the Agreement. Our services include giving advice, drafting agreement
and preparing application documents, lodging the same to MoST for
approval or registration, follow-up the evaluating process of application
dossier.
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