Considering
trademark registration activities, the subject holder must comply with certain
conditions to fulfill its trademark registration rights.
According to Article 13.1 Law on Intellectual
Property amended in 2009:
-Organizations
and individuals may register marks to be used for goods they produce or
services they provide.
-Organizations
and individuals that conduct lawful commercial activities may register marks
for products they are marketing but produced by others, provided that the
producers neither use such marks for their products nor object to such
registration.
-Lawfully
established collective organizations may register collective marks to be used
by their members under regulations on use of collective marks. For signs
indicating geographical origins of goods or services, organizations that may
register them are collective organizations of organizations or individuals
engaged in production or trading in relevant localities. For other geographical
names or marks indicating geographical origins of local specialties of Vietnam,
the registration must be permitted by competent state agencies.
-Organizations
with the function of controlling and certifying the quality, properties, origin
or other relevant criteria of goods or services may register certification
marks, provided that they are not engaged in the production or trading of these
goods or services. For other geographical names or marks indicating
geographical origins of local specialties of Vietnam, the registration thereof
must be permitted by a competent state agency.
-Two
or more organizations or individuals may jointly register a mark in order to
become its co-owners on the following conditions: i) This mark 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; ii) The use of this mark causes
no confusion to consumers as to the origin of goods or services.
If
the subject falls into one of the cases mentioned above, they will have the
right to register the mark at the National Office of Intellectual Property.
After the subject condition has been met, consideration should be given to the
condition that a mark can be protected as a trademark. In particular (i) It is
a visible mark in the form of letters, words, drawings or images including
holograms, or a combination thereof, represented in one or more colors; (ii) It
is capable of distinctive goods or services of the mark owner from those of
other subjects.
However,
there are some exceptions even when the mark satisfies those two conditions.
For example, marks identical with or confusingly similar to national flags or
national emblems; or marks identical with or confusingly similar to emblems,
flags, armorial bearings, abbreviated names or full names of Vietnamese State
bodies, political organizations, socio-political organizations, socio-
politico-professional organizations, social organizations or socio-professional
organizations or with international organizations, unless permitted by such
bodies or organizations shall not be protected as a trademark.
In
order to register for protection of a trademark, the registrant should pay attention to the
subject matter and the conditions for the trademark to be protected in order to
avoid being refused at the registration authority because of the failure to
meet the conditions for the subject or the conditions for protection.
IP Attorney at ANT Lawyers – a Law Firm in Vietnam, a licensed IP agent in Vietnam shall be providing
the advice to client to help the clients evaluate and file registration for
trademark, patent, copyright and other IP related services
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