Once a trademark protection title has been registered and granted, trademark holders will have the rights to use and protect their marks.

Right to register trademarks

All organizations or individuals have the right to register marks to be used for the goods they produce or the services they provide.

Organizations or individuals lawfully trading products produced by others have the right to register trademarks for such products, provided that the producers do not use such trademarks for their products, and they do not object to the registration of such trademarks.

For example: Big C Supermarket registered trademarks for the confectionery brands they currently sell, which were produced by other entities.

Collective organizations have the right to register collective trademarks.

For example: The Luc Ngan Association of Farmers registered a collective trademark for Luc Ngan lychees.

The registration of signs indicating the geographical origins of goods or services and local specialties of Vietnam must be approved by competent state agencies.

For example: Buon Ma Thuot Coffee Association has been authorized by the People’s Committee of Buon Ma Thuot City to register the trademark “BUON MA THUOT COFFEE”.

Organizations with the function of controlling and certifying quality, properties, origin or other relevant criteria of goods or services have the right to register certification marks, provided that they are not engaged in the production or trading of such goods or services.

For example: The People’s Committee of Thua Thien Hue Province manages the certification mark ‘Bún Bò Huế’.

Two or more organizations or individuals are entitled to jointly register a trademark on the following conditions:

• The trademark 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;
• The use of the trademark causes no confusion to consumers as to the origin of the goods or services.

The registration right may be assigned to other organizations or individuals in the form of written contracts during the assessment process and approved by the National Office of Intellectual Property (NOIP).

For a trademark protected in a country being a contracting party to a treaty to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is also a contracting party, no one shall be permitted to register such a trademark unless the consent of the trademark owner is given.

For example: A Vietnamese enterprise imports and distributes Japanese production equipment; the trademark of said equipment is protected in Japan. Both Japan and Vietnam are members of the Madrid Protocol.

Therefore, without the consent of the Japanese partner, the Vietnamese agency is not allowed to register the trademark for trademark protection in Vietnam.

Article 87 of the 2005 Law on Intellectual Property, amended in 2009

Procedures for processing trademark registration applications

Article 108, 109, 110, and 119 of the 2005 Law on Intellectual Property, amended in 2009

Application of trademark registration

• A declaration for registration of a trademark.
• Documents, samples, and information identifying the trademark registered for protection.
• Power of attorney, if the application is filed through a representative.
• Documents verifying the registration right, if the right is acquired by the applicant from another person.
• Documents verifying the priority right, if such a right is claimed.
  • A copy of the first application(s) with a certified receipt;
  • A written transfer of the priority right if such a right is inherited from another person.
• Voucher of payment of filing fee.

Article 100 and 105 of the 2005 Law on Intellectual Property, amended in 2009

PLF is the Organization of Industrial Property Representation in Vietnam – an entity authorized by the National Office of Intellectual Property to act on behalf of individuals and enterprises to establish and enforce intellectual property rights.

Organizations and individuals seeking PLF’s assistance in trademark registration only need to provide the following information:

• Information of the trademark holder;
• Documents, samples, and information identifying the trademark registered for protection.

Documents in the trademark registration application must be in Vietnamese.