Important Matters on Intellectual Properties Rights Registration in Vietnam

 

In the process of development of global business, the growth of multinational corporations or business will help individuals and companies to bring their products to the world. In addition to bringing their products to customers, the protection of intellectual property rights for products created is extremely important and necessary. We would like to highlight important matters when registering for intellectual property rights protection in Vietnam.

First, in order to be able to register for protection of intellectual property rights, the protected product must meet all conditions to be protected under the provisions of the Intellectual Property Law of Vietnam.

After meeting all of conditions for protection of intellectual property rights, the owner should pay attention to the procedures for registering intellectual property rights. According to the Intellectual Property Law 2005, the time of intellectual property rights to copyright is when products are created and expressed in a certain material form without needing to register. However, industrial property rights for inventions, industrial designs, layout designs, trademarks, geographical indications are established on the basis of a decision to grant protection titles by competent state agencies rights under the registration procedures prescribed in the Intellectual Property Law or recognition of international registration under the provisions of international treaties to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a member; for well-known trademarks, ownership is established on the basis of use, regardless of the registration procedure. Therefore, in order to be able to establish their intellectual property rights for products created, the owner needs to register for product protection in accordance with regulations, the order given by the Law on Intellectual Property in Vietnam.

In addition to the prescribed registration procedures, the owner should pay attention to the time of filing the application for protection, and it is suggested to submit the application as soon as possible. Under the provisions of the Intellectual Property Law, in cases where many applications for inventions are identical or similar, industrial designs are identical or not significantly different from each other, the protection title shall be granted only for an invention or industrial design on a valid application, the earliest priority date or filing date shall be among the applications that meet the conditions for being granted a protection title. In the case of multiple applications by different people registering marks that are identical or confusingly similar to each other for products or services that are identical or similar to each other or in the case of multiple applications of the same those who register identical marks for identical products or services, the protection title is only granted to the trademark in the valid application with the earliest priority date or filing date among the applications that meet the requirements sued to be granted a protection title. In case there are many applications for registration as stipulated above and all meet the conditions to be granted a protection title and have the same priority date or the earliest filing date, the protection title will only be granted to the subject of a single application of those applications as agreed by all applicants; if no agreement is reached, the corresponding objects of those applications are refused the protection certificate.

Therefore, in order to protect their intellectual property rights, the owner needs to meet all conditions for the product, in addition to necessary procedures as prescribed by law and promptly apply for a certificate of protection for the product. The protection of products will help individuals and companies gain competitive edge during their commercial operation, in addition to avoiding the risks of being infringed upon intellectual property rights.

ANT Lawyers, a law firm in Vietnam with a team of experienced lawyers, IP consultants and IP agent in Vietnam in the field of Intellectual Property will help customers implement procedures for registering intellectual property rights in the most effective way.

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Anti-dumping Measures on Welding Materials from China, Thailand and Malaysia (AD15)

On January 21th, 2021, Trade Remedies Authority of Vietnam (Investigating Authority) received Dossier from a company which is the representative of the domestic manufacturing (Requesting Party) requesting for the application of the anti-dumping measures on some types of welding materials originating from People’s Republic of China, Kingdom of Thailand and Malaysia.

On February 01st, 2021, Investigating Authority confirmed that Dossier was complete, valid according to regulations of law on trade remedies. Within 45 days of the receipt of a complete, valid Dossier, the Investigating Authority shall examine the Dossier to submit to the Minister of Industry and Trade for consideration for conducting an investigation. Contents of Dossier examination include: (i) Determine qualification of the legal representative of the domestic manufacturing of organization, individual that submitted the Dossier according to regulation of Law on Foreign Trade Management; (ii) Determine evidence on the dumping of imported goods that caused or threatened to cause significant injury to a domestic manufacturing or significantly prevent the formation of a domestic manufacturing.

On March 18th, 2021, Ministry of Industry and Trade issued Decision no. 947/QD-BCT on conducting an investigation to apply anti-dumping measure on some types of welding materials with HS code 7217.10.10; 7217.30.19; 7217.90.10; 7229.20.00; 7229.90.20; 7229.90.99; 8311.10.10; 8311.10.90; 8311.30.91; 8311.30.99; 8311.90.00 originating from People’s Republic of China (China), Kingdom of Thailand (Thailand) and Malaysia (Goods under investigation) (code AD15).

According to Vietnam laws, after initiating an investigation, Ministry of Industry and Trade will send a Questionnaire to related parties to collect information for the purpose of analyzing, assessing the accusations, including: dumping activities of export enterprise of China, Thailand and Malaysia; (ii) damages of the industry whose Vietnam products; (iii) causation between dumping activities and damages of the industry whose domestic products.

If necessary, based on results of preliminary investigation, Ministry of Industry and Trade can apply temporary anti-dumping measure in order to prevent dumping activities which continue to cause material injury to domestic industry.

Ministry of Industry and Trade will conduct examining, verifying the information provided by related parties before finalizing official investigation conclusion of this case. At the same time, Ministry of Industry and Trade will also hold a public consultation in order for the related parties to directly communicate, provide information, give opinions about this case before making a final decision.

Ministry of Industry and Trade recommends that all organizations, individuals who are exporting, importing, distributing, conducting business, using goods under investigation should register as related parties and should provide Ministry of Industry and Trade the necessary information so that rights and interests are protected according to Vietnam laws.

Ministry of Industry and Trade can impose the retroactive of the anti-dumping duty on the imposed goods within 90 days before imposing temporary anti-dumping duty. Therefore, Ministry of Industry recommends that all organizations, individuals who are in the process of exporting, importing, distributing, conducting business, using goods under investigation should pay attention to the possibility of imposing temporary anti-dumping duty and the retroactive of the anti-dumping duty.

Our international trade and competition lawyers in Vietnam at ANT Lawyers will always follow the development from authorities to provide update to our clients.

ANT Lawyers is a law firm in Vietnam located in the business centers of Hanoi, Danang, Ho Chi Minh city. We provide convenient access to our clients. Please contact our lawyers in Vietnam for advice via email ant@antlawyers.vn or call our office at +84 28 730 86 529

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Several Noted Points on Law Competition of 2018 in Vietnam

Vietnam Law on Competition has been adopted and will be effective on July 1st, 2019. The competition law of 2018 has changed in comparison with the Law on Competition 2004.  These changes are fundamental which enterprises should be aware of when entering into Vietnam through M&A activities. Competition lawyer should be consulted for update and development to avoid non-compliance.

Competition Lawyers in Vietnam

Firstly, the Competition Law 2018 gave up regulations on the limit of acts of economic concentration. Accordingly, Article 30 prohibits an enterprise from conducting economic concentration that has the potential to cause significant adverse effects on competition in the Vietnamese market. Contrary to previous regulations, Competition Law 2004 prohibits economic concentration if the combined market share of enterprises participating in economic concentration accounted for more than 50% in the relevant market.

Secondly, the Competition Law 2018 under Article 112 provides clemency policy for enterprises violating competition regulations. Accordingly, enterprises which voluntarily declare to help the National Competition Committee detect, investigate and deal with prohibited competition restriction acts will be exempted or reduced penalties according to the leniency policy. The leniency policy is applicable to no more than three first enterprises applying for leniency to the National Competition Commission.

Thirdly, unlike the Competition Law 2004, the Competition Law 2018 specifies the maximum fine for violations of competition law.

For organization:

–Violating regulations on the acts of economic concentration: a maximum fine of 5% of the total turnover of the business on the relevant market.

–Violating regulations on unfair competition: a fine of up to VND 2 billion

–Violation of other regulations: up to 200 million VND.

For individual, the fine level is 50% of the organization’s level.

Fourth, on threshold of economic concentration. The Competition Law 2004 stipulated that for centrally-run enterprises with a market share of between 30% and 50% in the relevant market, the competition authority must notify the competition authority before conducting the economic concentration. At present, the Competition Law 2018 is not regulated specifically as above, but only the notification threshold of economic concentration is determined based on one of four criteria as following:

-Total assets on the Vietnamese market of enterprises participating in economic concentration;

-The total turnover in the Vietnamese market of enterprises participating in economic concentration;

-Transaction value of economic concentration;

-Market share in the relevant market of enterprises participating in economic concentration.

Finally, new regulation on the time limit for dealing with a breach of competition law. Previously, to solve and deal with cases of economic concentration violation, it is necessary to undertake a preliminary investigation and formal investigation. In particular, the preliminary investigation is 30 days; formal investigation is 60 days with unfair competition; 180 days with the agreement restriction competition, economic concentration. Competition Law 2018 no longer stipulates two phases of the above investigation, but only that the investigation period is 09 months for restricted competition; 90 days with economic concentration; 60 days with unfair competition cases.

ANT Lawyers is a law firm in Vietnam located in the business centers of Hanoi, Danang, Ho Chi Minh city. We provide convenient access to our clients. Please contact our lawyers in Vietnam for advice via email ant@antlawyers.vn or call our office at +84 28 730 86 529.

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What Procedures an Enterprise Complies on Publishing Business Information?

Provisions on announcing of business information are stipulated in the Law on Enterprise and other decrees which company has to comply as part of compliance procedures.

After being granted an enterprise registration certificate, under the Enterprise Law, an enterprise must publicly announce it on the National Business Registration Portal according to the order, procedures and pay fees as required. The application for publication of enterprise registration information is a compulsory procedure, made at the time an enterprise submits its enterprise registration dossier. Information about publication of enterprise registration information is posted on the National Business Registration Portal. The content to be published includes the contents on the enterprise registration certificate and the lines of business. In addition, for joint stock companies with foreign investors, a list of founding shareholders and foreign investors is required. In case of changes in enterprise registration contents, the corresponding changes must be publicly announced on the National Business Registration Portal.

Provisions on form, time and content of announcement are different from those in the Law on Enterprise, specifically, within a period of thirty days from the date of being granted an enterprise registration certificate, an enterprise must publish information in one of the forms posted on the business information network of the business registration agency or one of the written or electronic newspapers in three consecutive issues. The main content to be published includes: Company’s name; Address of the head office of the enterprise, branch or representative office; Lines of business; Charter capital of limited liability company and partnership company; number of shares and value of contributed capital and number of shares to be issued with joint stock company; initial investment capital for private enterprises; legal capital for enterprises conducting lines of business requiring legal capital; Full name, address, nationality, ID card number, passport or other legal personal identification number, establishment decision number or business registration code of the owner, member or shareholder foundation; Full name, permanent address, nationality, ID card number, passport number or other legal personal identification of the legal representative of the enterprise; Place of business registration.

For publication fees, according to the provisions of Circular no. 47/2019/TT-BTC stipulating the rates, collection, payment, management and use of information provision charges of enterprise information that takes effect from the date of On September 20, 2019, the enterprise registration fee and the enterprise registration content announcement fee are VND 100,000/time, instead of the VND 300,000/time as stipulated in Circular no. 215/2016/TT-BTC regulating the rates, collection, remittance, management and use of charges for provision of enterprise information and enterprise registration fees.

In addition, there are some enterprises that do not need to publish their business information on the National Business Registration Portal before going into operation, but make other forms of announcement. For example, for a law-practicing organization, within thirty days after being granted operation registration papers, law-practicing organizations must publish on daily newspapers of central or local registry of law practice or newspaper for three consecutive issues. For credit institutions, foreign bank branches, representative offices of foreign credit institutions and other foreign institutions engaged in banking activities, they must be published on the State Bank’s media, and in a daily newspaper written in 03 consecutive issues or an electronic newspaper of Vietnam at least thirty days prior to the scheduled date of operation of opening information as prescribed in Article 25 of the Law on Credit Institutions 2010.

In addition to disclosing corporate information, there is also a procedure for disclosure of information on the stock market that is applicable to public companies and bond issuers (except for government bond issuers and bonds), government-guaranteed bonds and local government bonds), securities companies, fund management companies, branches of foreign fund management companies in Vietnam, public funds. These companies and organizations must comply with the law on securities in the Securities Law announcing on the company’s website and information disclosure system of the State Securities Commission.

ANT Lawyers is a law firm in Vietnam located in the business centers of Hanoi, Danang, Ho Chi Minh city. We provide convenient access to our clients. Please contact our lawyers in Vietnam for advice via email ant@antlawyers.vn or call our office at +84 28 730 86 529

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What Are Conditions to Clean Up Criminal Records?

Offenders who have completely served their penalties shall be given conditions to do business, live honestly and integrate with the community, and when they meet all the conditions prescribed by law, their conviction may be expunged and their criminal records will be cleaned. A person whose criminal record is removed is considered as having not been convicted. There are three cases of conviction expungement, including: Automatic conviction expungement; Conviction expungement under a Court’s decision; Special cases of conviction expungement.

Automatic conviction expungement applies to people convicted not for crimes of infringing upon national security and crimes of undermining peace, against humanity and war crimes when they have completed their main penalty, the probationary period of the suspended sentence, the person has served the additional penalty, other decisions of the judgment or has expired and does not commit any new crime during the periods specified below: (i) 01 year in case of a warning, fine, community sentence or suspended imprisonment; (ii) 02 years in case of imprisonment of up to 05 years; (iii) 03 years in case of imprisonment from over 05 years to 15 years; (iv) 05 years in case of imprisonment of over 15 years or commuted life imprisonment. A convict serving an additional punishment that is mandatory supervision, prohibition from residence, prohibition from holding certain positions, prohibition from doing certain jobs, deprivation of certain citizenship rights for a period longer than those specified in  points (i), (ii), (iii) above, automatic conviction expungement shall be granted when he/she finishes serving the additional punishment.

Conviction expungement under a Court’s decision is applicable to persons convicted of crimes of infringing upon national security and crimes of undermining peace, against humanity and war crimes. The Court shall decide the conviction expungement of convict based on the nature of the crimes committed, the law-observing attitude, the convicted person’s labor attitude and the following conditions:

The Court shall grant conviction expungement if the convict, after serving the primary sentence or probation period as well as additional sentences and other decisions of the judgment, does not commit any new crime over the following periods: (i) 01 year in case of warning, community sentence, or suspended imprisonment; (ii) 03 years in case of imprisonment of up to 05 years; (iii) 05 years in case of imprisonment of between more than 5 years and 15 years; (iv) 07 years in case of imprisonment of more than 15 years, life imprisonment or death sentence that is commuted.

If the convict is serving an additional sentence which is mandatory supervision, prohibition from residence, or deprivation of certain citizenship rights for a longer period than that specified in points (i), (ii) above, conviction expungement shall be considered when he/she finishes serving the additional sentence.

If an application for conviction expungement is rejected for the first time, it may only be resubmitted after 01 year from the day on which it is rejected; if the application for conviction expungement is rejected for the second time, it may only be resubmitted after 02 years from the day on which it is rejected.

Where a convict shows remarkable improvements and has made reparation in an effort to atone for the crime and conviction expungement is requested by his/her employer or local authority, the court shall decide to grant conviction expungement if has served at least one third of the above period.

In order to be automatically expunge conviction or expunged conviction according to the decision of the Court, the convict must fully comply with the decisions in the judgment including the payment of court costs and not commit any new crime within the prescribed time limit. For special cases of conviction expungement, convict must have at least one-third of the time limit for conviction expungement according to regulations and the Court shall decide to expunge conviction at the request of agencies or organizations where the person works or the local government where the person resides.

The period after which a conviction may be expunged depends on the primary sentence. If the convict who has not had the conviction expunged commits a new crime which leads to a conviction under an effective judgment, the period after which the conviction may be expunged shall start over from the day on which the primary sentence has been served or the end of the probation period of the new judgment or from the deadline for execution of the new judgment. If the convict has committed more than one crime and one of which is automatically eligible for expungement, one of which is eligible for expungement under a court’s decision, the Court shall decide expungement pursuant to the prescribed time limit for conviction expungement under the Court’s decision.

A convicted corporate legal entity shall automatically have its conviction expunged if it does not commit any new criminal offence for 02 years from the day on which the primary punishments, additional punishments, other decisions of the judgment are served or from the expiration of the time limit for execution of the judgment.

Criminal record card can be obtained at authority to reveal the current criminal conviction situation or changes of situation of such conviction.

We are a law firm in Vietnam with international standard, local expertise and strong international network. We focus on customers’ needs and provide clients with a high quality legal advice and services. For advice or services request, please contact us via email ant@antlawyers.vn, or call us +84 24 730 86 529

Let ANT Lawyers help your business in Vietnam.

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US Anti-Dumping and Countervailing Duty Petitions of Tire Products From Vietnam

On May 13, 2020, The United States Department of Commerce (“DOC”) has received an investigation request for anti-dumping and countervailing measures against passenger and light truck tires (“PVLT tires”) originating from Korea, Taiwan-China, Thailand and Vietnam. The madatory respondents being US importers have also consulted with anti-dumping and countervailing duty lawyers in Vietnam and US to prepare for the investigation cooperation.

In this case, the plaintiff alleges that the tires under investigation were dumped and subsidized into the United States market, causing significant damage to the domestic manufacturing industry. In 2015, the same petitioner succeeded in securing anti-dumping and countervailing duties on PVLT tires from China.

The scope of these investigations is passenger vehicle and light truck tires. Passenger vehicle and light truck tires are new pneumatic tires, of rubber, with a passenger vehicle or light truck size designation. Tires covered by these orders may be tube-type, tubeless, radial, or nonradial, and they may be intended for sale to original equipment manufacturers or the replacement market. The products covered by the investigations are currently classified under the following Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (“HTSUS”) subheadings: 4011.10.10.10, 4011.10.10.20, 4011.10.10.30, 4011.10.10.40, 4011.10.10.50, 4011.10.10.60, 4011.10.10.70, 4011.10.50.00, 4011.20.10.05, and 4011.20.50.10.  The scope could also include tires entering under HTSUS subheadings 4011.90.10.10, 4011.90.10.50, 4011.90.20.10, 4011.90.20.50, 4011.90.80.10, 4011.90.80.50, 8708.70.45.30, 8708.70.45.46, 8708.70.45.48, 8708.70.45.80, 8708.70.60.30, 8708.70.60.45, and 8708.70.60.60.

Petitioner alleges the following dumping margins: 45.95% to 195.20% for South Korea, 21% to 102% for Taiwan, 106.4% to 217.5% for Thailand, and 14.73% to 33.06% for Vietnam. The petitions also detail numerous government subsidies benefitting Vietnamese tire producers, including loans, tax breaks, and grants. PVLT tire imports from these four countries shot up nearly 20% from 2017 to 2019, reaching 85.3 million tires, valued at 4.4 billion dollars, last year.

According to data from the United States International Trade Commission (“USITC”), the export value of Vietnam’s investigated products to the United States market reached 12.1 million dollars in 2019, accounting for about 6.7% of total United States imports of this product.

In Vietnam, the product under investigation is a product that has been warned by the Ministry of Industry and Trade of risks of foreign investigation by applying trade remedies measures from July 2019 with a high level of warning. Therefore, in the past time, the Ministry of Industry and Trade has actively coordinated and worked with associations and exporters to the United States to actively capture information and respond in case of initiating an investigation. Under United States regulations, the DOC will consider initiating an investigation of the case within 20 days of receiving it. In the event that the DOC decides to initiate an investigation, the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Vietnam will closely coordinate with export associations and enterprises in investigating the case and have timely support and treatment measures to protect the legitimate rights and interests of Vietnamese enterprises.

Vietnam international trade lawyers in competition, and anti-dumping practice will need to be involved with the process including data collection and possibly initial drafting of questionnaire responses in cooperation with US anti-dumping and countervailing duty lawyers to defend the case.

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The Need for Commercial Mediation in the Performance of International Contracts

In contract dispute resolution, the average time to resolve a commercial contract dispute at the Court in Vietnam, even with the help of dispute lawyers in Vietnam whom know well the process would take long time through multiple proceedings. This period will last longer if there is a foreign party in the dispute, including service of notarization, legalization, authentication (or apostile) the documents. According to World Bank statistics, the cost of resolving a commercial dispute at the Court accounts for about 29% of the contract value (including attorneys’ fees, court fees, judgment execution fees).

The practice of resolving the dispute case at the Court appears to face many challenges of time lengthening and possible effective enforcement leading to cost of time and money. Therefore, the selection of dispute resolution in the mediation center is a possible option to resolve this issue.

Vietnam authorities and international agencies have taken active measures needed to promote the application of commercial mediation in international contracts, in order to resolve issues more quickly and effectively in international trade disputes. The application of commercial dispute resolution at mediation centers in Vietnam will save time and costs for dispute resolution. In addition, the dispute resolution at the mediation center will also help the parties maintain the relationship for future business transactions.

Until Aug 2019, in Vietnam, there are 7 commercial mediation centers licensed by the Ministry of Justice with a team of domestic and international certified mediators and lawyers who can contribute to resolving disputes in international trade contracts.  The use of mediation centers in the settlement of disputes in Vietnam with the help of lawyers in Vietnam will help the parties to find common grounds and together save cost, time, keep confidentiality of the dispute and could continue to do business with each other.

ANT Lawyers is a Law firm in Vietnam with international standards, recognized by Legal500, IFLR1000. We are an exclusive Vietnam member of Prea Legal, the global law firm network coverig more than 150 juridictions. The firm provides a range of legal services as following to multinational and domestic clients.

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How Pilot Program Using Mobile Money for Payment is Regulated?

With the development of the information technology industry, there is a trend to simplify the process and procedures for making transactions making it becomes easier, faster and more convenient for users. Hence mobile money has become a new trend in transferring money, making payment in many countries.

Pilot Program Using Mobile Money for Payment in Vietnam

To develop non-cash payments, increase access and use of financial services, especially in rural, mountainous, remote, border and island areas of Vietnam, as well as taking advantage of infrastructure, data, telecommunications networks, reducing social costs to develop, expanding non-cash payment channels on mobile devices, bringing convenience to users, on March 9, 2021, the Vietnam Prime Minister issued Decision No. 316/QD-TTg on approving the pilot implementation program of using telecommunications accounts to pay for goods and services with small value (Mobile – Money).

The pilot subjects are enterprises that have a license to provide electronic wallet payment intermediary services and a license to establish public mobile terrestrial telecommunications networks using radio frequency bands or the subsidiary is licensed by the parent company to establish a mobile public ground telecommunication network using radio frequency bands and allows the use of telecommunications infrastructure, networks and data.

Individual customers who register and use the Mobile-Money service must provide an Identification Card (ID)/ Citizen Identification/ Passport that coincides with the customer’s mobile subscriber number registration information and Identification and authentication piloted by enterprises in accordance with the Government’s regulations on mobile subscriber registration; and the number of mobile subscribers must have the period of activating and using continuously for at least three consecutive months up to the time of registering to open and use Mobile-Money service. Each customer is only allowed to open one Mobile-Money account at each pilot enterprise.

The pilot implementation is applied nationwide, in which the pilot enterprise must give priority to the pilot implementation of Mobile-Money service in rural, mountainous, remote areas, Vietnam’s borders and islands.

The pilot enterprise is only allowed to provide Mobile-Money service to transfer money and pay for legal goods and services in Vietnam in accordance with the current law to serve the needs of daily life; the pilot implementation of Mobile-Money service only applies to legal domestic transactions in accordance with Vietnamese law provisions in VND, not to make payment/ remittance for goods and services provided across borders.

The pilot implementation period is set to be two years from the time the first enterprise conducting the pilot is approved for pilot implementation of Mobile-Money service. Transaction limit must not exceed 10 million VND/month/Mobile-Money account for total transactions: withdrawal, money transfer and payment.

Financial and banking lawyers at ANT Lawyers, a law firm in Vietnam with offices in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang will always follow up with new developments in regulation and provide clients with update.

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Draft and Review Contracts - A Lawyer's View

In Vietnam, certain type of contract has to follow forms requested by laws as such client is recommended to seek help from professional contract lawyers in Vietnam to help draft or review.

Contract is an agreement enforced by law. In Vietnam, contract is a civil transaction which parties enter into voluntarily, each of whom intends to create, change, or terminate one or more rights or obligations between them according to Vietnam Civil Code. Contract plays an important role in business transaction. Written contract provide individuals and businesses a legal document reflecting agreement, expectation and mechanism to resolve potential disagreement or disputes.

The lawyers in Vietnam drafting or reviewing contracts under Vietnam laws will need to initially review the legal resources in relevant to the transactions, research related documents and the parties involved to provide legal opinions, make suggestions and propose an optimal solution to the client for negotiation and contract finalization.

Basic terms and conditions of the contracts being rights and obligations of parties to the contracts, and other terms in regard to duration, quality, payment, dispute handling procedures, applicable law and/or jurisdiction, confidentiality, force majeure, intellectual property clauses…among others have to be carefully taken into considerations.

Further, a contract should ensure the following points to be covered:

-Use right legal terms or terminology;

-Foresee the future scenarios;

-Describe the specific matters;

-Clearly mention obligations;

-Obtain a balance between parties involved.

There are specific contracts in Vietnam for various transactions being:

-Joint venture contract;

-Share purchase contract;

-Sales contract;

-Business cooperation contract;

-Licensing contract;

-Investment contract;

-Labour contract;

-Lease contract;

-Distribution contract;

-Construction contract;

-Prenuptial agreement.

Each business transaction is different as such a contract is not a compilation of standard terms and conditions. Professional contract lawyers in Vietnam would consider the purpose of the contract, transaction type, significance of the deal, industry, Vietnam legal requirements and expectation of the client to prepare a legally enforceable contract for the client, to avoid misunderstanding and protect the client against legal disputes.

ANT Lawyers - a Law firm in Vietnam with international standard, local expertise and strong international network. We focus on customers’ needs and provide clients with a high quality legal advice and services. For advice or service request, please contact us via email ant@antlawyers.vn, or call us +84 24 730 86 529.

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Patent Registration Procedures in Vietnam

Patent ownership of an invention or a utility is only established by the registration procedure, and in accordance with the scope of protection defined in each patent in Vietnam.

Once a dispute arisen, without other evidences, the patent is the only and the most important proof to prove the ownership. Therefore, it is advised that filing a patent for an invention or a utility model shall be a prior prevention of an infringement.

 Under the laws on Intellectual Property of Vietnam:

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

Unless an invention is common knowledge, it shall be protected in the form of the grant of a utility solution patent (or a utility model) when it satisfies the following conditions:

-It is novel

-And it is susceptible of industrial application.

With highly professional staff and great experience in IP aspect in Vietnam, ANT Lawyers would like to support you in filing a Patent on an invention or a utility in Vietnam.

1. Our services in Patent for invention and Utility model

Our services in Patent field include:

-Searching, provision of professional opinions and advice in relation to registering ability of Patent/Utility model;

-Preparation, drafting the description and necessary documents, filing and prosecution of applications Patent/Utility model;

-Maintenance;

-Amendment;

-License;

-Assignment;

-Opposition against proceedings;

-Appeal;

-Cancellation;

-Invalidation;

2. How to file a patent in Vietnam

Inventors or Organizations or individuals who have supplied funds and material facilities to inventors in the form of job assignment or hiring have the right to file patent application in Vietnam.

An invention shall be protected in Vietnam when it satisfies the following conditions:

-Novelty;

-Inventive step;

-Industrial applicability;

3. Required information and documents

For the purpose of filling the patent application in Vietnam, the following documents will be required:

-Full name and address of applicant(s);

-Full name, address and nationality of inventor(s).

-Original Power of Attorney (POA) from the Applicant(s)

-Copy of the description, drawings and abstract of the patent application in English (in Word format) and/or the amended description, claims (if any);

-Certified document for claiming priority right (if any).

Note: The POA must be signed by the applicant or a duly authorized representative on behalf of the Applicant and no further notarization or legalization is required.

4. Patent Examination Procedure

The patent application will be examined by National Office of Intellectual Property of Viet Nam (NOIP) with Patent Examination Procedure as below:

-Formality examination: Under Intellectual Property Law of Vietnam, the above application will be examined as to form within one [01] month as from the filing date or date entering the national phase. If the invention application meets the requirements as to form, the NOIP will issue a decision of formality acceptance and then the application will be further processed. Publication of the Patent Application is within 02 months from publication date of 19 months from priority date.

-Substantive Examination: Substantive Examination does not automatically proceed from filing, and the applicant must request for substantive examination by 42 months from the priority date, or by 36 months if the request is for a utility model, otherwise the application will be considered as withdrawn.

-Notification of the Substantive Examination Results.

-The Decision of Refusal or Request to pay fee.

-Issuing the Patent of Invention.

5. Patent Term and Maintenance

Invention patents shall each have a validity starting from the grant date and expiring at the end of 20 years after the filing date. The owner of a Patent for Invention or Patent for Utility Model is required to pay annuity fees in order to maintain its validity.

If you are looking for an experienced IP services in Vietnam to help you with your IP application, you should visit ANTLawyers.vn. Our attorneys have experience with the IP process and will work closely with you as you apply for your IP.

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“First to File” Principle in Intellectual Property Registration

First to file principle is one of the two principles in protecting industrial property besides priority principle.

Accordingly, in case many applications are filed for registration of the same invention or similar inventions, or for registration of industrial designs identical with or insignificantly different from one another, the protection title may only be granted to the valid application with the earliest priority or filing date among applications satisfying all the conditions for the grant of a protection title.

Regarding trademark, in case there are more than one applications filed by different persons for registration of identical or confusingly similar marks for identical or similar products or services, or in case there are more than one applications filed by the same person for registration of identical marks for identical products or services, the protection title may only be granted for the mark in the valid application with the earliest priority or filing date among applications satisfying all the conditions for the grant of a protection title.

In case there are many registration applications specified above and satisfying all the conditions for the grant of a protection title and having the same earliest priority or filing date, the protection title 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 title.

To be concluded, this principle makes sure that one object of industrial property is granted for only one person or one organization. If the owner of object of industrial property could not consent to an agreement, all relevant objects of these applications will be refused for the grant of a protection title.

If the client needs help with handling such complaint, our intellectual property attorney in Vietnam at ANT Lawyers will be of help.

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How to Draft Contract for Licensing of Industrial Property Rights in Vietnam?

Licensing of industrial property rights is one of the legal measures to transfer technology. In accordance with Law on Intellectual Property, licensing of an industrial property rights means permission by the owner of such industrial property object for another organization or individual to use the industrial property object within the scope of the owner’s right.

Licensing of industrial property rights must be established in the form of a written contract. There are three types of industrial property object licence contracts: Exclusive contract; Non-exclusive contract; Industrial property object sub-licence contract.

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 not enter into any industrial property object licence contract with any third party and may use such industrial property object only with permission from the licensee.

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 industrial property object licence contract with others.

Industrial property object sub-licence contract means a contract under which the licensor is a licensee of the right to use such industrial property object pursuant to another contract.

What is the advantages and the disadvantages of licensing contract?

Firstly, for licensor, licensing can be used to access new markets that are not easily accessible. By allowing the licensee the right to market and distribute the products, the licensor can more easily enter the market; Licensing contract may stipulate measures for the licensor has the right of improvements, technical know-how and related products that will be developed by the licensee during the valid term of the contract. However, the licensor may not always claim these rights, and some countries have strict restrictions on including these types of terms in the licensing contract; Licensing is necessary if the product only sells best when combined or sold for use with another product; Last but not least, the licensing contract allows the licensor to hold ownership of the intellectual property and at the same time receive licensing fees, in addition to the profits gained from self-exploitation of such assets from products or services sold or provided by that party.

Besides the advantages, the licensing contract also has some disadvantages for the licensor. The licensee may become a competitor of the licensor. The licensee may make the licensor make less remuneration than the business losses resulting from the competition of the new competitor; The licensee may unexpectedly request contributions, for example, for technical assistance, human resource training, additional technical data, etc. It is important that the licensing contract must clearly stipulate the rights and obligations of the parties, whereby any disagreements that occur in the future can be resolved quickly and effectively; The licensor’s revenues depend on the skills, capabilities and resources of the licensee. This dependence is even greater in the case of exclusive licensing. The provisions of minimum wage and other provisions may be provided to avoid this, but this is still a concern.

Secondly, for the licensee, the advantage of a licensing contract is allowing access to technology that has been developed or is available to apply for helping businesses access to the market more quicly; Small companies may not have the resources to do and carry out the research to supply new and higher quality products. The licensing contract allows enterprises access to technical advances that are difficult to achieve by other measures; Licensing may also be necessary to maintain and develop an established market position but be threatened by new designs or production methods. Access to new technology through a licensing contract is the best way to overcome this challenge; There may be many opportunities to get a license when combining with existing company technologies can create new products, services and opportunities in the new market.

Regarding the disadvantage to the licensee, the licensee may have to make financial commitments to technology that is “not yet ready” for commercial exploitation, or need to modify the technology to meet its business needs; An intellectual property licensing contract may result in additional costs for the product. Many technologies integrated into products can create products with high technology content but are very expensive when publishing to market; Licensing may create technological dependence on suppliers, who may not extend the licensing contract and negotiate a licensing contract with other competitors to limit the market or to limit exploitation activities which was allowed in accordance with licensing contract.

ANT Lawyers - a Law firm in Vietnam with international standard, local expertise and strong international network. We focus on customers’ needs and provide clients with a high quality legal advice and services. For advice or service request, please contact us via email ant@antlawyers.vn, or call us +84 24 730 86 529.

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What are Forms of Arbitration Agreement under Vietnam Laws

Under Article 16 of Vietnam Law on Commercial Arbitration, forms of arbitration agreement resolving disputes are in written form.  In particular:

An arbitration agreement may be made in the form of an arbitral clause in a contract or in the form of a separate agreement.

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An arbitration agreement must be in writing. The following forms of agreement may also be regarded as written form:

1.Agreement made through communication between the parties by telegram, fax, telex, email or other forms provided for by law;

2.Agreement made through exchange of written information between the parties;

3.Agreement recorded in writing by a lawyer, notary public or competent institution at the request of the parties:

4.In their transactions, the parties make reference to a document such as a contract, document, company charter or other similar documents which contains an arbitration agreement;

5.Agreement made through exchange of petitions and self-defense statements which reflect the existence of an agreement proposed by a party and not denied by the other party.

In case multiple arbitration agreements are reached on the same dispute, the latest lawful agreement shall apply.

If the contents of an arbitration agreement are not clear or could be understood in more than one way, regulations of the Civil Code shall apply.

When there is a handover of rights and obligations under a transaction or contract which contains a lawful arbitration agreement, such agreement is still applicable to the transferee and the transferor, unless otherwise agreed by the parties concerned.

Multiple legal relationships to resolve the same case shall be combined if the parties agree to combine multiple legal relationships to resolve the same case, or the arbitration rules allow for combination of multiple legal relationships to resolve the same case.

ANT Lawyers - a Law firm in Vietnam with international standard, local expertise and strong international network. We focus on customers’ needs and provide clients with a high quality legal advice and services. For advice or service request, please contact us via email ant@antlawyers.vn, or call us +84 24 730 86 529.

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How Non-voting Depositary Receipt Work?

Decree No. 60/2015/ND-CP (Decree 60) amending and supplementing a number of articles of Decree No. 58/2012/ND-CP issued by the Government on May 26th, 2015 has lifted foreign ownership limit of the public enterprises (with conditions) and permitted enterprises operating in all sectors and areas without restriction on foreign ownership to self-set out limits of foreign ownership. 

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Although the Government has been facilitating foreign investor investing in the Vietnam stock market as well as Vietnam enterprises whom raise capital, the foreign investors still faced a number of challenges. The Decree 60 has taken effect since September 1st, 2015, but most public companies did not lift their foreign ownership limit over 51%. One of the reasons is that, the enterprises with 51% foreign ownership shall meet the statutory conditions and therefore have to follow the investment procedures applicable to foreign investors in accordance with the Law on Investment, Law on Securities and other guiding legislations. Having said that, Vietnam enterprises with over 51% foreign ownership shall be treated as foreign investor. These requirements shall significantly impact on business plans and procedures that an enterprise must comply and restrict them from doing business in some sectors. Accordingly, the daily purchase and sale of shares by foreign investors around the threshold of 51% of the charter capital makes it difficult to determine the legal status of an enterprise.

In order to facilitate the attraction of foreign capital inflows, the Government has been reviewing acceptance of non-voting depositary receipt (NVDR). The promulgation of the Enterprise Law 2020 effective from January 1st, 2021, initially recognized NVDR. Ordinary shares used as underlying assets to issue NVDR are called as underlying ordinary shares. Non-voting depository receipts have interest and obligations proportional to the underlying ordinary shares, excepting for voting rights. NVDR is a negotiable financial instrument issued by a third party which is a subsidiary of the Stock Exchange (Issuing Organization). The Issuing Organization will then hand over to investors all financial benefits attached stocks such as dividends, rights offering. This is a solution from other country that helps foreign investors to invest in public enterprises, even they such enterprises reached limit boundary of foreign ownership. NVDR can be converted into ordinary shares in case the public company has not yet reached foreign ownership limit.

ANT Lawyers - a Law firm in Vietnam with international standard, local expertise and strong international network. We focus on customers’ needs and provide clients with a high quality legal advice and services. For advice or service request, please contact us via email ant@antlawyers.vn, or call us +84 24 730 86 529.

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What Are Tax Obligations of a Representative Office in Vietnam?

Vietnam-based representative office of a foreign trader means a dependent unit of the foreign trader, which is established under the provisions of Vietnamese law to conduct market survey and a number of commercial promotion activities permitted by Vietnamese law.

Representative office of foreign trader in Vietnam has the rights and obligations in accordance with the law of Vietnam. Foreign trader is responsible before the law of Vietnam for all operations of its representative office in Vietnam.

Accordingly, representative office in Vietnam is not allowed to conduct business activities, nor carry out other activities for profit-generating purposes. The representative office in Vietnam only performs the activities for the right purposes, scope and duration specified in the certificate to establish the representative office. Besides, the representative office in Vietnam has the right to rent the head office, rent and buy the facilities and materials necessary for the operation of the representative office; to recruit Vietnamese and foreign employees to work at the representative office in accordance with the provisions of Vietnamese law; to use an account in foreign currency, in Vietnam dong of foreign currency origin opened by a foreign trader at a bank licensed to operate in Vietnam and only use this account for the operation of the representative office; to have a seal bearing the name of the representative office according to the provisions of Vietnamese law. Representative office in Vietnam can sign contracts, perform transactions with partners when authorized by the enterprise.

Hence, due to the limited scope of activities, the tax liability of a foreign representative office in Vietnam is narrower than that of an enterprise.  As the representative office does not produce or trade in goods and services, it is not required to pay license fees as prescribed. Representative office of foreign trader in Vietnam is dependent unit of foreign trader, established to investigate the market and carry out some trade promotion activities permitted by Vietnamese law, does not carry out production and business activities, so it is not required to pay license fees.

The fact that the representative office has the right to recruit Vietnamese or foreign employees to work at the office is the basis for arising personal income tax obligation. At the same time, representative office of foreign organization is subject to personal income tax registration. For employees working at foreign representative office in Vietnam, the taxable incomes are based on salaries and wages. Declaring, withholding, paying taxes and settling personal income tax of employees working at foreign representative office is the responsibility of such representative office.

ANT Lawyers, a law firm in Vietnam with offices in Hanoi, Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City could help client to set up representative office in Vietnam and advise on the compliance on regular basis.

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