Strong year for insurance industry
Vietnamese firms urged to use patents to protect intellectual property

Le Ngoc Lam, deputy director general of the Intellectual Property Rights Office. Photo khoahocphattrien.vn

What are the changes in the revised Law on Insurance Business and Law on Intellectual Property Rights which were recently passed by the National Assembly?

The Law on Intellectual Property Rights was approved by the National Assembly on November 29, 2005 and it came into force on July 1, 2006. The law covers the authors’ rights and other rights relating to authors, industrial rights, rights on plant seeds and the protection of these rights.

The Revised Law on Intellection Property Rights contains some new articles on industrial property rights on the patent, the industrial design, the label and others which have been certified by authorities.

All registration letters for trademarks or geographical indications which were sent to the Intellectual Property Office of Vietnam before January 14 this year will be continued to be settled in accordance with the Law on Intellectual Property rights which has been revised and had certain articles supplemented.

All contracts on the use of labels which were already registered with the concerned authorised agency before January 14 will only be valid toward the third party from January 14.

What changes should Vietnamese enterprises adopt to protect themselves?

It is indisputable that all intellectual property rights written in the Comprehensive and Progress Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) are very advanced, much more advanced than in all the other free trade agreements (FTAs) to which Vietnam is a signatory.

Most of the FTAs were based on the ceiling of the Agreement of the Trade Related Aspect of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) to which Vietnam is a signatory. However, the requirements of the CPTPP are much more demanding than those of TRIPS, a big challenge for Vietnam.

All Vietnamese enterprises and researchers should carefully read legal documents to understand what they should do for their own benefits in the field of intellectual property rights amid international integration.

Under the CPTPP all members have the responsibility to get involved in and all concerned courts are obliged to consider submitted evidence in the court trial process.

The CPTPP also requires co-operation between countries sharing borders, including border customs activities towards the import-export of fake goods and illegal goods.

Under the CPTPP, within 30 days following the signing of a decision to temporarily hold up the cross border goods, authorised agencies should come up with sanction measures.

In the meantime, in those 30 days, the custom office has the duty to provide all related information to the concerned administration for them to consider if they should take the next step to handle the issue.

VNS