Regarding the subject matter, as one of the leading Vietnamese law firms, we are capable of assisting you with handling all IP matters in Vietnam in an efficient and cost-competitive manner.
For your further information, we cordially invite you to visit our official website at www.sblaw.vn. We hope to build up a long-term business relationship with your esteemed firm in the next time.
Regarding your enquiries concerning the subject matter, we would like to advise you procedure and our fee schedule in relation to the intellectual property registration proceeding in Vietnam as follows:
I. PATENT REGISTRATION
Procedure
Protection criteria:
A patent shall be eligible for protection in the form of the grant of a Patent for Invention or a Patent for Ultility solution when it satisfies the following conditions:
| Being novel | Being of an inventive step | Being susceptible of industrial application | |
| Patent for Invention | P | P | P |
| Patent for Utility solution | P | P |
Validity of Patent for Invention:
Patent for Invention shall have a validity starting from the granting date and expiring at the end of 20 years counting from the filing date.
Patent for Utility Solution shall have a validity starting from the granting date and expiring at the end of 10 years counting from the filing date.
Procedure and timeline:
A patent application will be examined through the following process:
| Time Frame | Content of examination | |
| Formality examination | 01-03 months from the filing date (if all required document are submitted) or from the date of supplementation of all documents | The legitimation of the application and enclosed documents will be examined. If these documents meet the formality requirements, the Department of Patent will issue the decision on the legitimate formality of the application. |
| Publication | Within 19 months from the filing date (if no request for early publication) | The application will be published on the Industrial Property Gazette. |
| Substantive examination | Within 18 months from the date of filing request for substantive examination (if it is filed after the publication date) or from the publication date (if the request for substantive examination is filed before the publication date) | The protective criteria of the patent will be examined. |
| Granting | 01-03 months from the date of Notification of granting Patent | - The Applicant pays the registration and publication fees. The Patent will be published on Industrial Property Gazette. |
Required documents and information:
The following documents/information should be provided:
- The Power of Attorney which is only simply to be signed by the Applicant, neither notarization nor legalization is required (The copy of the POA can be accepted at the time of filing but the original one must be lodged within 01 month from the filing date);
- The paper on assignment of the right to file an application in the national phase (if any) within 34 months from the date of priority;
- The copy of the international application (if the applicant requests the entry into the national phase before the date of publication of the international publication);
- Name and address of:
- Applicant;
- Author(s) of invention/utility solution;
- A soft copy in word format of the English specification of the application for translation into Vietnamese is requested to provide via email at the time of instruction.
- The claims and and specification of the Patent.
Fee schedule
The basic fees are calculated based on the number of independent claim, pages of Vietnamese specification, priority claims and words of specification of the patent.
II. INDUSTRIAL DESIGN REGISTRATION
Procedure
Protection criteria
An industrial design shall be eligible for protection in the form of the grant of a Patent for Industrial Design when it satisfies the following conditions:
| Being novel | Being of an inventive step | Being susceptible of industrial application | |
| Patent for industrial design | P | P | P |
An industrial design shall have more than one embodiment. Thus, to get the greatest protection for the industrial design, you should register all embodiments related to the industrial design.
Validity of Patent for Industrial Design
Patent for Industrial Design shall have a validity starting from the granting date and expiring at the end of 05 years counting from the filing date. It may be renewed for two consecutive terms, each of 05 years. In conclusion, the maximum term of the Patent for Industrial Design is 15 years counting from the filing date.
Procedure and timeline
An industrial design application will be examined through the following process:
| Time Frame | Content of examination | |
| Formality examination | 01-02 months from the filing date (if all required documents are submitted) or from the date of supplementation of all documents. | The legitimation of the application and enclosed documents will be examined. If these documents meet the formality requirements, the Department of Industrial Design will issue the decision on the legitimate formality of the application. |
| Publication | 02 months from the date of acceptance of application (if no request for early publication). | The application will be published on the Industrial Property Gazette. |
| Substantive examination | 09-12 months from the publication date. | The protective criteria of the industrial design will be examined. |
| Granting | 01-03 months from the date of Notification of granting Patent for Industrial Design. | - The Applicant pays the registration and publication fee.
- The Industrial Design will be published on Industrial Property Gazette. |
Required documents and information
For us to filing a patent application, the following documents/information should be provided:
- The Power of Attorney which is only simply to be signed by the Applicant, neither notarization nor legalization is required;
- Name and address of:
- Applicant;
- Author(s) of industrial design;
- Title of the industrial design;
Indication of the kind of products for which the industrial design is to be used;
- Priority document (if any);
- The set of picture of the industrial design under the guideline of SBLAW.
III. TRADEMARK REGISTRATION
Trademark information
- Trademarks: (Please specify)
- Class(es): (Please specify)
- List of goods/services: (Please specify)
Fee schedule
In Vietnam, multi-class application is applicable. The basic fees are calculated based on the number of class of goods/services (G/S) in each application as well as the number of products designated in each class in the application.
The duration for a trademark application from mature to proceed to registration is around 16-20 months from the filing date, involving these stages (1) examination as to formality and publication on the Gazette (3-4 months); (2) examination as to substance (11-12 months) and (3) issuance of registration certificate for the registered mark (2-4 months). Kindly note that the term for registration process normally takes longer to several months in practice due to the workload of the NOIP and the slow examination process by the NOIP’s examiner.
The duration of a trademark searches is around 10-15 working days.
Required documents and information
- Name and address of the Applicant.
- List of Goods/Services.
- Specimen of the applied mark (in e-copy only).
- An original Power of Attorney which is simply signed by the Applicant. No need notarization. (SBLAW’s form). No need notarization. Please be informed that a scanned/faxed copy of the Power of Attorney is acceptable upon filing provided that the original copy is submitted within 01 month from the filing date; One original Power of Attorney can be used for filling one or more applications.
