Intellectual Property Law 2005 (50/2005/QH11)

Pursuant to the Constitution of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam in 1992, as amended and supplemented according to Resolution No. 51/2001/QH10 dated December 25, 2001, of the 10th National Assembly, 10th session;

This law stipulates intellectual property.

PART ONE. GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope of regulation

This law stipulates copyright, rights related to copyright, industrial property rights, rights to plant varieties, and the protection of those rights.

Article 2. Subjects of application

This law applies to Vietnamese organizations and individuals; foreign organizations and individuals that meet the conditions stipulated in this law and international treaties to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a member.

Amended and supplemented provisions:

Article 3. Subjects of intellectual property rights

1. Subjects of copyright include literary, artistic, and scientific works; subjects of rights related to copyright include performances, sound recordings, audiovisual recordings, broadcast programs, and satellite signals carrying encrypted programs.

2. Objects of industrial property rights include inventions, industrial designs, layout designs of semiconductor integrated circuits, trade secrets, trademarks, trade names, and geographical indications.

3. The subject of rights to plant varieties is plant varieties and propagating materials.

Amended and supplemented provisions:

Article 4. Interpretation of Terms

In this Law, the terms below are understood as follows:

1. Intellectual property rights are the rights of organizations and individuals over intellectual property assets, including copyright and rights related to copyright, industrial property rights, and rights to plant varieties.

2. Copyright is the right of organizations and individuals over works they have created or own.

3. Rights related to copyright (hereinafter referred to as related rights) are the rights of organizations and individuals over performances, audio recordings, video recordings, broadcasts, and satellite signals carrying encrypted programs.

4. Industrial property rights are the rights of organizations and individuals over inventions, industrial designs, semiconductor layout designs, trademarks, trade names, geographical indications, business secrets that they have created or own, and the right to prevent unfair competition.

5. Plant variety rights are the rights of an organization or individual over a new plant variety that they have created, discovered, and developed or have the right to own.

6. The subjects of intellectual property rights are the owners of intellectual property rights or organizations and individuals to whom the owners have transferred the intellectual property rights.

7. A work is a creative product in the field of literature, art, and science, expressed in any means or form.

8. A derivative work is a work translated from one language to another, adapted, modified, converted, compiled, annotated, or selected.

9. Published works, sound recordings, and audiovisual recordings are works, sound recordings, and audiovisual recordings that have been released with the consent of the copyright owner or related rights owner for distribution to the public in a reasonable number of copies.

10. Copying is the act of creating one or more copies of a work or sound or video recording by any means or in any form, including regularly or temporarily storing the work in electronic form.

11. Broadcasting is the transmission of sound or images or both sound and images of a work, performance, sound or video recording, broadcast program to the public by wireless or wired means, including transmission via satellite so that the public can receive it at a location and time of their choice.

12. An invention is a technical solution in the form of a product or process that solves a specific problem by applying the laws of nature.

13. Industrial design is the external appearance of a product expressed through shapes, lines, colors, or a combination of these elements.

14. A semiconductor integrated circuit is a product in the form of a finished or semi-finished product, in which elements with at least one active element and some or all of the connections are embedded inside or on the semiconductor material to perform electronic functions. Integrated circuits are synonymous with ICs, chips, and microelectronic circuits.

15. The design layout of a semiconductor integrated circuit (hereafter referred to as the design layout) is the spatial structure of circuit elements and the connections of those elements within the semiconductor integrated circuit.

16. A trademark is a sign used to distinguish the goods or services of different organizations or individuals.

17. A collective trademark is a trademark used to distinguish the goods and services of the members of the organization that owns the trademark from the goods and services of organizations or individuals who are not members of that organization.

18. A certification trademark is a trademark that the owner permits other organizations or individuals to use on their goods or services to certify characteristics such as origin, materials, production methods of goods, methods of providing services, quality, accuracy, safety, or other characteristics of the goods or services bearing the trademark.

19. An associated trademark is a trademark registered by the same entity, identical or similar, used for products or services of the same or similar kind, or related to each other.

20. A famous trademark is a trademark widely known by consumers throughout the territory of Vietnam.

21. A trade name is the name of an organization or individual used in business activities to distinguish the business entity that carries that name from other business entities in the same field and business area. The business area specified in this clause is the geographical area where the business entity has partners, customers, or reputation.

22. A geographical indication is a sign used to indicate that a product originates from a specific area, locality, territorial region, or country.

23. A trade secret is information obtained from financial or intellectual investment activities, which has not been disclosed and can be used in business.

24. A plant variety is a population of plants belonging to the same lowest plant taxonomic rank, uniform in morphology, stable through propagation cycles, identifiable by the expression of traits determined by the genotype or combination of genotypes, and distinguishable from any other plant population by the expression of at least one heritable trait.

25. A protection certificate is a document issued by a competent state agency to an organization or individual to establish industrial property rights over inventions, industrial designs, layout designs, trademarks, geographical indications; and rights over plant varieties.

Article 5. Application of the law

1. In cases of civil issues related to intellectual property not stipulated in this Law, the provisions of the Civil Code shall apply.

2. In case there is a difference between the provisions on intellectual property in this Law and the provisions of other laws, the provisions of this Law shall apply.

3. In case an international treaty to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a member has provisions different from those of this Law, the provisions of that international treaty shall apply.

Article 6. Grounds for the emergence and establishment of intellectual property rights

1. Copyright arises from the moment a work is created and expressed in a certain physical form, regardless of content, quality, form, means, language, whether it has been published or not, registered or not.

2. Related rights arise from the moment a performance, audio or video recording, broadcast program, or satellite signal carrying the program is formed or carried out without causing harm to copyright.

3. Industrial property rights are established as follows:

Amended and supplemented provisions:

a) Industrial property rights to inventions, industrial designs, layout designs, trademarks, and geographical indications are established based on the decision to grant a protection certificate by the competent state authority in accordance with the registration procedures prescribed in this Law or the recognition of international registration under the provisions of international treaties to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a member; for well-known trademarks, the rights are established based on use, regardless of the registration procedure;

b) Industrial property rights to trade names are established based on the lawful use of that trade name;

c) Industrial property rights to trade secrets are established based on legally obtaining the trade secret and carrying out measures to keep the trade secret confidential;

d) The right against unfair competition is established based on business competition activities.

4. Rights to plant varieties are established based on the decision to grant a Plant Variety Protection Certificate by the competent state authority according to the registration procedure stipulated in this Law.

Amended and supplemented provisions:

Article 7. Limitations of intellectual property rights

1. Intellectual property right holders are only allowed to exercise their rights within the scope and duration of protection prescribed by this Law.

2. The exercise of intellectual property rights must not infringe upon the interests of the State, public interests, the rights and lawful interests of other organizations and individuals, and must not violate other relevant legal provisions.

3. In cases to ensure the objectives of national defense, security, people's livelihoods, and other interests of the State and society specified in this Law, the State has the right to prohibit or restrict the exercise of rights by intellectual property subjects or require intellectual property subjects to allow other organizations or individuals to use one or more of their rights under appropriate conditions.

Amended and supplemented provisions:

Article 8. State Policy on Intellectual Property

1. Recognize and protect the intellectual property rights of organizations and individuals on the basis of ensuring a balance between the interests of intellectual property rights holders and the public interest; not to protect intellectual property objects contrary to social ethics, public order, or harmful to national defense and security.

2. Encourage and promote creative activities and the exploitation of intellectual property assets in order to contribute to socio-economic development and improve the material and spiritual life of the people.

3. Financial support for the acquisition, exploitation of intellectual property rights serving public interest; encouraging domestic and foreign organizations and individuals to sponsor creative activities and intellectual property protection.

4. Prioritize investment in training and fostering teams of officials, public employees, and related individuals involved in intellectual property protection and research, application of science and technology regarding intellectual property protection.

Article 9. Rights and responsibilities of organizations and individuals in protecting intellectual property rights

Organizations and individuals have the right to apply measures permitted by law to protect their own intellectual property rights and have the responsibility to respect the intellectual property rights of other organizations and individuals in accordance with this Law and other relevant legal provisions.

Article 10. Contents of state management on intellectual property

1. Develop and direct the implementation of strategies and policies for the protection of intellectual property rights.

2. Issue and organize the implementation of legal documents on intellectual property.

3. Organize the management apparatus for intellectual property; train and foster personnel in intellectual property.

4. Grant and carry out other procedures related to the Certificate of Copyright Registration, Certificate of Related Rights Registration, protection certificates for industrial property objects, and Plant Variety Protection Certificates.

5. Inspect and supervise compliance with intellectual property laws; resolve complaints and denunciations, and handle violations of intellectual property law.

6. Organize information and statistical activities on intellectual property.

7. Organize and manage the appraisal activities for intellectual property.

8. Educate, propagate, and disseminate knowledge and laws on intellectual property.

9. International cooperation on intellectual property.

Amended and supplemented provisions:

Article 11. Responsibility for State Management of Intellectual Property

1. The government shall unify the state management of intellectual property.

Amended and supplemented provisions:

2. The Ministry of Science and Technology shall be responsible to the Government for leading and coordinating with the Ministry of Culture and Information, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in implementing state management of intellectual property and state management of industrial property rights. Within the scope of their tasks and powers, the Ministry of Culture and Information shall implement state management of copyright and related rights. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, within the scope of its tasks and powers, shall implement state management of plant variety rights.

Amended and supplemented provisions:

3. Ministries, ministerial-level agencies, and government-affiliated agencies, within the scope of their tasks and powers, are responsible for coordinating with the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Culture and Information, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, and the People's Committees of provinces and centrally-run cities in the state management of intellectual property.

4. People's Committees at all levels shall implement state management of intellectual property in their localities according to their authority.

Amended and supplemented provisions:

5. The Government shall specify the authority and responsibilities for state management of intellectual property of the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Culture and Information, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, and People's Committees at all levels.

Article 12. Fees and charges for intellectual property

Organizations and individuals shall pay fees and charges when conducting procedures related to intellectual property rights as stipulated by this Law and other relevant legal provisions.

PART TWO. COPYRIGHT AND RELATED RIGHTS

Chapter I. CONDITIONS FOR PROTECTING COPYRIGHT AND RELATED RIGHTS

Section 1. CONDITIONS FOR PROTECTING COPYRIGHT

Article 13. Authors and copyright owners whose works are protected by copyright

1. Organizations and individuals with works protected by copyright include the person directly creating the work and the copyright owner as stipulated in Articles 37 to 42 of this Law.

2. Authors, copyright holders specified in Clause 1 of this Article include Vietnamese organizations and individuals; foreign organizations and individuals whose works are first published in Vietnam and have not been published in any other country or are published simultaneously in Vietnam within thirty days from the date that work is first published in another country; foreign organizations and individuals whose works are protected in Vietnam under international treaties on copyright to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a member.

Amended and supplemented provisions:

Article 14. Types of works protected by copyright

1. Literary, artistic, and scientific works protected include:

a) Literary, scientific works, textbooks, educational materials, and other works expressed in writing or by other characters;

b) Lectures, speeches, and other addresses;

c) Journalistic works;

d) Musical works;

e) Stage works;

e) Cinematographic works and works created by similar methods (hereinafter collectively referred to as cinematographic works);

g) Plastic arts works, applied arts works;

h) Photographic works;

i) Architectural works;

k) Drafts, diagrams, maps, drawings related to terrain, scientific works;

l) Folk literary and artistic works;

m) Computer programs, data collections.

2. Derivative works shall only be protected under the provisions of clause 1 of this Article if they do not harm the copyright of the works used to create the derivative works.

3. Works protected under clauses 1 and 2 of this Article must be directly created by the author through their intellectual labor and not copied from the works of others.

4. The Government shall provide specific guidance on the types of works specified in clause 1 of this Article.

Article 15. Objects not within the scope of copyright protection

1. Pure current news reporting.

2. Legal normative documents, administrative documents, other documents in the judicial field, and official translations of those documents.

3. Processes, systems, operating methods, concepts, principles, data.

Section 2. CONDITIONS FOR PROTECTION OF RELATED RIGHTS

Article 16. Organizations and individuals entitled to protection of related rights

1. Actors, singers, musicians, dancers, and others performing literary and artistic works (hereinafter collectively referred to as performers).

2. Organizations and individuals as the owners of performances specified in Clause 1, Article 44 of this Law.

3. Organizations and individuals who first fix the sound, images of a performance, or other sounds and images (hereinafter referred to as phonogram or videogram producers).

4. Organizations initiating and carrying out broadcasting (hereinafter referred to as broadcasters).

Article 17. Objects of related rights that are protected

1. A performance is protected if it falls under one of the following cases:

a) A performance conducted by a Vietnamese citizen in Vietnam or abroad;

b) A performance conducted by a foreigner in Vietnam;

c) A performance recorded on an audio or video recording protected according to the provisions of Article 30 of this Law;

d) A performance not yet recorded on audio or video but has been broadcast, protected according to the provisions of Article 31 of this Law;

đ) A performance protected under an international treaty to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a member.

2. Audio or video recordings are protected if they fall under one of the following cases:

a) Sound recordings and audiovisual recordings of producers who are Vietnamese nationals;

b) Sound recordings and audiovisual recordings of producers protected under international treaties to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a member.

3. Broadcast programs and satellite signals carrying encrypted programs are protected if they fall under one of the following cases:

a) Broadcast programs and satellite signals carrying encrypted programs of broadcasting organizations that are Vietnamese nationals;

b) Broadcast programs and satellite signals carrying encrypted programs of broadcasting organizations protected under international treaties to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a member.

4. Performances, sound recordings, audiovisual recordings, broadcast programs, and satellite signals carrying encrypted programs are only protected according to the provisions in Clauses 1, 2, and 3 of this Article on the condition that they do not harm the author's rights.

Chapter II. CONTENT, SCOPE OF RIGHTS, TERM OF COPYRIGHT PROTECTION, RELATED RIGHTS

Section 1. CONTENT, SCOPE OF RIGHTS, TERM OF COPYRIGHT PROTECTION

Article 18. Copyright

Copyright in a work as prescribed in this Law includes moral rights and property rights.

Article 19. Moral Rights

Moral rights include the following rights:

1. To give a title to the work;

2. To use real name or pseudonym on the work; to have one's real name or pseudonym mentioned when the work is published or used;

3. To publish the work or authorize others to publish the work;

4. To protect the integrity of the work, preventing others from altering, abridging, or distorting the work in any form that harms the honor and reputation of the author.

Article 20. Property Rights

1. Property rights include the following rights:

a) To create derivative works;

b) To perform the work publicly;

c) To reproduce the work;

d) Distributing, importing the original or copies of the work;

d) Communicating the work to the public by wired, wireless, electronic information networks, or any other technical means;

e) Renting the original or copies of cinematographic works, computer programs.

2. The rights specified in paragraph 1 of this Article are exclusively exercised by the author or copyright owner or may be authorized to others in accordance with the provisions of this Law.

3. Organizations or individuals when exploiting or using one, some, or all of the rights specified in paragraph 1 of this Article and paragraph 3 of Article 19 of this Law must obtain permission and pay royalties, remuneration, and other material benefits to the copyright owner.

Article 21. Copyright for cinematographic works, stage works

1. Persons working as directors, screenwriters, cinematographers, film editors, music composers, art designers, sound designers, lighting designers, set designers, prop designers, special effects artists, and other creative roles in cinematic works shall enjoy the rights prescribed in Clauses 1, 2, and 4 of Article 19 of this Law, as well as other rights as agreed. Persons working as directors, screenwriters, choreographers, music composers, art designers, sound designers, lighting designers, stage art designers, prop designers, special effects artists, and other creative roles in stage works shall enjoy the rights prescribed in Clauses 1, 2, and 4 of Article 19 of this Law, as well as other rights as agreed.

2. Organizations and individuals who invest financially and in technical facilities for the production of cinematographic works and stage works are the owners of the rights stipulated in Clause 3, Article 19, and Article 20 of this Law.

3. Organizations and individuals specified in Clause 2 of this Article are obliged to pay royalties, remuneration, and other material benefits as agreed with the persons specified in Clause 1 of this Article.

Article 22. Copyright on computer programs, data collections

1. A computer program is a set of instructions expressed in the form of commands, codes, diagrams, or any other form, which, when attached to a medium readable by a computer, has the ability to cause the computer to perform a task or achieve a specific result. Computer programs are protected as literary works, whether expressed in source code or machine code.

2. A data compilation is a collection with a creative character demonstrated in the selection and arrangement of materials in electronic form or other forms. Copyright protection for a data compilation does not include the materials themselves and does not infringe upon the copyright of those materials.

Article 23. Copyright on folk literary and artistic works

1. Folk literary and artistic works are collective creations based on the tradition of a group or individuals, aimed at reflecting the aspirations of the community, appropriately expressing their cultural and social characteristics, and the standards and values passed down through imitation or other means. Folk literary and artistic works include:

a) Stories, poems, riddles;

b) Songs, musical tunes;

c) Dance movements, performances, rituals, and games;

d) Artistic products in graphics, painting, sculpture, musical instruments, architectural models, and other forms of art expressed in any physical form.

2. Organizations and individuals using folk literary and artistic works must cite the origin of that type of work and ensure the preservation of the authentic value of the folk literary and artistic work.

Article 24. Copyright for literary, artistic, and scientific works

The protection of copyright for literary, artistic, and scientific works as stipulated in Clause 1, Article 14 of this Law shall be specifically regulated by the Government.

Amended and supplemented provisions:

Article 25. Cases of using published works without permission, payment of royalties, or remuneration

1. Cases of using published works without requiring permission and without paying royalties or remuneration include:

a) Self-copying a copy for the purpose of personal scientific research or teaching;

b) Reasonably quote a work without distorting the author's intent for commentary or illustration in your own work;

c) Quote a work without distorting the author's intent for writing articles, using in periodicals, in radio and television programs, documentaries;

d) Quote a work for teaching in schools without distorting the author's intent, not for commercial purposes;

đ) Copy a work for storage in a library for research purposes;

e) Perform stage works or other forms of artistic performances in cultural activities or propaganda events without charging any fees in any form;

g) Record audio or video of live performances to report news or for teaching purposes;

h) Photographing, broadcasting works of plastic arts, architecture, photography, and applied arts displayed in public places to introduce the image of that work;

i) Transferring works into Braille or another language for the visually impaired;

k) Importing copies of another person's work for personal use.

2. Organizations and individuals using works specified in Clause 1 of this Article must not affect the normal exploitation of the work, must not harm the rights of the author or copyright holder; they must provide information about the author's name and the origin of the work.

3. The use of works in the cases specified in Clause 1 of this Article does not apply to architectural works, plastic arts works, computer programs.

Amended and supplemented provisions:

Article 26. Cases of using published works that do not require permission but must pay royalties and remuneration.

1. Broadcasting organizations using published works to carry out programs that are sponsored, advertised, or monetized in any form are not required to obtain permission but must pay royalties or fees to the copyright owners as prescribed by the Government.

2. Organizations and individuals using works specified in Clause 1 of this Article must not affect the normal exploitation of the work, must not harm the rights of the author or copyright holder; they must provide information about the author's name and the origin of the work.

3. The use of works in the cases specified in Clause 1 of this Article does not apply to cinematographic works.

Amended and supplemented provisions:

Article 27. Term of copyright protection

1. The moral rights stipulated in Clauses 1, 2, and 4 of Article 19 of this Law are protected indefinitely.

2. The moral rights stipulated in Clause 3 of Article 19 and the economic rights stipulated in Article 20 of this Law have the term of protection as follows:

a) Cinematographic works, photographic works, stage works, applied fine arts works, and anonymous works have a protection term of fifty years from the date the work is first published. Within fifty years, from when a cinematographic work or stage work is fixed, if the work has not been published, the term is counted from when the work is fixed; for anonymous works, when information about the author appears, the protection term is calculated according to the provisions in point b of this clause;

b) Works not belonging to the types stipulated in point a of this clause have a protection term for the lifetime of the author and fifty years following the year of the author's death; in the case of works with co-authors, the protection term ends fifty years after the year the last co-author dies;

c) The protection period specified in points a and b of this clause ends at 24:00 on December 31 of the year in which the copyright protection period expires.

Article 28. Acts of copyright infringement

1. Appropriating copyright in literary, artistic, or scientific works.

2. Impersonating the author.

3. Publishing or distributing works without the permission of the author.

4. Publishing or distributing works with co-authors without the permission of those co-authors.

5. Altering, cutting, or distorting the work in any form that harms the honor and reputation of the author.

6. Copying works without the permission of the author or the copyright owner, except in cases specified in points a and b, clause 1, Article 25 of this Law.

7. Creating a derivative work without the permission of the author or copyright owner of the work used to make the derivative work, except in the case stipulated in point i, clause 1, Article 25 of this Law.

8. Using a work without the permission of the copyright owner, not paying royalties, remuneration, or other financial benefits as stipulated by law, except in cases specified in Clause 1, Article 25 of this Law.

9. Renting out a work without paying royalties, remuneration, and other financial benefits to the author or the copyright owner.

10. Reproducing, producing copies, distributing, exhibiting, or communicating a work to the public via media networks and digital means without the permission of the copyright owner.

11. Publishing a work without the permission of the copyright owner.

12. Intentionally canceling or nullifying technical measures implemented by the copyright owner to protect their copyright in their work.

13. Intentionally deleting or altering electronic rights management information contained in the work.

14. Manufacturing, assembling, modifying, distributing, importing, exporting, selling, or leasing equipment knowing or having grounds to know that such equipment circumvents technical measures implemented by the copyright owner to protect their copyright in their work.

15. Creating and selling works in which the author's signature is forged.

16. Exporting, importing, or distributing copies of works without the permission of the copyright owner.

Section 2. CONTENT, LIMITATION OF RIGHTS, DURATION OF RELATED RIGHTS PROTECTION

Article 29. Rights of performers

1. A performer who is also the producer has moral rights and economic rights over the performance; in the case where the performer is not also the producer, the performer has moral rights and the producer has economic rights over the performance.

2. Moral rights include the following rights:

a) To be credited by name when performing, when releasing audio recordings, video recordings, or broadcasting the performance;

b) To protect the integrity of the performance image, not allowing others to alter, cut, or distort it in any form that could harm the honor and reputation of the performer.

3. Property rights include the exclusive right to perform or allow others to perform the following rights:

a) To shape one's live performance on audio or video recordings;

b) To directly or indirectly reproduce one's performance that has been recorded on audio or video;

c) To broadcast or otherwise transmit to the public a performance that has not been recorded, where the public can access it, except in cases where the performance is intended for broadcasting.

d) Distribute to the public the original and copies of their performance through sale, rental, or distribution by any technical means that the public can access.

4. Organizations and individuals exploiting or using the rights stipulated in Clause 3 of this Article must pay remuneration to the performer as prescribed by law or according to an agreement in cases where the law does not provide.

Amended and supplemented provisions:

Article 30. Rights of sound and audiovisual recording producers

1. Producers of sound and audiovisual recordings have the exclusive right to perform or authorize others to perform the following rights:

a) Directly or indirectly copy their sound or audiovisual recordings;

b) Distribute to the public the original and copies of their audio or video recordings through sale, rental, or distribution by any technical means accessible to the public.

2. Producers of audio and video recordings are entitled to material benefits when their recordings are distributed to the public.

Article 31. Rights of broadcasting organizations

1. Broadcasting organizations have the exclusive right to exercise or authorize others to exercise the following rights:

a) Broadcast or rebroadcast their own programs;

b) Distribute their programs to the public;

c) Fix their programs;

d) Reproduce the fixed version of their programs.

2. Broadcasting organizations are entitled to material benefits when their programs are recorded, fixed, and distributed to the public.

Article 32. Cases of using related rights without permission and without paying royalties or remuneration

1. Cases of using related rights without permission and without paying royalties or remuneration include:

a) Making a personal copy for scientific research purposes;

b) Making a personal copy for teaching purposes, except in the case of performances, sound recordings, audiovisual recordings, or broadcasts that have been published for teaching;

c) Fair quotation for the purpose of providing information;

d) Broadcasting organizations making temporary copies for broadcasting when enjoying broadcasting rights.

2. Organizations and individuals using the rights stipulated in Clause 1 of this Article must not affect the normal exploitation of performances, sound recordings, audiovisual recordings, and broadcasts, and must not harm the rights of performers, producers of sound and audiovisual recordings, or broadcasting organizations.

Amended and supplemented provisions:

Article 33. Cases of exercising related rights without permission but required to pay royalties, remuneration

1. Organizations and individuals using related rights in the following cases do not need to obtain permission but must pay royalties or remuneration according to agreements to the author, copyright holder, performer, producer of audio or video recordings, or broadcasting organization:

a) Direct or indirect use of published audio or video recordings for commercial purposes to carry out broadcast programs with sponsorship, advertisements, or collect money in any form;

b) Use of published audio or video recordings in business or commercial activities.

2. Organizations and individuals using the rights stipulated in Clause 1 of this Article must not affect the normal exploitation of performances, sound recordings, audiovisual recordings, and broadcasts, and must not harm the rights of performers, producers of sound and audiovisual recordings, or broadcasting organizations.

Article 34. Term of protection of related rights

1. The rights of performers are protected for fifty years from the year following the year in which the performance was fixed.

2. The rights of producers of sound recordings and audiovisual recordings are protected for fifty years from the year following the year of publication or fifty years from the year following the year the sound or audiovisual recording is fixed if the recording has not been published.

3. The rights of broadcasting organizations are protected for fifty years from the year following the year the broadcast program is made.

4. The protection period stipulated in clauses 1, 2, and 3 of this Article ends at 24:00 on December 31 of the year in which the protection period of related rights expires.

Article 35. Acts of Infringing Related Rights

1. Seizing the rights of performers, producers of sound recordings and audiovisual recordings, and broadcasting organizations.

2. Impersonating performers, phonogram or videogram producers, or broadcasting organizations.

3. Publishing, producing, and distributing a fixed performance, phonogram, videogram, or broadcast program without the permission of the performer, phonogram or videogram producer, or broadcasting organization.

4. Altering, cutting, or distorting a performance in any form that harms the honor and reputation of the performer.

5. Copying or excerpting a fixed performance, phonogram, videogram, or broadcast program without the permission of the performer, phonogram or videogram producer, or broadcasting organization.

6. Removing or modifying rights management information in electronic form without the permission of the relevant rights owner.

7. Intentionally canceling or nullifying technical measures implemented by the relevant rights owner to protect their related rights.

8. Broadcasting, distributing, importing for distribution to the public a performance, a fixed copy of a performance, or an audio or video recording when knowing or having grounds to know that the electronic rights management information has been removed or altered without the permission of the relevant rights owner.

9. Manufacturing, assembling, modifying, distributing, importing, exporting, selling, or renting equipment when knowing or having grounds to know that the equipment unlawfully decodes a satellite signal carrying an encrypted program.

10. Intentionally receiving or continuing to distribute a satellite signal carrying an encrypted program when the signal has been decoded without the permission of the legal distributor.

Chapter III. COPYRIGHT OWNERS, RELATED RIGHTS

Article 36. Copyright Owners

A copyright owner is an organization or individual holding one, some, or all of the property rights stipulated in Article 20 of this Law.

Article 37. The copyright owner is the author

The author uses their own time, finances, and technical-material facilities to create a work that has the moral rights stipulated in Article 19 and the economic rights stipulated in Article 20 of this Law.

Article 38. The copyright owner is co-authors

1. Co-authors use their own time, finances, and technical-material facilities to jointly create a work, sharing the rights stipulated in Article 19 and Article 20 of this Law with respect to that work.

2. Co-authors who create the work stipulated in paragraph 1 of this Article, if a separate part can be separated and used independently without harming the part of the other co-authors, shall have the rights stipulated in Article 19 and Article 20 of this Law with respect to that separate part.

Article 39. The copyright owner is an organization or individual that assigns a task to the author or enters into a contract with the author

1. Organizations that assign the task of creating a work to an author who belongs to their organization are the owners of the rights stipulated in Article 20 and Clause 3 of Article 19 of this Law, except in cases where there is another agreement.

2. Organizations or individuals that enter into a contract with an author to create a work are the owners of the rights stipulated in Article 20 and Clause 3 of Article 19 of this Law, except in cases where there is another agreement.

Article 40. The copyright owner is the heir.

Organizations and individuals who inherit copyright according to inheritance law are the owners of the rights specified in Article 20 and Clause 3 of Article 19 of this Law.

Amended and supplemented provisions:

Article 41. Copyright owners are those who are transferred the rights

Organizations and individuals who are transferred one, several, or all of the rights specified in Article 20 and Clause 3 of Article 19 of this Law according to an agreement in a contract are the copyright owners.

Amended and supplemented provisions:

Article 42. Copyright owners are the State

1. The State is the copyright owner of the following works:

a) Anonymous works;

b) Works still under protection whose copyright owner has died without heirs, whose heirs refuse the inheritance, or who are not entitled to inherit;

c) Works whose copyright owner has transferred ownership rights to the State.

2. The Government shall specify the use of works owned by the State.

Article 43. Works belonging to the public domain

1. Works that have expired their protection period as stipulated in Article 27 of this Law belong to the public domain.

2. All organizations and individuals have the right to use the works specified in Clause 1 of this Article but must respect the moral rights of the author as stipulated in Article 19 of this Law.

3. The Government shall provide specific regulations on the use of works that belong to the public domain.

Article 44. Related rights holders

1. An organization or individual that invests time, financial resources, and material-technical facilities to carry out a performance is the owner of that performance, except in cases where a different agreement is made with the relevant parties.

2. An organization or individual that invests time, financial resources, and material-technical facilities to produce an audio or video recording is the owner of that recording, except in cases where a different agreement is made with the relevant parties.

3. The broadcasting organization is the owner of its broadcast programs, except in cases where there is a different agreement with the relevant party.

Chapter IV. TRANSFER OF COPYRIGHT AND RELATED RIGHTS

Section 1. TRANSFER OF COPYRIGHT AND RELATED RIGHTS

Article 45. General provisions on the transfer of copyright and related rights

1. The transfer of copyright and related rights is when the copyright holder or related rights holder transfers ownership of the rights specified in Clause 3, Article 19, Article 20, Clause 3, Article 29, Article 30, and Article 31 of this Law to another organization or individual under a contract or in accordance with relevant legal regulations.

2. The author is not allowed to transfer the moral rights specified in Article 19, except for the right to publish the work; performers are not allowed to transfer the moral rights specified in Clause 2, Article 29 of this Law.

3. In the case of works, performances, sound recordings, audiovisual recordings, or broadcasts with co-owners, the transfer must be agreed upon by all co-owners; in the case where works, performances, sound recordings, audiovisual recordings, or broadcasts have separate parts that can be independently used, the copyright holders and related rights holders have the right to transfer their copyright or related rights of their separate part to other organizations or individuals.

Article 46. Contract for the transfer of copyright and related rights

1. The contract for the transfer of copyright and related rights must be made in writing and include the following main contents:

a) Full name and address of the assignor and the assignee;

b) Basis of the transfer;

c) Price and method of payment;

d) Rights and obligations of the parties;

đ) Liability for contract violations.

2. The implementation, modification, termination, and cancellation of a contract for the transfer of copyright and related rights shall be applied in accordance with the provisions of the Civil Code.

Section 2. TRANSFER OF THE RIGHT TO USE COPYRIGHT AND RELATED RIGHTS

Article 47. General provisions on the transfer of the right to use copyright and related rights

1. The transfer of the right to use copyright and related rights is when the copyright owner or related rights holder allows another organization or individual to use, for a certain period, some or all of the rights stipulated in Clause 3 of Article 19, Article 20, Clause 3 of Article 29, Article 30, and Article 31 of this Law.

2. The author may not transfer the right to use the personal rights stipulated in Article 19, except for the right to publish the work; performers may not transfer the right to use the personal rights stipulated in Clause 2, Article 29 of this Law.

3. In the case where a work, performance, sound recording, audio-visual recording, or broadcasting program has co-owners, the transfer of the right to use copyright and related rights must be agreed upon by all co-owners; in the case where co-owners have works, performances, sound recordings, audio-visual recordings, or broadcasting programs that have separate parts that can be used independently, the copyright owners and related rights owners may transfer the right to use copyright and related rights for their separate parts to other organizations or individuals.

4. Organizations and individuals who are transferred the right to use copyright and related rights may transfer the right to use to other organizations or individuals if they obtain the consent of the copyright owner or the related rights owner.

Article 48. Contracts for the use of copyright and related rights

1. Contracts for the use of copyright and related rights must be made in writing and include the following main contents:

a) Name and full address of the transferor and the transferee;

b) Basis for the transfer of rights;

c) Scope of the rights transferred;

d) Price and method of payment;

e) Rights and obligations of the parties;

f) Liability for breach of contract.

2. The implementation, modification, termination, and cancellation of contracts for the use of copyright and related rights shall comply with the provisions of the Civil Code.

Chapter V. CERTIFICATION OF REGISTRATION OF COPYRIGHT AND RELATED RIGHTS

Article 49. Registration of copyright and related rights

1. Registering copyright and related rights is the act of the author, copyright owner, or related rights owner submitting an application and accompanying documents (hereinafter collectively referred to as the application) to a competent state agency to record information about the author, the work, the copyright owner, and the related rights owner.

2. Submitting an application to be granted a Certificate of Copyright Registration or a Certificate of Related Rights Registration is not a mandatory procedure to enjoy copyright or related rights under the provisions of this Law.

3. An organization or individual that has been granted a Certificate of Copyright Registration or Certificate of Related Rights Registration is not obligated to prove that the copyright or related rights belong to them in the event of a dispute, unless there is evidence to the contrary.

Article 50. Application for copyright and related rights registration

1. The author, copyright owner, or related rights owner may directly or authorize another organization or individual to submit an application for copyright or related rights registration.

2. The application for copyright or related rights registration includes:

Amended and supplemented provisions:

a) Application for registration of copyright and related rights. The application must be made in Vietnamese and must be signed by the author, copyright owner, related rights holder, or an authorized representative, including full information about the applicant, author, copyright owner, or related rights holder; a summary of the work, performance, audio recording, video recording, or broadcast program; the name of the author, the work used as a derivative work if the registered work is a derivative work; the time, place, and form of publication; a declaration of responsibility for the information provided in the application. The Ministry of Culture and Information shall prescribe the form of the application for copyright and related rights registration;

b) Two copies of the work for copyright registration or two copies of the fixations of the object for related rights registration;

c) Power of attorney, if the applicant is an authorized representative;

d) Documents proving the right to submit the application, if the applicant inherits that right from another person due to inheritance, transfer, or succession;

d) Written consent of the co-authors, if the work has co-authors;

e) Written consent of the co-owners, if the copyright or related rights are jointly owned.

3. The documents specified in points c, d, đ, and e of clause 2 of this Article must be made in Vietnamese; if made in a foreign language, they must be translated into Vietnamese.

Article 51. Authority to issue Copyright Registration Certificates, Related Rights Registration Certificates

1. The state management agency for copyright and related rights has the authority to issue Copyright Registration Certificates and Related Rights Registration Certificates.

2. The competent state agency authorized to issue Copyright Registration Certificates and Related Rights Registration Certificates has the authority to reissue, replace, or revoke such certificates.

3. The government shall specify the conditions, order, and procedures for reissuance, modification, and cancellation of the Certificate of Copyright Registration, Certificate of Related Rights Registration.

Amended and supplemented provisions:

4. The Ministry of Culture and Information shall stipulate the form of the Certificate of Copyright Registration, Certificate of Related Rights Registration.

Article 52. Time limit for issuing the Certificate of Copyright Registration, Certificate of Related Rights Registration

Within fifteen working days from the date of receipt of a valid application, the state management agency for copyright and related rights is responsible for issuing the Certificate of Copyright Registration, Certificate of Related Rights Registration to the applicant. In the case of refusing to issue the Certificate of Copyright Registration, Certificate of Related Rights Registration, the state management agency for copyright and related rights must notify the applicant in writing.

Article 53. Validity of the Certificate of Copyright Registration and the Certificate of Related Rights Registration

1. The Certificate of Copyright Registration and the Certificate of Related Rights Registration are valid throughout the territory of Vietnam.

2. The Certificate of Copyright Registration and the Certificate of Related Rights Registration issued by the state management agency on copyright and related rights before the effective date of this Law shall continue to be valid.

Article 54. Registry and Publication of Copyright and Related Rights Registration

1. The Certificate of Copyright Registration and the Certificate of Related Rights Registration shall be recorded in the National Register of Copyrights and Related Rights.

2. The decision to grant, reissue, change, or cancel the validity of the Certificate of Copyright Registration and the Certificate of Related Rights Registration shall be published in the Copyright and Related Rights Gazette.

Article 55. Reissuance, replacement, and revocation of the validity of Copyright Registration Certificates and Related Rights Registration Certificates

1. In the case that a Copyright Registration Certificate or Related Rights Registration Certificate is lost, damaged, or the copyright owner or related rights owner is changed, the competent authority prescribed in Clause 2, Article 51 of this Law shall proceed with reissuing or replacing the Copyright Registration Certificate or Related Rights Registration Certificate.

2. In the case where the person granted a Certificate of Registration of Copyright, Certificate of Registration of Related Rights is not the author, copyright owner, related rights owner, or the work, audio recording, video recording, or broadcast program registered is not subject to protection, the competent state agency specified in Clause 2, Article 51 of this Law shall revoke the validity of the Certificate of Registration of Copyright, Certificate of Registration of Related Rights.

3. Organizations and individuals who discover that a Certificate of Registration of Copyright, Certificate of Registration of Related Rights has been issued contrary to the provisions of this Law have the right to request the state management agency on copyright and related rights to revoke the validity of the Certificate of Registration of Copyright, Certificate of Registration of Related Rights.

Chapter VI. REPRESENTATIVE ORGANIZATIONS, CONSULTATION, AND COPYRIGHT AND RELATED RIGHTS SERVICES

Article 56. Collective organizations representing copyright and related rights

1. A collective organization representing copyright and related rights is a non-profit organization established by agreement of authors, copyright holders, and related rights holders, operating in accordance with the law to protect copyright and related rights.

2. A collective organization representing copyright and related rights conducts the following activities under the authorization of authors, copyright holders, and related rights holders:

a) Managing copyright and related rights; negotiating licenses, collecting and distributing royalties, fees, and other material benefits from allowing the exploitation of the authorized rights;

b) Protecting the legal rights and interests of members; organizing mediation in case of disputes.

3. A collective organization representing copyright and related rights has the following rights and obligations:

a) Carry out activities that encourage creativity and other social activities;

b) Cooperate with the corresponding organizations of international organizations and countries in protecting copyright and related rights;

c) Report periodically and unexpectedly on collective representation activities to the competent state authorities;

d) Other rights and duties as prescribed by law.

Article 57. Organizations providing copyright and related rights consulting and services

1. Organizations providing copyright and related rights consulting and services shall be established and operate in accordance with the provisions of law.

2. Organizations providing copyright and related rights consulting and services shall perform the following activities at the request of authors, copyright owners, and related rights owners:

a) Advise on matters related to the provisions of law on copyright and related rights;

b) Represent authors, copyright owners, and related rights owners in the procedure of filing applications for copyright and related rights registration under authorization;

c) Participate in other legal relations regarding copyright, related rights, and the protection of the legitimate rights and interests of authors, copyright owners, and related rights holders under authorization.

Part THREE. INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY RIGHTS

Chapter VII. CONDITIONS FOR THE PROTECTION OF INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY RIGHTS

Section 1. CONDITIONS FOR PROTECTION OF INVENTIONS

Article 58. General conditions for inventions to be protected

1. An invention is protected by granting a patent if it meets the following conditions:

a) Novel;

b) Inventive step;

c) Industrial applicability.

2. An invention is protected by granting a utility solution patent if it is not common knowledge and meets the following conditions:

a) Novel;

a) Industrial applicability.

Article 59. Objects that are not protected under the name of invention

The following objects are not protected under the name of invention:

1. Inventions, scientific theories, mathematical methods;

2. Schemes, plans, rules, and methods for performing mental activities, training animals, playing games, business; computer programs;

3. Methods of presenting information;

4. Solutions having only aesthetic characteristics;

5. Plant varieties, animal breeds;

6. Plant and animal production processes that are primarily biological in nature and not microbiological processes;

7. Methods for the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of diseases in humans and animals.

Article 60. Novelty of Inventions

1. An invention is considered novel if it has not been publicly disclosed in the form of use, written description, or any other form in the country or abroad before the filing date of the patent application or before the priority date in the case the patent application enjoys priority rights.

2. An invention is considered not to have been publicly disclosed if only a limited number of people are aware of it and have an obligation to keep the invention confidential.

Amended and supplemented provisions:

3. An invention is not considered to have lost its novelty if it is disclosed in the following cases, provided that the patent application is filed within six months from the date of disclosure:

a) The invention is disclosed by another person without the permission of the person entitled to apply for registration as prescribed in Article 86 of this Law;

b) The invention is disclosed by the person entitled to apply for registration as prescribed in Article 86 of this Law in the form of a scientific report;

c) The invention is exhibited by a person with the right to register as prescribed in Article 86 of this Law at the national exhibition of Vietnam or at an official international exhibition or recognized as official.

Amended and supplemented provisions:

Article 61. Inventive step of the invention

An invention is considered to have an inventive step if, based on technical solutions that have been publicly disclosed in the form of use, written description, or any other form domestically or abroad before the filing date or before the priority date of the patent application in case the patent application enjoys priority rights, the invention represents a creative advance and cannot be easily created by a person with average knowledge in the relevant technical field.

Article 62. Industrial applicability of the invention

An invention is considered to have industrial applicability if it can be carried out to manufacture, produce products in large quantities, or repeatedly apply the process which is the content of the invention and achieve stable results.

Section 2. CONDITIONS FOR PROTECTION OF INDUSTRIAL DESIGNS

Article 63. General conditions for industrial designs to be protected

An industrial design is protected if it meets the following conditions:

1. It is novel;

2. It is creative;

3. It is industrially applicable.

Article 64. Objects not protected as industrial designs

The following objects are not protected as industrial designs:

1. The external shape of a product that must have certain technical characteristics of the product;

2. The external shape of civil or industrial constructions;

3. The shape of a product that is not visible during the use of the product.

Article 65. Novelty of industrial designs

1. An industrial design is considered to be novel if it is significantly different from industrial designs that have been publicly disclosed in the form of use, written description, or any other form, domestically or abroad, prior to the filing date or the priority date if the industrial design application enjoys the right of priority.

2. Two industrial designs are not considered significantly different from each other if they differ only in design features that are not easily recognizable, memorable, and cannot be used to distinguish the overall impression of the two industrial designs.

3. An industrial design is considered undisclosed if only a limited number of people are aware of it and are obliged to keep the industrial design confidential.

4. An industrial design shall not be considered to have lost its novelty if it is disclosed in the following cases, provided that the industrial design application is filed within six months from the date of disclosure:

a) The industrial design is disclosed by another person without the consent of the holder of the right to register as stipulated in Article 86 of this Law;

b) The industrial design is disclosed by the holder of the right to register as stipulated in Article 86 of this Law in the form of a scientific report;

c) The industrial design is exhibited by the holder of the right to register as stipulated in Article 86 of this Law at a national exhibition of Vietnam or at an official international exhibition or one recognized as official.

Article 66. Creativity of industrial designs

An industrial design is considered to be creative if, based on industrial designs that have been publicly disclosed in the form of use, described in writing, or in any other form either domestically or abroad before the filing date or the priority date of the industrial design application in case the application enjoys a right of priority, such industrial design cannot be easily created by a person with average knowledge in the relevant field.

Article 67. Industrial applicability of an industrial design

An industrial design is considered to have industrial applicability if it can be used as a model to manufacture a series of products with the exterior shape of that industrial design by industrial or handicraft methods.

Section 3. CONDITIONS FOR PROTECTION OF LAYOUT DESIGNS

Article 68. General conditions for layouts eligible for protection

A layout design is protected if it meets the following conditions:

1. It has originality;

2. It is commercially new.

Article 69. Objects not protected as layout designs

The following objects are not protected as layout designs:

1. Principles, processes, systems, and methods implemented by semiconductor integrated circuits;

2. Information and software contained in semiconductor integrated circuits.

Article 70. Originality of layout design

1. A layout design is considered original if it meets the following conditions:

a) It is the result of the author's own creative effort;

b) It has not been widely known by other layout designers and semiconductor integrated circuit manufacturers at the time the layout design was created.

2. Layout design is the combination of elements; such connections are generally only considered original if the entire combination is original according to the provisions of clause 1 of this Article.

Article 71. Commercial novelty of layout designs

1. A layout design is considered to have commercial novelty if it has not been commercially exploited anywhere in the world before the filing date of the registration application.

2. A layout design is not considered to have lost its commercial novelty if the registration application for the layout design is submitted within two years from the date on which the layout design was first commercially exploited anywhere in the world by the person entitled to register under Article 86 of this Law or by a person authorized by them.

3. Exploiting the layout design for commercial purposes specified in Clause 2 of this Article is the act of publicly distributing for commercial purposes the semiconductor integrated circuits produced according to the layout design or the goods containing those semiconductor integrated circuits.

Section 4. CONDITIONS FOR PROTECTION OF TRADEMARKS

Article 72. General conditions for a protected trademark

A trademark shall be protected if it meets the following conditions:

1. It is a visible sign in the form of letters, words, drawings, images, including three-dimensional shapes, or a combination of these elements, represented in one or more colors;

2. It is capable of distinguishing the goods and services of the trademark owner from those of other entities.

Article 73. Signs not protected as trademarks

The following signs shall not be protected as trademarks:

1. Signs identical or similar to the extent of causing confusion with the national flag or national emblem of countries;

2. Signs identical or similar to the extent of causing confusion with the symbol, flag, emblem, abbreviation, or full name of state agencies, political organizations, socio-political organizations, socio-political-professional organizations, social organizations, social-professional organizations of Vietnam and international organizations, if not authorized by these agencies or organizations;

3. Signs identical or similar to the extent of causing confusion with the real name, nickname, pen name, or image of leaders, national heroes, or famous persons of Vietnam or foreign countries;

4. Signs identical or similar to the extent of causing confusion with certification marks, inspection marks, warranty marks of international organizations which those organizations require not to be used, except in cases where the organization itself registers these marks as certification trademarks;

5. Signs that mislead, cause confusion, or have a deceptive nature regarding the origin, features, uses, quality, value, or other characteristics of goods or services.

Article 74. Distinctiveness of trademarks

1. A trademark is considered distinctive if it consists of one or more elements that are easily recognizable, easy to remember, or a combination of many elements forming an overall composition that is easily recognizable, easy to remember, and does not fall under the cases specified in Clause 2 of this Article.

2. A trademark is considered non-distinctive if it is a sign that falls under one of the following cases:

a) Shapes and simple geometric forms, numbers, letters, letters of uncommon languages, except in cases where these signs have been used and widely recognized as a trademark;

b) Signs, conventional symbols, drawings, or common names of goods and services in any language that have been widely, frequently used, and are well known to many people;

c) Signs indicating time, place, method of manufacture, type, quantity, quality, nature, composition, use, value, or other descriptive characteristics of goods and services, except in cases where such signs have acquired distinctiveness through use prior to the filing date of the trademark application;

d) Signs describing the legal form or business field of the business entity;

e) Signs indicating the geographical origin of goods and services, except in cases where such signs have been used and widely recognized as a trademark or registered as a collective trademark or a certification trademark as stipulated in this Law;

e) A sign that is not a similar or identical trademark to the extent of causing confusion with a trademark that has been registered for identical or similar goods or services based on an application with an earlier filing date or priority date in the case of an application claiming priority, including trademark applications filed under an international treaty to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a member;

g) A sign that is identical or similar to the extent of causing confusion with the trademark of another person that has been used and widely recognized for identical or similar goods or services prior to the filing date or priority date in the case of an application claiming priority;

h) A sign that is identical or similar to the extent of causing confusion with another person's trademark registered for identical or similar goods or services, where the registration of that trademark has expired within no more than five years, except in cases where the validity is terminated due to the trademark not being used in accordance with the provisions at point d, clause 1, Article 95 of this Law;

i) A sign that is identical or similar to the extent of causing confusion with a trademark considered famous of another person, registered for goods or services identical or similar to those bearing the famous trademark, or registered for dissimilar goods or services if the use of that sign could affect the distinctiveness of the famous trademark or the registration of the trademark aims to take advantage of the reputation of the famous trademark;

k) A sign that is identical or similar to another person's currently used trade name, if the use of that sign may cause confusion among consumers about the origin of the goods or services;

l) A sign that is identical or similar to a protected geographical indication if the use of that sign may mislead consumers about the geographical origin of the goods;

m) A sign identical to a geographical indication or containing a geographical indication, or translated or transliterated from a protected geographical indication for wine or spirits, if the sign is registered for use on wine or spirits not originating from the geographical area indicated by that geographical indication;

n) A sign that is identical or not significantly different from another person's industrial design protected based on an industrial design application with a filing date or priority date earlier than the filing date or priority date of the trademark application.

Article 75. Criteria for evaluating well-known trademarks

The following criteria are considered when assessing whether a trademark is well-known:

1. The number of relevant consumers who are aware of the trademark through buying and selling, using goods or services bearing the trademark, or through advertising;

2. The territorial scope where goods or services bearing the trademark have circulated;

3. Sales from the sale of goods or provision of services bearing the trademark or the quantity of goods sold, the amount of services provided;

4. The duration of continuous use of the trademark;

5. The widespread reputation of goods or services bearing the trademark;

6. The number of countries where the trademark is protected;

7. The number of countries recognizing the trademark as well-known;

8. The transfer price, licensing fee, or investment contribution value of the trademark.

Section 5. CONDITIONS FOR PROTECTION OF TRADE NAMES

Article 76. General conditions for a trade name to be protected

A trade name is protected if it is capable of distinguishing the business entity using that trade name from other business entities in the same field and business area.

Article 77. Subjects not protected under the name of a trade name

The names of state agencies, political organizations, socio-political organizations, socio-political-professional organizations, social organizations, social-professional organizations, or other entities not related to business activities shall not be protected under the name of a trade name.

Article 78. Distinctiveness of a trade name

A trade name is considered distinctive if it meets the following conditions:

1. Contains a proper name, except in cases where it is already widely known through use;

2. Does not duplicate or resemble to the extent of causing confusion with a trade name that has already been used by others in the same field and business area;

3. Does not duplicate or resemble to the extent of causing confusion with another's trademark or with a geographical indication that was protected before the trade name was used.

Section 6. CONDITIONS FOR PROTECTION OF GEOGRAPHICAL INDICATIONS

Article 79. General conditions for protected geographical indications

A geographical indication is protected if it meets the following conditions:

1. The product bearing the geographical indication originates from the area, locality, region, or country corresponding to the geographical indication;

2. The product bearing the geographical indication has a reputation, quality, or main characteristics determined by the geographical conditions of the area, locality, region, or country corresponding to that geographical indication.

Article 80. Objects not eligible for protection under the name of a geographical indication

The following objects are not eligible for protection under the name of a geographical indication:

Amended and supplemented provisions:

1. Names or indications that have become common names for goods in Vietnam;

2. Foreign geographical indications for which protection is not available in that country, has been terminated, or is no longer in use;

Amended and supplemented provisions:

3. Geographical indications that are identical or similar to a trademark currently under protection, if the use of that geographical indication would cause confusion about the origin of the product;

4. Geographical indications that mislead consumers about the true geographical origin of the product bearing that indication.

Article 81. Reputation, quality, characteristics of products bearing a geographical indication

1. The reputation of a product with geographical indication is determined by the level of consumer trust in that product through the extent to which consumers are aware of and choose that product.

2. The quality and characteristics of a product with geographical indication are determined by one or several qualitative, quantitative, or sensory criteria regarding physical, chemical, or microbiological aspects, and these criteria must be verifiable by technical means or experts using appropriate testing methods.

Article 82. Geographic conditions related to geographical indications

1. Geographic conditions related to geographical indications are natural and human factors that determine the reputation, quality, and characteristics of the product with that geographical indication.

2. Natural factors include climate, hydrology, geology, topography, ecosystem, and other natural conditions.

3. Human factors include the skills and expertise of the producer, and the traditional production processes of the locality.

Article 83. Geographical areas with geographical indications

A geographical area with a geographical indication has boundaries precisely defined by words and maps.

Section 7. CONDITIONS FOR THE PROTECTION OF TRADE SECRETS

Article 84. General conditions for trade secrets to be protected

A trade secret is protected if it meets the following conditions:

1. It is not common knowledge and not easily obtainable;

2. When used in business, it provides the holder of the trade secret with an advantage over those who do not hold or do not use that trade secret;

3. The owner maintains its secrecy with necessary measures so that the trade secret is not disclosed and not easily accessible.

Article 85. Subjects not entitled to protection under the designation of trade secrets

The following confidential information is not protected under the designation of trade secrets:

1. Personal secrets;

2. Secrets of state management;

3. National defense and security secrets;

4. Other confidential information unrelated to business.

Chapter VIII. ESTABLISHING INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY RIGHTS FOR INVENTIONS, INDUSTRIAL DESIGNS, LAYOUT DESIGNS, TRADEMARKS, GEOGRAPHICAL INDICATIONS

Section 1. REGISTRATION OF INVENTIONS, INDUSTRIAL DESIGNS, LAYOUT DESIGNS, TRADEMARKS, GEOGRAPHICAL INDICATIONS

Article 86. Rights to register inventions, industrial designs, layout designs

1. The following organizations and individuals have the right to register inventions, industrial designs, and layout designs:

a) The author who created the invention, industrial design, or layout design using their own effort and expenses;

b) Organizations and individuals that invest funds or material means for the author in the form of assigning or hiring work, except in cases where the parties have a different agreement and such agreement does not contradict the provisions of paragraph 2 of this Article.

2. The Government shall regulate the rights to register inventions, industrial designs, and layout designs created by using material-technical facilities or funds from the state budget.

3. In the case where multiple organizations or individuals jointly create or invest in creating an invention, industrial design, or layout design, all those organizations and individuals have the right to register, and such registration can only be carried out if all those organizations and individuals agree.

4. Persons with the right to register as stipulated in this Article have the right to transfer the registration right to other organizations or individuals in the form of a written contract, to inherit, or to succeed according to the provisions of the law, including in cases where a registration application has been submitted.

Amended and supplemented provisions:

Article 87. Right to register a trademark

1. Organizations and individuals have the right to register a trademark used for goods they produce or services they provide.

2. Organizations and individuals engaging in lawful commercial activities have the right to register a trademark for products they place on the market but are produced by others, provided that the producer does not use that trademark for the products and does not oppose the registration.

3. A legally established collective organization has the right to register a collective trademark for its members to use according to the regulation on the use of the collective trademark; for signs indicating the geographical origin of goods and services, the organization entitled to register is the collective organization of the organizations or individuals engaged in production and business in that locality.

4. Organizations that have the function of controlling, certifying quality, characteristics, origin, or other criteria related to goods and services have the right to register a certification trademark on the condition that they do not engage in the production or business of those goods or services.

5. Two or more organizations or individuals have the right to jointly register a trademark to become co-owners under the following conditions:

a) The use of that trademark must be on behalf of all co-owners or used for goods and services in which all co-owners participate in the production and business process;

b) The use of that trademark must not cause confusion among consumers about the origin of the goods or services.

6. Persons entitled to register as stipulated in Clauses 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 of this Article, including those who have already submitted a registration application, have the right to transfer their registration rights to other organizations or individuals in the form of a written contract, for inheritance or succession according to the provisions of law, provided that the organizations or individuals receiving the transfer meet the conditions corresponding to the entitlement to register.

7. For a trademark protected in a country that is a member of an international treaty prohibiting the representative or agent of the trademark owner from registering that trademark in which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is also a member, such representative or agent shall not be allowed to register the trademark without the consent of the trademark owner, except in cases of justifiable reasons.

Article 88. The right to register a geographical indication

The right to register a geographical indication in Vietnam belongs to the State. The State allows organizations and individuals producing products with geographical indications, collective organizations representing those organizations or individuals, or local administrative agencies where the geographical indication is located to exercise the right to register the geographical indication. The person exercising the right to register a geographical indication does not become the owner of that geographical indication.

Article 89. Method of filing an application for the establishment of industrial property rights

1. Vietnamese organizations and individuals, foreign individuals residing in Vietnam, and foreign organizations and individuals with production or business establishments in Vietnam may submit an application to establish industrial property rights directly or through a legal representative in Vietnam.

Amended and supplemented provisions:

2. Foreign individuals who do not have residence in Vietnam, and foreign organizations or individuals who do not have production or business establishments in Vietnam, must file applications to establish industrial property rights through a legal representative in Vietnam.

Amended and supplemented provisions:

Article 90. Principle of first filing

1. In cases where there are multiple applications from different individuals for the same invention, or for industrial designs that are identical or not significantly different from each other, or for trademarks that are identical or similar enough to cause confusion with each other for identical or similar products or services, the protection certificate can only be granted to the valid application with the earliest priority date or filing date among those applications that meet the conditions for granting a protection certificate.

2. In the case where multiple applications meet the conditions for the grant of a protective title and have the same priority date or earliest filing date, the protective title can only be granted to a single application among them according to the agreement of all applicants; if no agreement is reached, all applications will be refused the grant of a protective title.

Article 91. Principle of priority

1. Applicants for invention, industrial design, or trademark registration have the right to claim priority based on the first filed application for protection of the same subject matter if they meet the following conditions:

a) The first application has been filed in Vietnam or in a country that is a member of an international treaty providing for the right of priority to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is also a member, or there is an agreement to apply such provisions with Vietnam;

b) The applicant is a Vietnamese citizen or a citizen of another country specified in point a of this clause, residing or having an industrial or commercial establishment in Vietnam or in another country specified in point a of this clause;

c) The application clearly states the request to claim priority and submits a copy of the first application certified by the authority that received the first application;

d) The application is filed within the time limit specified in an international treaty of which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a member.

2. In a patent, industrial design, or trademark application, the applicant has the right to request priority on the basis of multiple earlier applications, provided that the corresponding content between the earlier applications and the current application is indicated.

3. An intellectual property application claiming priority shall have the priority date as the filing date of the first application.

Article 92. Protection Certificates

1. The protective certificate records the owner of the invention, industrial design, layout design, trademark (hereinafter referred to as the owner of the protective certificate); the author of the invention, industrial design, layout design; the subject, scope, and duration of protection.

2. The geographical indication protective certificate records the organization managing the geographical indication, the organizations and individuals entitled to use the geographical indication, the protected geographical indication, the distinctive characteristics of the product bearing the geographical indication, the specific characteristics regarding geographical conditions, and the geographical area bearing the geographical indication.

3. Protective certificates include the Patent Certificate for Inventions, the Utility Solution Certificate, the Industrial Design Certificate, the Certificate of Registration for Semiconductor Integrated Circuit Layout Designs, the Certificate of Trademark Registration, and the Certificate of Geographical Indication Registration.

Article 93. Validity of the Protective Certificate

1. A protective certificate is valid throughout the territory of Vietnam.

2. A patent certificate is effective from the date of issuance and lasts until twenty years from the filing date.

3. A utility solution certificate is effective from the date of issuance and lasts until ten years from the filing date.

4. An industrial design certificate is effective from the date of issuance and lasts until five years from the filing date, and can be renewed twice consecutively, each time for five years.

5. A semiconductor integrated circuit layout registration certificate is effective from the date of issuance and ends on the earliest of the following dates:

a) Ten years from the filing date;

b) Ten years from the date the layout design is first commercially exploited by the right holder or by a person authorized by them anywhere in the world;

c) Fifteen years from the date the layout design was created.

6. The trademark registration certificate is valid from the date of issuance until ten years from the date of filing, and may be renewed multiple consecutive times, each time for ten years.

7. The geographical indication registration certificate is valid indefinitely from the date of issuance.

Article 94. Maintenance and renewal of the validity of protected intellectual property rights

1. To maintain the validity of a patent, or a utility solution patent, the holder of the protected intellectual property right must pay the maintenance fee.

2. To renew the validity of an industrial design patent or a trademark registration certificate, the holder of the protected intellectual property right must pay the renewal fee.

3. The fee rates and procedures for maintaining and renewing the validity of protected intellectual property rights are prescribed by the Government.

Article 95. Termination of the validity of the protection title

1. The protection title shall be terminated in the following cases:

a) The holder of the protection title fails to pay the maintenance fee or extend the validity as prescribed;

b) The holder of the protection title declares the renunciation of industrial property rights;

c) The holder of the protection title no longer exists or the holder of the trademark registration certificate no longer conducts business activities without a legal successor;

d) The trademark is not used by the owner or by a person authorized by the owner for a continuous period of five years before the date of the request for termination of validity without a legitimate reason, except in cases where the use is started or resumed at least three months before the date of the request for termination of validity;

e) The holder of the trademark registration certificate for a collective trademark does not control or ineffectively controls the implementation of the regulations on the use of the collective trademark;

e) The holder of the certificate of trademark registration for a certification trademark violates the regulations on the use of the certification trademark or fails to control, or controls ineffectively, the implementation of the regulations on the use of the certification trademark;

g) The geographical conditions that create the reputation, quality, and characteristics of the product bearing the geographical indication are altered, causing the reputation, quality, and characteristics of that product to be lost.

2. In the case where the holder of the patent does not pay the maintenance fee within the prescribed period, upon the expiration of that period, the patent automatically ceases to be effective from the start date of the first year of validity for which the maintenance fee was not paid. The state management authority on industrial property shall record the termination of the patent's validity in the National Register of Industrial Property and publish it in the Industrial Property Gazette.

3. In the case where the holder of the protection certificate declares the renunciation of industrial property rights as prescribed in Point b, Clause 1 of this Article, the state management agency for industrial property shall decide to terminate the effect of the protection certificate from the date of receipt of the declaration from the certificate holder.

4. Organizations and individuals have the right to request the state management agency for industrial property to terminate the effect of the protection certificate in the cases prescribed in Points c, d, đ, e, and g, Clause 1 of this Article, provided that the fees and charges are paid. Based on the results of reviewing the request for termination of the effect of the protection certificate and the opinions of the relevant parties, the state management agency for industrial property shall decide to terminate the effect of the protection certificate or notify a refusal to terminate the effect of the protection certificate.

5. The provisions in paragraphs 1, 3 and 4 of this Article also apply to the termination of the international registration of a trademark.

Article 96. Cancellation of the validity of protection certificates

1. A protection certificate shall be wholly canceled in the following cases:

a) The applicant does not have the right to register and has not been transferred the right to register for a invention, industrial design, layout design, or trademark;

b) The industrial property object does not meet the protection conditions at the time of granting the protection certificate.

2. A protection certificate shall be partially canceled if the corresponding part does not meet the protection conditions.

3. Organizations and individuals have the right to request the state authority for industrial property rights to revoke the validity of a protection certificate in the cases prescribed in clauses 1 and 2 of this Article, provided that the fees and charges are paid. The statute of limitations for exercising the right to request the revocation of the validity of a protection certificate is the entire duration of protection; for trademarks, this term is five years from the date of issuance of the protection certificate, except in cases where the protection certificate was granted due to the dishonesty of the applicant.

4. Based on the results of the examination of the request to revoke the validity of the protection certificate and the opinions of the relevant parties, the state authority for industrial property rights shall decide to revoke part or all of the validity of the protection certificate or notify the refusal to revoke the validity of the protection certificate.

5. The provisions in clauses 1, 2, 3, and 4 of this Article also apply to the revocation of international registration validity for trademarks.

Article 97. Amendment of protection certificates

1. The holder of a protection certificate has the right to request the state authority managing industrial property rights to amend the following information on the protection certificate, provided that fees and charges are paid:

a) Change or correct deficiencies related to the name and address of the author or the holder of the protection certificate;

b) Amend the description of the distinctive nature, quality, or geographical area of a geographical indication; amend the regulations on the use of a collective trademark or regulations on the use of a certification trademark.

2. At the request of the holder of the protection certificate, the state authority managing industrial property rights is responsible for correcting deficiencies in the protection certificate caused by the authority’s errors. In this case, the holder of the protection certificate is not required to pay fees or charges.

3. The holder of a protection certificate has the right to request the state management agency for industrial property to narrow the scope of industrial property rights; in this case, the corresponding industrial property registration application must be re-examined in terms of content, and the requester must pay the content examination fee.

Article 98. National Register of Industrial Property

1. The National Register of Industrial Property is a document recording the establishment, modification, and transfer of industrial property rights for inventions, industrial designs, layout designs, trademarks, and geographical indications according to the provisions of this Law.

2. The decision to grant a protection certificate, the main content of the protection certificate, the decision to amend, terminate, or revoke the protection certificate, and the decision to register a contract transferring industrial property rights are recorded in the National Register of Industrial Property.

3. The national register of industrial property is established and kept by the state administrative agency for industrial property rights.

Article 99. Publication of decisions related to protection titles

Decisions to grant, terminate, cancel, or amend industrial property rights protection titles shall be published by the state administrative agency for industrial property rights in the Industrial Property Gazette within sixty days from the date of the decision.

Section 2. INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY REGISTRATION APPLICATION

Article 100. General requirements for industrial property registration applications

1. An industrial property registration application includes the following documents:

a) Registration form according to the prescribed template;

b) Documents, specimens, and information demonstrating the industrial property object for protection registration stipulated in Articles 102 to 106 of this Law;

c) Power of attorney, if the application is submitted through a representative;

d) Documents proving the right to register, if the applicant derives this right from another person;

dd) Documents proving the right of priority, if there is a request to exercise the priority right;

e) Receipts of payment of fees and charges.

2. Applications for industrial property rights and transactional documents between the applicant and the state management agency on industrial property rights must be made in Vietnamese, except for the following documents which can be in another language but must be translated into Vietnamese when the state management agency of industrial property rights requests:

a) Power of attorney;

b) Documents proving the right to register;

c) Documents proving the right of priority;

d) Other documents to support the application.

3. Documents proving the right of priority for industrial property registration applications include:

a) Copies of the first application(s) with confirmation from the agency that received the first application;

b) Transfer of priority right certificate if that right is inherited from another person.

Article 101. Requirements on the unity of industrial property application

1. Each industrial property application can only request the grant of one protection certificate for a single industrial property object, except in cases stipulated in Clauses 2, 3, and 4 of this Article.

2. Each application may request the grant of a patent or a utility solution certificate for a group of inventions that are closely related in technical terms in order to achieve a single common inventive concept.

3. Each application may request the grant of an industrial design certificate for multiple industrial designs in the following cases:

a) The industrial designs of a set of products consisting of multiple products that reflect a single common creative idea, used together or for a common purpose;

b) An industrial design accompanied by one or more options is a variation of that industrial design, following a single overall creative idea, without significant differences from that industrial design.

4. Each application may request the grant of a Certificate of Trademark Registration for a trademark used for one or more different goods or services.

Article 102. Requirements for a patent application

1. The documents identifying the invention to be protected in a patent application include the patent description and the patent abstract. The patent description consists of the invention description and the scope of patent protection.

2. The invention description must meet the following conditions:

a) Fully and clearly disclose the nature of the invention to the extent that a person with average knowledge in the relevant technical field can implement the invention based on it;

b) Briefly explain any accompanying drawings, if necessary to further clarify the nature of the invention;

c) Clarify the novelty, level of creativity, and industrial applicability of the invention.

3. The scope of protection of the invention must be expressed in the form of a set of technical features necessary and sufficient to determine the scope of rights over the invention and must be consistent with the description of the invention and the drawings.

4. The invention summary must disclose the main content regarding the nature of the invention.

Article 103. Requirements for industrial design registration applications

1. The documents defining the industrial design to be protected in the industrial design registration application include an industrial design description and a set of photographs, industrial design drawings. The industrial design description consists of the industrial design description section and the scope of industrial design protection.

2. The industrial design description section must meet the following conditions:

a) Fully reveal all design features that express the nature of the industrial design and clearly state the new and different design features compared to the least different known industrial design, in accordance with the set of photographs or drawings;

b) In cases where the industrial design registration application includes multiple variations, the description section must fully present all variations and specify the differences between the basic variation and the other variations;

c) In the case where the industrial design mentioned in the registration application is the design of a product set, the description must fully reflect the design of each product in that set.

3. The scope of protection of the industrial design must clearly state the design features to be protected, including features that are new and different from similar known industrial designs.

4. The set of photographs and drawings must fully show the design features of the industrial design.

Article 104. Requirements for Layout Design Registration Applications

Documents, specimens, and information identifying the layout design to be protected in the layout design registration application include:

1. Drawings and photographs of the layout design;

2. Information about the function and structure of the semiconductor integrated circuit manufactured according to the layout design;

3. Specimens of the semiconductor integrated circuit manufactured according to the layout design, if the layout design has been commercially exploited.

Article 105. Requirements for Trademark Registration Applications

1. Documents, specimens, and information identifying the trademark to be protected in the trademark application include:

a) Trademark sample and list of goods and services bearing the trademark;

b) Regulations on the use of collective trademarks and regulations on the use of certification trademarks.

2. The trademark sample must be described to clarify the constituent elements of the trademark and the overall meaning of the trademark, if any; if the trademark contains words or phrases in pictorial language, those words or phrases must be transliterated; if the trademark contains words or phrases in a foreign language, they must be translated into Vietnamese.

3. Goods and services mentioned in the trademark application must be classified into categories in accordance with the classification table under the Nice Agreement on the International Classification of Goods and Services for the Purposes of the Registration of Marks, published by the state management agency for industrial property.

4. Regulations on the use of collective trademarks include the following main contents:

a) Name, address, and the legal basis for the establishment and operation of the collective organization that is the trademark owner;

b) Criteria for becoming a member of the collective organization;

c) List of organizations and individuals permitted to use the trademark;

d) Conditions for using the trademark;

đ) Measures to handle violations of the trademark usage regulations.

5. The regulations on the use of certification trademarks must include the following main contents:

a) Organizations or individuals who are the trademark owners;

b) Conditions for being allowed to use the trademark;

c) Characteristics of the goods or services certified by the trademark;

d) Methods to assess the characteristics of goods or services and methods to control the use of the trademark;

d) Costs that the trademark user must pay for certification and protection of the trademark, if any.

Article 106. Requirements for a geographical indication application

1. Documents, samples, and information identifying the geographical indication to be protected in a geographical indication application include:

a) Name, sign that is a geographical indication;

b) Product bearing the geographical indication;

c) Description of the distinctive characteristics, quality, reputation of the product bearing the geographical indication and the distinctive factors of natural conditions that create the distinctive characteristics, quality, reputation of that product (hereinafter referred to as the description of distinctive characteristics);

d) Map of the geographical area corresponding to the geographical indication;

dd) Documents proving that the geographical indication is protected in the country of that geographical indication, if it is a foreign geographical indication.

2. The description of distinctive characteristics must include the following main contents:

a) Describe the corresponding product type, including raw materials and the physical, chemical, microbiological, and sensory characteristics of the product;

b) How to determine the geographical area corresponding to the geographical indication;

c) Evidence that the product originates from the geographical area as defined in Article 79 of this Law;

d) Description of the local and stable production and processing methods;

e) Information on the relationship between the specific characteristics, quality, or reputation of the product and the geographical conditions as stipulated in Article 79 of this Law;

f) Information on the mechanism for self-checking the specific characteristics and quality of the product.

Article 107. Authorization of representation in procedures related to intellectual property rights

1. Authorization to carry out procedures related to the establishment, maintenance, renewal, modification, termination, or cancellation of the validity of protection titles must be made in the form of a power of attorney.

2. The power of attorney must contain the following main contents:

a) The full name and address of the principal and the agent;

b) Scope of authorization;

c) Duration of authorization;

d) Date of issuance of the power of attorney;

e) Signature and seal (if any) of the principal.

3. A power of attorney without a duration is considered to be effective indefinitely and only terminates when the principal declares the termination of the authorization.

Section 3. PROCEDURE FOR HANDLING INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY REGISTRATION APPLICATIONS AND ISSUANCE OF PROTECTION CERTIFICATES

Article 108. Receipt of industrial property registration applications, filing date

1. An industrial property registration application shall only be accepted by the state management agency for industrial property rights if it contains at least the following information and documents:

a) The application for registration of inventions, industrial designs, layout designs, trademarks, geographical indications, containing sufficient information to identify the applicant and the trademark sample, the list of products and services bearing the trademark for trademark registration applications;

b) The description, including the scope of protection for invention registration applications; sets of photographs, drawings, descriptions for industrial design registration applications; description of the distinctive features of the product bearing the geographical indication for geographical indication registration applications;

c) Evidence of payment of the application fee.

2. The filing date is the date the industrial property management authority receives the application or the international filing date for applications filed under international treaties.

Article 109. Formal examination of industrial property registration applications

1. Industrial property registration applications are examined for form to assess the validity of the application.

2. An industrial property application shall be considered invalid in the following cases:

a) The application does not meet the formal requirements;

b) The object mentioned in the application is not eligible for protection;

c) The applicant does not have the right to file the application, including cases where the right to file is shared among multiple organizations or individuals but one or several of them do not agree to submit the application;

d) The application is submitted in violation of the provisions on the filing procedure stipulated in Article 89 of this Law;

e) The applicant does not pay the fees and charges.

3. For industrial property applications falling under the cases specified in clause 2 of this Article, the state management agency for industrial property shall carry out the following procedures:

a) Notify the intention to refuse acceptance of a valid application, clearly stating the reasons and setting a deadline for the applicant to correct the deficiencies or provide objections to the proposed refusal;

b) Notify the refusal to accept a valid application if the applicant does not correct the deficiencies, the correction of deficiencies is not satisfactory, or there is no reasonable objection to the intended refusal as stipulated in point a of this clause;

c) Notification of refusal to grant the Certificate of Registration for the layout design of semiconductor integrated circuits for the layout design registration application;

d) Carry out the procedures prescribed in Clause 4 of this Article if the applicant corrects the shortcomings satisfactorily or has valid comments objecting to the intention to refuse acceptance of a valid application as stipulated in Point a of this Clause.

4. For industrial property registration applications that do not fall under the cases specified in clause 2 of this Article or fall under the cases specified in point d, clause 3 of this Article, the state management agency on industrial property rights shall issue a notice of acceptance of a valid application or carry out the procedures for granting a protection certificate and record it in the National Register of Industrial Property according to the provisions of Article 118 of this Law for layout design registration applications.

5. Trademark registration applications that are refused according to the provisions of clause 3 of this Article are considered as not filed, except in cases where the application is used as a basis to request priority rights.

Article 110. Publication of industrial property applications

1. Industrial property registration applications that have been accepted as valid by the state management agency on industrial property rights shall be published in the Industrial Property Gazette according to the provisions of this Article.

2. A patent application is published in the nineteenth month from the filing date or from the priority date for applications claiming priority, or earlier upon the request of the applicant.

3. An industrial design application, a trademark application, and a geographical indication application are published within two months from the date the application is accepted as valid.

4. Layout design applications are published in a form that allows direct lookup at the state agency managing industrial property rights but may not be copied; for confidential information in the application, only competent authorities and relevant parties involved in the procedure for invalidating the protection certificate or handling infringement acts are allowed to access it. Basic information about layout design applications and layout design protection certificates is published within two months from the date of granting the protection certificate.

Article 111. Confidentiality of patent applications and industrial design applications before publication

1. Before the patent application or industrial design application is published in the Industrial Property Gazette, the state management agency for industrial property shall be responsible for keeping the information in the application confidential.

2. Officers and public servants of the state management agency for industrial property who disclose confidential information in a patent application or industrial design application shall be subject to disciplinary action; if the disclosure of confidential information causes damage to the applicant, compensation must be provided in accordance with the provisions of the law.

Article 112. Opinions of third parties on the granting of a protection certificate

From the date the industrial property application is published in the Industrial Property Gazette until before the date of the decision to grant the protection title, any third party has the right to provide opinions to the state management agency on industrial property regarding the granting or non-granting of the protection title for that application. Opinions must be made in writing and accompanied by documents or citations of information sources for verification.

Article 113. Request for substantive examination of a patent application

1. Within forty-two months from the filing date of the application or from the priority date in the case of an application claiming priority, the patent applicant or any third party may request the state management agency on industrial property to conduct a substantive examination of the application, provided that the substantive examination fee is paid.

2. The deadline for requesting substantive examination of a patent application for a utility solution is thirty-six months from the filing date or from the priority date in case the application enjoys priority rights.

3. In case no request for substantive examination is submitted within the period prescribed in clauses 1 and 2 of this Article, the patent application is deemed withdrawn at the expiration of that period.

Article 114. Substantive examination of industrial property applications

1. The following industrial property applications shall be subject to substantive examination to assess the possibility of granting a protection certificate for the subject of the application according to the protection conditions and to determine the corresponding scope of protection:

a) Patent applications that have been recognized as valid and have submitted a request for substantive examination as prescribed;

b) Industrial design applications, trademark applications, and geographical indication applications that have been recognized as valid.

2. The industrial design application shall not be substantively examined.

Article 115. Amendment, supplement, division, and conversion of industrial property registration applications

1. Before the state management agency on industrial property rights notifies the refusal to grant a protection title or the decision to grant a protection title, the applicant shall have the following rights:

a) To amend or supplement the application;

b) To divide the application;

c) To request the recording of changes in the name or address of the applicant;

d) To request the recording of a change of applicant due to assignment of the application under a contract, succession, inheritance, or a decision of a competent authority;

e) To convert a patent application requesting a patent into a utility solution application requesting a utility solution patent, and vice versa.

2. The person requesting the procedures prescribed in Clause 1 of this Article shall pay the fees and charges.

3. Amendments and supplements to an industrial property application must not expand the scope of the subject disclosed or stated in the application and must not alter the nature of the subject matter claimed in the application, while ensuring the unity of the application.

4. In the case of an application division, the filing date of the divided application is determined as the filing date of the original application.

Article 116. Withdrawal of an industrial property application

1. Before the state management agency for industrial property rights decides to grant or refuse the grant of a protection title, the applicant has the right to declare the withdrawal of the industrial property application in writing, either in their own name or through an industrial property representative service organization, provided that the power of attorney clearly specifies the authorization to withdraw the application.

2. From the moment the applicant declares the withdrawal of the application, all subsequent procedures related to that application will be terminated; fees and charges already paid for procedures that have not yet commenced will be refunded upon the applicant's request.

3. Any withdrawn or deemed-to-be-withdrawn patent or industrial design application that has not been published, and any withdrawn trademark application, shall be considered never filed, except in cases where the application is used as a basis for claiming priority rights.

Article 117. Refusal to grant protection certificates

1. Applications for patents, industrial designs, trademarks, or geographical indications shall be refused a protection certificate in the following cases:

a) There are grounds to assert that the subject matter in the application does not fully meet the protection conditions;

b) An application meets the conditions for being granted a protection title but is not an application with a priority date or the earliest filing date in cases prescribed in Clause 1, Article 90 of this Law;

c) An application falls under the cases prescribed in Clause 2, Article 90 of this Law but does not have the agreement of all applicants.

2. An industrial design registration application shall be refused a protection title if it does not meet the formal requirements as prescribed in Article 109 of this Law.

3. For industrial property registration applications falling under the cases prescribed in Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article, the state management agency on industrial property rights shall carry out the following procedures:

a) Notify the intention to refuse to grant a protection title, specifying the reasons and setting a deadline for the applicant to submit opinions opposing the intended refusal;

b) Notify the refusal to grant the protection certificate if the applicant has no objection or the objection is not reasonable against the intended refusal prescribed in point a of this clause;

c) Grant the protection certificate and record it in the National Register on Industrial Property in accordance with the provisions of Article 118 of this Law if the applicant has a reasonable objection to the intended refusal prescribed in point a of this clause.

4. In case there is an objection to the intention to grant a protective certificate, the corresponding industrial property application shall be re-examined on the issues objected to.

Article 118. Granting of protective certificate, registration

An application for industrial property rights that does not fall under the cases of refusal to grant protection titles specified in Clause 1, Clause 2, and Point b, Clause 3, Article 117 of this Law, and where the applicant has paid the fee, the state management agency for industrial property shall decide to grant the protection title and record it in the National Industrial Property Register.

Amended and supplemented provisions:

Article 119. Time limit for processing industrial property registration applications

1. Industrial property registration applications shall be formally examined within one month from the date of filing the application.

2. Industrial property registration applications shall be substantively examined within the following time limits:

a) For inventions, twelve months from the date of publication of the application if the request for substantive examination is filed before the publication date of the application, or from the date of receipt of the request for substantive examination if such request is filed after the publication date;

b) For industrial designs, trademarks, and geographical indications, six months from the date of publication of the application.

3. The time limit for re-examination of industrial property registration applications shall be two-thirds of the initial examination period; for complex cases, it may be extended but shall not exceed the initial examination period.

4. The time taken for amending or supplementing the application shall not be counted in the time limits stipulated in Clauses 1, 2, and 3 of this Article.

Amended and supplemented provisions:

Section 4. INTERNATIONAL APPLICATIONS AND HANDLING OF INTERNATIONAL APPLICATIONS

Amended and supplemented provisions:

Article 120. International applications and handling of international applications

1. Applications for industrial property rights filed under international treaties to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a member are collectively called international applications.

2. International applications and the handling of international applications must comply with the provisions of the relevant international treaties.

3. The Government shall guide the implementation of provisions on international applications and the procedures for handling international applications under the relevant international treaties in accordance with the principles of this Chapter.

Chapter IX. OWNERS, CONTENT, AND LIMITATIONS OF INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY RIGHTS

Section 1. OWNERS AND CONTENT OF INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY RIGHTS

Article 121. Owners of industrial property objects

1. The owner of a patent, industrial design, or layout design is an organization or individual granted a protection certificate for the corresponding industrial property objects by the competent authority. The owner of a trademark is an organization or individual granted a trademark protection certificate by the competent authority, or has an internationally registered trademark recognized by the competent authority, or has a famous trademark.

2. The owner of a trade name is an organization or individual that legally uses that trade name in business activities.

3. The owner of a trade secret is an organization or individual who legally acquires the trade secret and implements its confidentiality. Trade secrets obtained by an employee or a person performing assigned tasks while executing the hired or assigned work belong to the employer or the assigning party, unless the parties have another agreement.

4. The owner of a geographical indication in Vietnam is the State. The State grants the right to use the geographical indication to organizations and individuals to carry out the production of products bearing the geographical indication in the corresponding locality and bring those products to the market. The State directly exercises the right to manage the geographical indication or grants the right to manage the geographical indication to an organization representing the interests of all organizations and individuals granted the right to use the geographical indication.

Article 122. Author and rights of authors of inventions, industrial designs, and layout designs

1. The author of an invention, industrial design, or layout design is the person who directly creates the industrial property object; in the case of two or more people jointly directly creating the industrial property object, they are co-authors.

2. Personal rights of the author of inventions, industrial designs, and layout designs include the following rights:

a) To have their name recorded as the author in the Patent Certificate, Utility Solution Certificate, Industrial Design Certificate, and Certificate of Semiconductor Integrated Circuit Layout Design Registration;

b) To have their name mentioned as the author in documents that publish or introduce the invention, industrial design, or layout design.

3. Property rights of the author of inventions, industrial designs, and layout designs are the rights to receive remuneration as prescribed in Article 135 of this Law.

Article 123. Rights of the owner of industrial property objects

1. The owner of an industrial property object has the following property rights:

a) To use or allow others to use the industrial property object in accordance with the provisions of Article 124 and Chapter X of this Law;

b) Prohibit others from using industrial property objects in accordance with the provisions of Article 125 of this Law;

c) Dispose of industrial property objects in accordance with the provisions of Chapter X of this Law.

2. Organizations and individuals granted by the State the right to use and manage geographical indications in accordance with Clause 4, Article 121 of this Law have the following rights:

a) Organizations granted the right to manage geographical indications have the right to allow others to use such geographical indications in accordance with Point a, Clause 1 of this Article;

b) Organizations or individuals granted the right to use, or organizations granted the right to manage geographical indications, have the right to prohibit others from using such geographical indications in accordance with Point b, Clause 1 of this Article.

Article 124. Use of industrial property objects

1. The use of inventions is the implementation of the following acts:

a) Manufacture of the protected product;

b) Apply the protected process;

c) Exploiting the functions of a protected product or a product manufactured according to a protected process;

d) Circulating, advertising, offering for sale, storing for circulation the products specified in point c of this clause;

đ) Importing the products specified in point c of this clause.

2. Using industrial designs involves performing the following acts:

a) Manufacturing products whose external appearance is a protected industrial design;

b) Circulating, advertising, offering for sale, storing for circulation the products specified in point a of this clause;

c) Importing the products specified in point a of this clause.

3. Using layout designs involves performing the following acts:

a) Copying layout designs; manufacturing semiconductor integrated circuits according to protected layout designs;

b) Selling, leasing, advertising, offering, or storing copies of layout designs, semiconductor integrated circuits manufactured according to layout designs, or goods containing semiconductor integrated circuits manufactured according to protected layout designs;

c) Importing copies of layout designs, semiconductor integrated circuits manufactured according to layout designs, or goods containing semiconductor integrated circuits manufactured according to protected layout designs.

4. Using trade secrets is performing the following acts:

a) Applying trade secrets to produce products, provide services, or trade goods;

b) Selling, advertising for sale, storing for sale, or importing products produced by applying trade secrets.

5. Using trademarks is performing the following acts:

a) Affixing a protected trademark onto goods, packaging of goods, business means, service means, transaction documents in business activities;

b) Circulating, offering for sale, advertising for sale, storing for sale goods bearing a protected trademark;

c) Importing goods or services bearing a protected trademark.

6. Using a trade name is the act of performing actions for commercial purposes by using the trade name to identify oneself in business activities, displaying the trade name in transaction documents, signboards, products, goods, packaging of goods, and service provision means, advertising.

7. Using a geographical indication is the act of performing the following actions:

a) Affixing a protected geographical indication onto goods, packaging of goods, business means, transaction documents in business activities;

b) Circulating, offering for sale, advertising for sale, storing for sale goods bearing protected geographical indications;

c) Importing goods bearing protected geographical indications.

Article 125. Right to prohibit others from using industrial property objects

1. The owner of an industrial property object and organizations or individuals granted the right to use or manage geographical indications have the right to prohibit others from using the industrial property object if such use does not fall under the cases stipulated in clauses 2 and 3 of this Article.

2. The owner of an industrial property object and organizations or individuals granted the right to use or manage geographical indications do not have the right to prohibit others from performing acts falling under the following cases:

a) Using patents, industrial designs, layout designs for personal needs or non-commercial purposes, or for the purpose of evaluation, analysis, research, teaching, testing, trial production, or collecting information to carry out procedures for permission to produce, import, or circulate products;

b) Circulating, importing, or exploiting the utility of products legally released on the market, including foreign markets, except for products not released to the foreign market by the trademark owner or a person authorized by the trademark owner;

c) Using patents, industrial designs, layout designs solely for the purpose of maintaining the operation of foreign means of transport that are in transit or temporarily in the territory of Vietnam;

d) Using patents, industrial designs by a person with prior rights as carried out under the provisions of Article 134 of this Law;

d) Use inventions that have been authorized for implementation by a competent state agency in accordance with the provisions of Articles 145 and 146 of this Law;

e) Use layout designs when unaware of or not obligated to know that such designs are protected;

g) Use a trademark identical or similar to a protected geographical indication if the trademark has been protected in good faith before the filing date of that geographical indication;

h) Honestly use a person's name, signs describing type, quantity, quality, use, value, geographical origin, and other characteristics of goods or services.

3. The owner of a trade secret does not have the right to prohibit others from carrying out the following acts:

a) Disclosing or using business secrets obtained without knowing and without having an obligation to know such business secrets that were obtained illegally by others;

b) Disclosing secret data to protect the public as prescribed in Clause 1, Article 128 of this Law;

c) Using secret data specified in Article 128 of this Law not for commercial purposes;

d) Disclosing or using business secrets created independently;

đ) Disclosing or using business secrets created by analyzing or evaluating products legally distributed provided that the analyst or evaluator has no other agreement with the owner of the business secret or the seller.

Article 126. Acts of infringing rights to inventions, industrial designs, layout designs

The following acts are considered infringing the rights of the owner of an invention, industrial design, layout design:

1. Using a protected invention, a protected industrial design, or an industrial design that does not differ significantly from that design, a protected layout-design, or any part that has originality of that layout-design during the validity period of the protection certificate without the permission of the owner;

2. Using an invention, industrial design, or layout-design without paying compensation according to the provisions on temporary rights specified in Article 131 of this Law.

Article 127. Acts infringing upon the rights to trade secrets

1. The following acts are considered infringements on the rights to trade secrets:

a) Accessing, collecting information classified as a trade secret by circumventing the security measures of the person legally controlling that trade secret;

b) Disclosing or using information classified as a trade secret without the permission of the owner of that trade secret;

c) Breaching a confidentiality agreement or deceiving, instigating, bribing, coercing, enticing, or exploiting the trust of a person with a confidentiality obligation in order to access, collect, or disclose business secrets;

d) Accessing or collecting information that constitutes business secrets of the applicant under the business licensing or product circulation procedures by circumventing the security measures of the competent authority;

đ) Using or disclosing business secrets even though knowing or being obligated to know that such business secrets were obtained by others in relation to one of the acts specified in points a, b, c, and d of this clause;

e) Failing to fulfill the confidentiality obligations stipulated in Article 128 of this Law.

2. Persons legally controlling business secrets as stipulated in clause 1 of this Article include the owner of the business secret, a person legally transferred the right to use the business secret, and a person managing the business secret.

Article 128. Obligation to keep experimental data confidential

1. In cases where the law requires applicants for business licenses, circulation of pharmaceuticals, or agricultural products to provide test results or any other data that constitute trade secrets obtained through significant investment and the applicant requests that such information be kept confidential, the competent licensing authority is obliged to take the necessary measures to ensure that this data is not used for unfair commercial purposes and is not disclosed, except in cases where disclosure is necessary to protect the public.

2. From the time confidential data in the license application is submitted to the competent authority specified in Clause 1 of this Article until five years from the date the applicant is granted a license, that authority shall not grant a license to any later applicant if the application uses the aforementioned confidential data without the consent of the data submitter, except in cases specified in Point d, Clause 3, Article 125 of this Law.

Article 129. Acts of infringement of rights to trademarks, trade names, and geographical indications

1. The following acts carried out without the permission of the trademark owner shall be considered as infringement of trademark rights:

a) Using a sign identical to a protected trademark for goods or services identical to the goods or services listed in the registration attached to that trademark;

b) Using a sign identical to a registered trademark for goods or services that are similar or related to the goods or services in the category registered with that trademark, if such use is likely to cause confusion about the origin of the goods or services;

c) Using a sign similar to a protected trademark for goods or services that are identical, similar, or related to the goods or services in the registration list accompanying that trademark, if such use is likely to cause confusion about the origin of the goods or services;

d) Using a mark identical or similar to a well-known trademark or a mark in the form of a translation or transliteration from a well-known trademark for any goods or services, including goods or services that are not identical, similar, or related to the goods or services listed under the well-known trademark, if such use is likely to cause confusion about the origin of the goods or create a misleading impression about the relationship between the user of that mark and the owner of the well-known trademark.

2. Any act of using a trade designation identical or similar to another's trade name that has been previously used for the same type of products, services, or for similar products or services, causing confusion regarding the business entity, business establishment, or business activities under that trade name, is considered an infringement of the rights to the trade name.

3. The following acts are considered infringements of rights in relation to protected geographical indications:

a) Using a protected geographical indication for a product that originates from the geographical area associated with the indication, but the product does not meet the standards for the specific characteristics and quality of the product bearing the geographical indication;

b) Using a protected geographical indication for a product similar to the product bearing the geographical indication with the intent of taking advantage of the reputation and prestige of the geographical indication;

c) Using any sign identical or similar to a protected geographical indication for a product not originating from the geographical area associated with that indication in a way that misleads consumers into believing that the product originates from that geographical area;

d) Using a protected geographical indication for wine, spirits for wine, or spirits not originating from the geographic area corresponding to that geographical indication, including cases where the actual origin of the goods is indicated or the geographical indication is used in the form of translation, transcription, or used together with words indicating type, style, form, imitation, or similar words.

Article 130. Unfair Competition Acts

1. The following acts are considered unfair competition acts:

a) Using trade indicators that cause confusion about the business entity, business activities, or commercial origin of goods and services;

b) Using trade indicators that cause confusion about the origin, production method, characteristics, quality, quantity, or other attributes of goods and services; about the conditions of providing goods or services;

c) Using a trademark protected in a country that is a member of an international treaty that stipulates that a representative or agent of the trademark owner is prohibited from using that trademark, to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is also a member, if the user is a representative or agent of the trademark owner and such use is without the consent of the trademark owner and without legitimate reason;

d) Registering, occupying the right to use, or using a domain name that is identical or confusingly similar to a trademark, trade name protected for another person, or a geographical indication that one does not have the right to use, with the purpose of monopolizing the domain name, exploiting, or damaging the reputation and fame of the corresponding trademark, trade name, or geographical indication.

2. The commercial indications stipulated in Clause 1 of this Article are signs and information intended to guide the trade of goods and services, including trademarks, trade names, business symbols, business slogans, geographical indications, packaging designs of goods, and product labels.

3. The act of using a trade mark as stipulated in Clause 1 of this Article includes acts of affixing that trade mark to goods, goods packaging, means of service, business transaction documents, advertising means; selling, advertising for sale, storing for sale, importing goods with that trade mark.

Article 131. Temporary rights to inventions, industrial designs, layout designs

1. In case the applicant for the registration of an invention or industrial design knows that the invention or industrial design is being used by another person for commercial purposes and that person has no prior right to use it, the applicant has the right to notify the user in writing about the filing of the application, clearly specifying the filing date and the date of publication of the application in the Industrial Property Gazette so that the person can cease or continue using it.

2. For integrated circuit layout designs that have been registered by the right holder or by a person authorized by them for commercial exploitation before the issuance of the certificate of registration of the integrated circuit layout design, if the right holder knows that such a layout design is being used by another person for commercial purposes, they have the right to notify in writing their registration rights over that layout design to the user so that the user either ceases using the layout design or continues to use it.

3. In the case where the regulations specified in clauses 1 and 2 of this Article have been notified, yet the notified person continues to use the invention, industrial design, or layout design, then when a Patent, Utility Solution Patent, Industrial Design Patent, or Certificate of Registration for Semiconductor Integrated Circuit Layout Design is granted, the owner of the invention, industrial design, or layout design has the right to request that the person who has used the invention, industrial design, or layout design pay a compensation equivalent to the price for transferring the right to use that invention, industrial design, or layout design within the corresponding scope and duration of use.

Section 2. LIMITATIONS OF INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY RIGHTS

Article 132. Factors Limiting Industrial Property Rights

According to the provisions of this Law, industrial property rights may be limited by the following factors:

1. The prior rights of the user regarding inventions and industrial designs;

2. The obligations of the owner, including:

a) Paying remuneration to the author of the invention, industrial design, layout design;

b) Using the invention, trademark.

3. Transferring the right to use the invention according to the decision of the competent state authority.

Article 133. The right to use inventions in the name of the State

1. Ministries and ministerial-level agencies have the right to use, or to allow other organizations or individuals to use, inventions within their management field in the name of the State for public, non-commercial purposes, serving national defense, security, disease prevention, treatment, nutrition for the people, and meeting other urgent social needs without the consent of the owner of the invention or the person who has been transferred the exclusive right to use the invention under a contract (hereinafter referred to as the person holding exclusive use of the invention) according to the provisions of Articles 145 and 146 of this Law.

2. The use of inventions stipulated in paragraph 1 of this Article is limited to the scope and conditions of transferring the right to use as stated in paragraph 1 of Article 146 of this Law, except for inventions created using facilities, technical equipment, or funds from the state budget.

Amended and supplemented provisions:

Article 134. Prior right to use with respect to inventions and industrial designs

1. In the case where, before the filing date of a patent or industrial design application, the invention or industrial design has been made public and someone has already used it or prepared the necessary conditions to use the invention or industrial design identical to the invention or industrial design in the application but created independently (hereinafter referred to as a person with prior right of use), after the grant of the protection certificate, that person has the right to continue using the invention or industrial design within the scope and quantity that has been used or prepared for use without needing to ask for permission or pay compensation to the owner of the protected invention or industrial design. The exercise of rights by the prior user of the invention or industrial design is not considered an infringement of the rights of the owner of the invention or industrial design.

2. The person with prior use rights to an invention or industrial design is not allowed to transfer that right to another person, except in the case of transferring that right together with the transfer of the production or business establishment where the invention or industrial design is used or prepared for use. The person with prior use rights may not expand the scope or volume of use without the permission of the owner of the invention or industrial design.

Article 135. Obligation to pay remuneration to the author of an invention, industrial design, or layout design

1. The owner of an invention, industrial design, or layout design is obliged to pay remuneration to the author as prescribed in Clauses 2 and 3 of this Article, except in cases where the parties have agreed otherwise.

2. The minimum remuneration that the owner must pay to the author is regulated as follows:

a) 10% of the profit gained by the owner from using the invention, industrial design, or layout design;

b) 15% of the total amount that the owner receives each time payment is received from the transfer of the right to use a patent, industrial design, or layout design.

3. In the case that a patent, industrial design, or layout design is created by multiple authors, the remuneration rate stipulated in clause 2 of this Article is the rate for all co-authors; the co-authors shall agree on the division of the remuneration paid by the owner.

4. The obligation to pay remuneration to the author of a patent, industrial design, or layout design exists throughout the protection period of the patent, industrial design, or layout design.

Article 136. Obligation to use patents, trademarks

1. The owner of an invention is obligated to produce the protected product or apply the protected process to meet the needs of national defense, security, disease prevention, medical treatment, nutrition for the people, or other urgent social needs. In the event that there are needs prescribed in this clause and the invention owner does not fulfill this obligation, the competent state authority may transfer the right to use the invention to another person without obtaining the permission of the invention owner in accordance with the provisions of Articles 145 and 146 of this Law.

Amended and supplemented provisions:

2. The owner of a trademark is obligated to continuously use that trademark. In the case where a trademark is not continuously used for five years or more, the ownership right of that trademark will be terminated according to the provisions of Article 95 of this Law.

Article 137. Obligation to allow the use of a basic invention for the purpose of using a dependent invention

1. A dependent invention is an invention created based on another invention (hereinafter referred to as the basic invention) and can only be used on the condition that the basic invention is used.

2. In the case of proving that the dependent invention creates a significant technical advancement compared to the basic invention and has great economic significance, the owner of the dependent invention has the right to request the owner of the basic invention to transfer the right to use the basic invention at a reasonable price and commercial conditions. If the owner of the basic invention does not meet the request of the owner of the dependent invention without a valid reason, the competent state agency may transfer the right to use that invention to the owner of the dependent invention without the permission of the owner of the basic invention in accordance with the provisions of Articles 145 and 146 of this Law.

Chapter X. TRANSFER OF INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY RIGHTS

Section 1. TRANSFER OF INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY RIGHTS

Article 138. General provisions on the transfer of industrial property rights

1. The transfer of industrial property rights is when the owner of the industrial property rights transfers their ownership rights to another organization or individual.

2. The transfer of industrial property rights must be carried out in the form of a written contract (hereinafter referred to as the industrial property rights transfer contract).

Article 139. Conditions limiting the transfer of industrial property rights

1. The owner of industrial property rights may only transfer their rights within the scope of protection.

2. Rights to geographical indications may not be transferred.

3. Rights to trade names may only be transferred together with the transfer of the entire business establishment and business activities under that trade name.

4. The transfer of rights regarding a trademark must not cause confusion about the characteristics or origin of the goods or services bearing the trademark.

5. Rights to a trademark can only be transferred to an organization or individual that meets the conditions for being eligible to register that trademark.

Article 140. Content of the industrial property rights transfer contract

An industrial property rights transfer contract must include the following main contents:

1. The full name and address of the transferor and the transferee;

2. The basis for the transfer;

3. The transfer price;

4. The rights and obligations of the transferor and the transferee.

Section 2. TRANSFER OF THE RIGHT TO USE INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY OBJECTS

Article 141. General provisions on the transfer of the right to use industrial property objects

1. The transfer of the right to use industrial property objects is when the owner of an industrial property object allows another organization or individual to use the industrial property object within the scope of their usage rights.

2. The transfer of the right to use an industrial property object must be carried out in the form of a written contract (hereinafter referred to as the contract for the use of an industrial property object).

Article 142. Restrictions on the transfer of the right to use industrial property objects

1. The right to use geographical indications and trade names cannot be transferred.

2. The right to use collective trademarks cannot be transferred to organizations or individuals who are not members of the owner of that collective trademark.

3. The transferee is not allowed to conclude a secondary contract with a third party, except in cases where permitted by the transferor.

4. The party receiving the right to use the trademark is obliged to indicate on the goods and packaging that the goods are produced under a trademark license agreement.

5. The party receiving the right to use the invention under an exclusive contract is obliged to use the invention as the owner of the invention in accordance with the provisions in Clause 1, Article 136 of this Law.

Article 143. Types of contracts for using industrial property objects

Contracts for using industrial property objects include the following types:

1. An exclusive contract is a contract according to which, within the scope and term of the transfer, the transferee has the exclusive right to use the industrial property object, the transferor is not allowed to enter into a contract for the use of the industrial property object with any third party, and the transferor may only use that industrial property object with the permission of the transferee;

2. A non-exclusive contract is a contract according to which, within the scope and term of the transfer of use rights, the transferor still has the right to use the industrial property object and the right to enter into a contract for the non-exclusive use of the industrial property object with others;

3. A sub-license contract for the use of an industrial property object is a contract according to which the transferor is a person who has been granted the right to use that industrial property object under another contract.

Article 144. Content of a contract for the use of an industrial property object

1. A contract for the use of objects of industrial property must include the following main contents:

a) Name and full address of the transferor and the transferee;

b) Basis for transferring the right to use;

c) Type of contract;

d) Scope of transfer, including limits on the right to use, territorial limits;

đ) Duration of the contract;

e) Price for transferring the right to use;

g) Rights and obligations of the transferring party and the receiving party.

2. A contract for the use of objects of industrial property must not contain clauses that unreasonably restrict the rights of the receiving party, especially clauses that do not originate from the rights of the transferring party as follows:

a) Prohibiting the receiving party from improving the object of industrial property, except for trademarks; requiring the receiving party to transfer free of charge to the transferring party any improvements to the object of industrial property created by the receiving party or the right to register industrial property, the industrial property rights to those improvements;

b) Directly or indirectly restricting the licensee from exporting goods or services produced or provided under a contract utilizing industrial property objects to regions other than those where the licensor holds the corresponding industrial property rights or has exclusive import rights for those goods;

c) Forcing the licensee to purchase all or a certain proportion of raw materials, components, or equipment from the licensor or a third party designated by the licensor, not for the purpose of ensuring the quality of goods or services produced or provided by the licensee;

d) Prohibiting the licensee from challenging the validity of the licensor's industrial property rights or transfer rights.

3. Contract terms falling under the cases prescribed in clause 2 of this Article are automatically null and void.

Section 3. MANDATORY TRANSFER OF USE RIGHTS FOR INVENTIONS

Article 145. Mandatory grounds for transferring the right to use an invention

1. In the following cases, the right to use an invention shall be transferred to another organization or individual for use by decision of a competent state authority in accordance with the provisions of Clause 1, Article 147 of this Law without the consent of the holder of the exclusive right to use the invention:

a) The use of the invention for public, non-commercial purposes, serving national defense, security, disease prevention, medical treatment, nutrition for the people, or meeting urgent social needs;

b) The holder of the exclusive right to use the invention fails to fulfill the obligation to use the invention as prescribed in Clause 1, Article 136 and Clause 5, Article 142 of this Law after the expiration of four years from the date of filing the invention application and three years from the date of granting the patent;

c) The person in need of using the invention does not reach an agreement with the holder of the exclusive right to use the invention regarding the conclusion of a contract for using the invention, despite having made efforts to negotiate within a reasonable period with a reasonable price and commercial terms;

d) The holder of the exclusive right to use the invention is considered to have conducted acts of anti-competitive behavior prohibited under the competition law.

2. The person holding the exclusive right to use the invention has the right to request the termination of the right to use when the grounds for transfer stipulated in Clause 1 of this Article no longer exist and cannot reappear, provided that the termination of the right to use does not cause damage to the person to whom the right to use the invention has been transferred.

Article 146. Conditions for restricting the right to use an invention transferred under a compulsory decision

1. The right to use an invention transferred according to the decision of a competent state authority must comply with the following conditions:

a) The transferred right to use must be non-exclusive;

b) The transferred right of use is limited only within the scope and duration sufficient to meet the transfer objectives and primarily to supply the domestic market, except in cases provided in point d, clause 1, Article 145 of this Law. For inventions in the field of semiconductor technology, the transfer of the right of use is solely for public, non-commercial purposes or to address conduct that restricts competition in accordance with the law on competition;

c) The transferee of the right of use may not transfer that right to others, except in the case of transfer along with their business establishment, and may not transfer secondary rights of use to others;

d) The person to whom the right to use is transferred must pay the holder of the exclusive right to use the invention a reasonable compensation depending on the economic value of that right to use in each specific case, in accordance with the compensation framework prescribed by the Government.

2. In addition to the conditions stipulated in clause 1 of this Article, the right to use the invention transferred in the case specified in clause 2, Article 137 of this Law must also meet the following conditions:

a) The holder of the exclusive right to use the basic invention may also transfer the right to use dependent inventions under reasonable conditions;

b) The person to whom the right to use the basic invention is transferred may not assign that right, except in the case of assignment together with the entire right to the dependent invention.

Article 147. Authority and procedures for transferring the right to use an invention under a compulsory decision.

1. The Ministry of Science and Technology shall issue a decision to transfer the right to use a patent based on the consideration of requests for the transfer of the right to use in cases specified in points b, c, and d, clause 1, Article 145 of this Law. Ministries and ministerial-level agencies shall issue decisions to transfer the right to use patents within their state management sector when cases specified in point a, clause 1, Article 145 of this Law occur, based on the consultation with the Ministry of Science and Technology.

2. The decision to transfer the right to use a patent must specify the scope and conditions of use in accordance with the provisions of Article 146 of this Law.

3. The state authority competent to decide on the transfer of the right to use a patent must immediately notify the exclusive holder of the right to use the patent about that decision.

4. Decisions to transfer the right to use a patent or to refuse to transfer the right to use a patent may be complained about or sued according to the provisions of the law.

5. The Government shall stipulate in detail the procedures for transferring the right to use a patent stipulated in this Article.

Section 4. REGISTRATION OF INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY RIGHTS TRANSFER CONTRACTS

Amended and supplemented provisions:

Article 148. Effectiveness of industrial property rights transfer contracts

1. For types of industrial property rights established on the basis of registration in accordance with point a, Clause 3, Article 6 of this Law, a contract for the transfer of industrial property rights shall only be effective when it has been registered with the state authority on industrial property rights.

2. For types of industrial property rights established on the basis of registration under point a, clause 3, Article 6 of this Law, the contract for using industrial property objects is effective according to the agreement between the parties, but it is only legally valid against third parties when it has been registered with the state management agency on industrial property rights.

3. A contract for using industrial property objects is automatically terminated if the industrial property right of the transferring party is terminated.

Article 149. Dossier for Registration of Industrial Property Rights Transfer Contracts

The dossier for registering contracts for using industrial property objects and contracts for transferring industrial property rights includes:

1. Registration declaration form according to the prescribed template;

2. Original or certified copy of the contract;

3. Original protection certificate in case of transfer of industrial property rights;

4. Written consent of co-owners, written explanation of reasons for disagreement from any co-owner regarding the transfer of rights if the industrial property right is jointly owned;

5. Proof of payment of fees and charges;

6. Power of attorney if the application is submitted through a representative.

Article 150. Handling of applications for registration of industrial property ownership transfer contracts

The order and procedures for receiving and handling applications for registration of contracts for the use of industrial property objects, contracts for the transfer of industrial property rights are prescribed by the Government.

Chapter XI. INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY REPRESENTATIVES

Article 151. Industrial property representative services

1. Industrial property representative services include:

a) Representing organizations and individuals before competent state agencies regarding the establishment and ensuring the enforcement of industrial property rights;

b) Advising on matters related to the procedures for establishing and enforcing industrial property rights;

c) Other services related to the procedures for establishing and enforcing industrial property rights.

2. Industrial property representatives include organizations providing industrial property representation services (hereinafter referred to as industrial property service organizations) and individuals practicing as industrial property representatives within those organizations (hereinafter referred to as industrial property representatives).

Article 152. Scope of rights of industrial property representatives

1. Industrial property service organizations are only allowed to provide services within the scope of authorization and may grant authorization to other industrial property service organizations if they have the written consent of the authorizer.

2. Industrial property service organizations have the right to withdraw from industrial property representation activities if they have lawfully transferred unfinished representation work to another industrial property service organization.

3. Industrial property representatives are not allowed to carry out the following activities:

a) Simultaneously representing parties in dispute with each other over industrial property rights;

b) Withdrawing an application for granting a protection certificate, declaring the surrender of protection, withdrawing a complaint regarding the establishment of industrial property rights if not authorized by the principal to represent;

c) Deceiving or coercing clients in the process of concluding and performing industrial property representation service contracts.

Article 153. Responsibilities of Industrial Property Representatives

1. An industrial property representative has the following responsibilities:

a) Clearly notifying the fees, charges, and expenses related to the procedures for establishing and enforcing industrial property rights, as well as service fees according to the service fee schedule registered with the state management agency on industrial property;

b) Keeping confidential information and documents entrusted that are related to the case they represent;

c) Provide truthful and complete information on all notifications and requests from the state authority responsible for establishing and ensuring the enforcement of intellectual property rights; promptly deliver intellectual property protection certificates and other decisions to the represented party;

d) Protect the legal rights and interests of the represented party by timely responding to the requests of the state authority responsible for establishing and ensuring the enforcement of intellectual property rights for the represented party;

đ) Notify the state authority responsible for establishing and ensuring the enforcement of intellectual property rights of any changes in the name, address, and other information of the represented party when necessary.

2. The organization providing industrial property representation services shall be civilly liable to the person represented for representation activities carried out by the industrial property representative on behalf of the organization.

Amended and supplemented provisions:

Article 154. Conditions for conducting industrial property representation services

Organizations that meet the following conditions are allowed to conduct industrial property representation services under the name of an industrial property service organization:

1. Being an enterprise, a law practice organization, or a science and technology service organization that is legally established and operates legally;

2. Having the function of providing industrial property representation services as recorded in the Business Registration Certificate, the Operation Registration Certificate (hereinafter collectively referred to as the Business Registration Certificate);

3. The head of the organization or the person authorized by the head of the organization must meet the conditions for practicing industrial property representative services as stipulated in Clause 1, Article 155 of this Law.

Article 155. Conditions for practicing industrial property representative services

1. An individual is permitted to practice industrial property representative services if they meet the following conditions:

a) Possess a certificate of practicing industrial property representative services;

b) Work for an organization providing industrial property representative services.

2. An individual who meets the following conditions shall be granted a certificate of practicing industrial property representative services:

a) Be a Vietnamese citizen with full civil act capacity;

b) Reside permanently in Vietnam;

c) Hold a university degree;

d) Has directly worked in legal work on industrial property continuously for five years or more, or has directly worked in examining various types of industrial property registration applications at national or international industrial property authorities continuously for five years or more, or has graduated from an industrial property law training course recognized by a competent authority;

d) Is not a civil servant or public employee working at a state agency authorized to establish and ensure the enforcement of industrial property rights;

e) Has met the requirements in the professional examination for industrial property representation organized by a competent authority.

3. The government shall stipulate the specific industrial property law training programs, the examination of professional skills in industrial property representation, and the issuance of industrial property representation service practice certificates.

Article 156. Registration, removal of the name of industrial property service organizations, and revocation of industrial property service practice certificates

1. Organizations and individuals that meet the business and practice conditions for industrial property services specified in Articles 154 and 155 of this Law shall be recorded by the state management agency for industrial property rights in the National Register of Industrial Property Representatives and published in the Industrial Property Gazette upon the request of those organizations or individuals.

2. In the case where there is a basis to confirm that an industrial property representative no longer meets the business and practice conditions specified in Articles 154 and 155 of this Law, the state management agency for industrial property rights shall remove the name of that industrial property representative from the National Register of Industrial Property and publish it in the Industrial Property Gazette.

3. Organizations providing industrial property representative services that violate the provisions of Clause 3, Article 152 and Article 153 of this Law shall be handled in accordance with legal regulations.

4. Industrial property representatives who commit professional or operational violations while practicing, or violate the provisions at Point c, Clause 3, Article 152 and Point a, Clause 1, Article 153 of this Law, depending on the nature and level of the violation, may be warned, fined, or have their industrial property representative service practice certificate revoked.

Part VII

RIGHTS TO PLANT VARIETIES

Chapter XII. CONDITIONS FOR PROTECTION OF RIGHTS TO PLANT VARIETIES

Amended and supplemented provisions:

Article 157. Organizations and individuals eligible for protection of rights to plant varieties

1. Organizations and individuals entitled to protection of rights over plant varieties are organizations or individuals who create or discover and develop plant varieties, or invest in the work of creating or discovering and developing plant varieties, or are transferred rights over plant varieties.

2. Organizations and individuals specified in Clause 1 of this Article include Vietnamese organizations and individuals; foreign organizations and individuals from countries that have signed agreements with the Socialist Republic of Vietnam on the protection of plant varieties; foreign organizations and individuals who have permanent residence in Vietnam or have production or business establishments of plant varieties in Vietnam.

Article 158. General conditions for plant varieties to be protected

A protected plant variety is a plant variety that is created or discovered and developed, listed in the Catalogue of plant species protected by the State issued by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, possessing novelty, distinctness, uniformity, stability, and having an appropriate name.

Article 159. Novelty of plant varieties

A plant variety is considered to have novelty if the propagating material or harvested product of that plant variety has not been sold or otherwise distributed for the purpose of exploiting the plant variety within the territory of Vietnam before the filing date for registration by the person entitled to register as specified in Article 164 of this Law or their authorized person within one year, or outside the territory of Vietnam before the filing date for registration within six years for woody plant varieties and grape plants, and four years for other plant varieties.

Amended and supplemented provisions:

Article 160. Distinctness of plant varieties

1. A plant variety is considered to be distinct if it has the ability to be clearly distinguished from other plant varieties widely known at the time of filing the application or the priority date if the application claims priority rights.

2. A plant variety widely known as stipulated in Clause 1 of this Article is a plant variety that falls under one of the following cases:

a) A plant variety whose propagating material or harvested product has been widely used in the market in any country at the time of filing the protection application;

b) A plant variety that has been protected or registered in the Plant Variety Catalog in any country;

c) A plant variety that is the subject of a protection application or is registered in the Plant Variety Catalog in any country, if these applications have not been refused;

d) A plant variety whose detailed description has been published.

Article 161. Uniformity of plant varieties

A plant variety is considered uniform if there is a consistent expression of relevant characteristics, except for deviations within the permitted range for certain specific characteristics during the breeding process.

Article 162. Stability of plant varieties

A plant variety is considered stable if its relevant characteristics remain as initially described, without change after each breeding generation or after each breeding cycle in the case of cyclical breeding.

Amended and supplemented provisions:

Article 163. Name of the plant variety

1. The applicant must propose a suitable name for the plant variety that is the same as the name registered in any country when applying for protection.

2. The name of a plant variety is considered appropriate if the name can be easily distinguished from the names of other plant varieties widely known within the same species or a similar species.

3. The name of a plant variety is not considered appropriate in the following cases:

a) Consists only of numbers, except in cases where the numbers relate to the characteristics or development of the variety;

b) Violates social ethics;

c) Is likely to cause confusion about the features or characteristics of the variety;

d) Is likely to cause confusion about the identity of the author;

e) Is identical or similar to the extent of causing confusion with a trademark, trade name, or geographical indication that was protected before the date of filing the plant variety protection application;

g) Is identical or similar to the name of the harvested product of that plant variety;

h) Affects the pre-existing rights of another organization or individual.

4. Organizations and individuals selling or marketing reproductive materials of plant varieties must use the variety name as recorded in the Protection Certificate, even after the protection term expires.

5. When the variety name is combined with a trademark, trade name, or similar indications with the registered variety name for sale or marketing, the name must still be easily recognizable.

Chapter XIII. ESTABLISHMENT OF RIGHTS OVER PLANT VARIETIES

Section 1. ESTABLISHMENT OF RIGHTS OVER PLANT VARIETIES

Article 164. Registration of Rights over Plant Varieties

1. To be granted protection for rights over a plant variety, organizations and individuals must submit an application for protection to the state management agency in charge of plant variety rights.

2. Organizations and individuals entitled to register the protection of plant varieties (hereinafter referred to as applicants) include:

a) The author directly selects, creates, or discovers and develops the plant variety using their own effort and expenses;

b) Organizations or individuals investing in the author to select, create, or discover and develop the plant variety in the form of assigning work or hiring, except in cases of other agreements;

c) Organizations or individuals receiving a transfer, inheritance, or succession of the plant variety protection registration rights.

3. Plant varieties that are selected, created, or discovered and developed using state budget or from projects managed by the State shall have their rights belong to the State. The Government shall specifically regulate the registration of rights to plant varieties as prescribed in this clause.

Amended and supplemented provisions:

Article 165. Method of submitting an application for plant variety rights registration

1. Vietnamese organizations and individuals, foreign organizations and individuals with permanent residence in Vietnam or with production or business establishments of plant varieties in Vietnam shall submit applications for rights to plant varieties (hereinafter referred to as protection applications) directly or through a legal representative in Vietnam.

2. Foreign organizations and individuals without permanent residence in Vietnam or without production or business establishments of plant varieties in Vietnam shall submit protection applications through a legal representative in Vietnam.

Article 166. Principle of first filing for plant varieties

1. In the case where two or more people independently submit protection applications on different dates for the same plant variety, the Plant Variety Protection Certificate can only be granted to the earliest valid applicant.

2. In the case where multiple applications for the protection of the same plant variety are submitted on the same day, the Plant Variety Protection Certificate can only be granted to the person who submits a single application according to the agreement of all applicants; if the applicants cannot reach an agreement, the state management agency on plant variety rights will consider granting the Plant Variety Protection Certificate based on determining the person who first created or discovered and developed the plant variety.

Article 167. Principle of priority for protection applications

1. An applicant has the right to request priority if the protection application is submitted within twelve months from the date of filing a protection application for the same plant variety in a country that has an agreement with the Socialist Republic of Vietnam on plant variety protection. The date of the first application filing is not included in this period.

2. To enjoy the priority right, the applicant must indicate the request to enjoy the priority right in the application for protection. Within a maximum period of three months from the filing date of the application, the applicant must provide copies of the documents of the first application certified by the competent authority and other samples or evidence confirming that the plant varieties in both applications are identical, and must pay the fees. The applicant has the right to provide information, documents, or materials necessary for the state management authority regarding plant variety rights for examination in accordance with the provisions of Articles 176 and 178 of this Law within two years after the end of the priority period or within an appropriate period depending on the species of the plant variety in the application, after the first application is rejected or withdrawn.

3. For the application enjoying priority rights, the priority date is the filing date of the first application.

4. Within the time limit specified in Clause 1 of this Article, the submission of another application or the publication or use of the plant variety that is the subject of the first application shall not be considered as a basis for refusing the protection application entitled to the priority right.

Article 168. Plant variety protection certificate and National Register of protected plant varieties

1. The plant variety protection certificate records the name of the variety and plant species, the name of the holder of rights to the plant variety (hereinafter referred to as the certificate holder), the name of the breeder of the plant variety, and the term of protection for the plant variety rights.

2. The state management agency for plant variety rights records the issuance of the protection certificate and the content of the protection certificate in the National Register of protected plant varieties and keeps such information.

Article 169. Validity of the plant variety protection certificate

1. The plant variety protection certificate is effective throughout the territory of Vietnam.

2. A plant variety protection certificate is effective from the date of issuance until the end of twenty-five years for woody plants and grape varieties; until the end of twenty years for other plant varieties.

3. A plant variety protection certificate may be suspended or revoked in accordance with the provisions of Articles 170 and 171 of this Law.

Article 170. Suspension and restoration of the validity of a plant variety protection certificate

1. Plant variety rights can be suspended in the following cases:

a) The protected plant variety no longer meets the conditions of uniformity and stability as at the time of granting the Patent;

b) The holder of the protection certificate does not pay the maintenance fee as prescribed;

c) The holder of the protection certificate does not provide the necessary documents or propagation materials to maintain and preserve the plant variety as prescribed;

d) The holder of the protection certificate does not change the name of the plant variety as required by the state management authority on plant variety rights.

2. In the cases specified in points a, c, and d of clause 1 of this Article, the state management authority on plant variety rights shall issue a decision to suspend the validity of the Plant Variety Protection Certificate.

3. In the case specified in point b of clause 1 of this Article, when the deadline for paying the maintenance fee expires, the state management authority on plant variety rights shall issue a decision to suspend the validity of the Plant Variety Protection Certificate from the first day of the next effective year in which the maintenance fee is not paid.

4. In the case specified in point a, clause 1 of this Article, any organization or individual has the right to request the state management agency for plant variety rights to suspend the validity of a plant variety protection certificate. Based on the results of reviewing the request for suspension of the validity of the plant variety protection certificate and the opinions of the related parties, the state management agency for plant variety rights shall issue a notice of refusal to suspend the validity of the protection certificate or issue a decision to suspend the validity of the protection certificate.

5. In the cases specified in Clause 1 of this Article, the state management agency on plant variety rights shall announce in a specialized journal and clearly state the reasons for suspension, while also sending a notice to the holder of the protection certificate. Within thirty days from the date of the notice, the holder of the protection certificate has the right to submit a request to remedy the reasons for suspension to the state management agency on plant variety rights and pay the fee to restore the validity of the Plant Variety Protection Certificate. Within ninety days from the date of submission, the holder of the protection certificate must remedy the reasons for suspension in the cases specified in points b, c, and d of Clause 1 of this Article. The state management agency on plant variety rights shall consider restoring the validity of the Protection Certificate and announce it in a specialized journal. In the case provided for in point a, clause 1 of this Article, the validity of the Plant Variety Protection Certificate shall be restored after the owner proves that the variety meets the conditions of uniformity and stability and is confirmed by the state management agency on plant variety rights.

Article 171. Cancellation of the validity of a plant variety protection certificate

1. A plant variety protection certificate shall be canceled in the following cases:

a) The plant variety protection registration application is submitted in the name of a person without the right to register, except in cases where the plant variety right has been transferred to the person with the right to register;

b) Plant varieties protected do not meet the conditions of novelty or distinctness at the time of granting the plant variety protection certificate;

c) Plant varieties that do not meet the requirements for uniformity or stability in cases where Plant Breeder’s Rights are granted based on the results of technical trials conducted by the applicant.

2. During the validity period of the Plant Variety Protection Certificate, any organization or individual has the right to request the state management agency in charge of plant variety rights to revoke the Plant Variety Protection Certificate. Based on the results of the examination of the request for revocation of the Plant Variety Protection Certificate and the opinions of the concerned parties, the state management agency in charge of plant variety rights shall issue a notice of refusal to revoke or make a decision to revoke the Plant Variety Protection Certificate.

3. In the event that the Plant Variety Protection Certificate is revoked, all transactions arising based on the plant variety granted that Certificate shall be invalid. The handling of invalid transactions shall be carried out in accordance with the provisions of the Civil Code.

Article 172. Amendment and re-issuance of the Plant Variety Protection Certificate

1. The holder of the protection certificate has the right to request the state management agency for plant variety rights to change or correct errors related to the name and address of the certificate holder provided that fees and charges are paid. In cases where these errors are caused by the state management agency for plant variety rights, the agency must make the corrections, and the certificate holder does not have to pay any fees or charges.

2. The holder of the protection certificate has the right to request the state management agency for plant variety rights to reissue the Plant Variety Protection Certificate in case of loss or damage provided that fees and charges are paid.

Article 173. Announcement of decisions related to the Plant Variety Protection Certificate

Decisions on granting, re-granting, suspending, canceling, or amending Plant Variety Protection Certificates shall be announced by the state management agency on plant variety rights in a specialized plant variety journal within sixty days from the date of the decision.

Section 2. APPLICATIONS AND PROCEDURES FOR HANDLING PROTECTION REGISTRATION APPLICATIONS

Article 174. Protection Registration Application

1. A protection registration application includes the following documents:

a) Registration form according to the prescribed template;

b) Photographs, technical declaration forms according to the prescribed template;

c) Power of attorney, if the application is submitted through a representative;

d) Documents proving the right to register, if the applicant is the transferee of the registration right;

e) Documents proving priority rights, if the application requests to enjoy priority rights;

e) Receipts of payment of fees and charges.

2. The application for protection and the transaction documents between the applicant and the state authority for plant variety rights must be made in Vietnamese, except for the following documents which can be made in another language but must be translated into Vietnamese when requested by the state authority for plant variety rights:

a) Power of attorney;

b) Documents proving the right to register;

c) Documents proving the right of priority;

d) Other documents to support the application.

3. Documents proving the priority right of the application for protection of plant variety rights include:

a) A copy of the application or the first applications certified by the receiving authority;

b) Transfer, inheritance, or succession documents of the priority right, if this right is derived from another person.

4. Each application can only register for protection of one plant variety.

Article 175. Receipt of protection application, filing date

1. The application for protection is only accepted by the state authority for plant variety rights when all documents specified in Clause 1, Article 174 of this Law are provided.

2. The application submission date is the date the application is received by the state management agency for plant variety rights.

Article 176. Formal examination of the protection registration application

1. The state management agency on plant variety rights shall examine the form of the application within fifteen days from the date of receipt of the application to determine the validity of the application.

2. A protection registration application is considered invalid in the following cases:

a) The application does not meet the formal requirements as prescribed;

b) The plant variety mentioned in the application does not belong to the species listed in the Catalogue of Plant Species Eligible for Protection;

c) The application is submitted by a person without the right to register, including cases where the registration right belongs to multiple organizations or individuals, but one or more persons among them do not agree to carry out the registration.

3. The state management agency on plant variety rights shall perform the following procedures:

a) Notify the refusal to accept the application in the cases specified in points b and c, Clause 2 of this Article, clearly stating the reasons for refusal;

b) Notify the applicant to remedy the deficiencies in the case prescribed in point a, clause 2 of this Article and set a deadline of thirty days from the date of receiving the notice for the applicant to correct those deficiencies;

c) Notify the refusal to accept the application if the applicant does not remedy the deficiencies or does not provide valid objections to the notice prescribed in point b of this clause;

d) Notify the acceptance of the application, requesting the applicant to send samples to the testing facility for technical examination and carry out the procedures prescribed in Article 178 of this Law if the application is valid or the applicant remedies the deficiencies satisfactorily or has valid objections to the notice prescribed in point b of this clause.

Article 177. Publication of the application for protection

1. In case the application is accepted as valid, the state management agency for plant variety rights shall publish the valid application in a specialized journal on plant varieties within ninety days from the date the application is accepted.

2. The content of the application publication includes the application number, application filing date, representative (if any), applicant, owner, name of the plant variety, name of the plant species, and the date the application was accepted as valid.

Article 178. Examination of the content of the registration application for protection

1. The state management agency for plant variety rights shall examine the content of an application that has been accepted as valid. The examination content includes:

a) Examination of the novelty and appropriate naming of the plant variety;

b) Examination of the technical trial results for the plant variety.

2. Technical trials are the conduct of experiments to determine the distinctness, uniformity, and stability of a plant variety. Technical trials are conducted by a competent state agency or an organization or individual capable of conducting plant variety trials in accordance with the regulations of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. The state management agency on rights to plant varieties may use previously available technical trial results.

3. The period for evaluating the results of technical trials is ninety days from the date of receipt of the technical trial results.

Article 179. Amendment and supplementation of the plant variety protection application

1. Before the state management agency on rights to plant varieties announces the refusal to grant a Plant Variety Protection Certificate or decides to grant a Plant Variety Protection Certificate, the applicant has the following rights:

a) Amend or supplement the application but must not alter the nature of the protection application;

b) Request to record changes of the registrant's name and address;

c) Request to record a change of registrant due to transfer of the application under a contract or inheritance, succession;

2. The person requesting to carry out the procedures prescribed in Clause 1 of this Article must pay fees and charges.

Article 180. Withdrawal of plant variety protection application

1. Before the state administrative body in charge of plant variety rights decides to grant or refuse to grant a Plant Variety Protection Certificate, the applicant has the right to withdraw the protection application. The request for withdrawal must be made in writing.

2. From the moment the applicant withdraws the protection application, all subsequent procedures related to that application shall be terminated; fees and charges already paid related to procedures that have not yet started shall be refunded upon the applicant's request.

Article 181. Third-party opinions on the granting of Plant Variety Protection Certificate

From the date the application for plant variety protection is published in a specialized journal on plant varieties until before the decision to grant the Plant Variety Protection Certificate is issued, any third party has the right to express opinions on the granting of the Plant Variety Protection Certificate to the state authority in charge of plant variety rights. Opinions must be made in writing and accompanied by documents and evidence proving them.

Article 182. Refusal to Grant a Plant Variety Protection Certificate

The application for protection shall be refused a Plant Variety Protection Certificate if the plant variety does not meet the conditions prescribed in Articles 176 and 178 of this Law. In the case of refusal to grant a Plant Variety Protection Certificate, the state authority in charge of plant variety rights shall carry out the following procedures:

1. Notification of the intention to refuse the granting of a Plant Variety Protection Certificate, which must clearly state the reasons and set a deadline for the applicant to remedy the deficiencies or provide objections to the intention to refuse;

2. Notification of refusal to grant a Plant Variety Protection Certificate if the applicant fails to remedy the deficiencies and does not provide valid objections to the intention to refuse specified in clause 1 of this Article;

3. Implement the procedures specified in Article 183 of this Law if the applicant remedies the deficiencies or provides valid objections to the intention to refuse specified in clause 1 of this Article.

Article 183. Granting of Plant Variety Protection Certificates

In the event that a plant variety protection application is not refused under the provisions of Article 182 of this Law and the applicant pays the fees, the state management agency on plant variety rights shall decide to grant a Plant Variety Protection Certificate and record it in the National Registry of Protected Plant Varieties.

Article 184. Complaints regarding the granting or refusal to grant a Plant Variety Protection Certificate

1. The applicant and any third party have the right to complain about the decision to grant or refuse to grant a Plant Variety Protection Certificate.

2. Handling complaints about the decision to grant or refuse to grant a Plant Variety Protection Certificate shall be carried out in accordance with the provisions of the law on complaints and denunciations.

Chapter XIV. CONTENT AND LIMITATIONS OF RIGHTS RELATING TO PLANT VARIETIES

Section 1. CONTENT OF RIGHTS RELATING TO PLANT VARIETIES

Article 185. Copyright of plant varieties

The author of a plant variety has the following rights:

1. Be registered under the name as the author in the Plant Variety Protection Certificate, the National Register of Protected Plant Varieties, and in publications related to the plant variety;

2. Receive remuneration as prescribed in point a, clause 1, Article 191 of this Law.

Amended and supplemented provisions:

Article 186. Rights of the holder of the protection certificate

1. The holder of the protection certificate has the right to use or authorize others to use the following rights related to the propagating material of the protected variety:

a) Production or propagation;

b) Processing for the purpose of propagation;

c) Offering;

d) Sale or carrying out other marketing activities;

e) Export;

f) Import;

g) Retention for carrying out the acts specified in points a, b, c, d, e, and f of this clause.

2. Prohibit others from using the plant variety as prescribed in Article 188 of this Law.

3. To inherit and succeed the rights to plant varieties and transfer the rights to plant varieties as prescribed in Chapter XV of this Law.

Amended and supplemented provisions:

Article 187. Extension of the rights of the holder through protection

The rights of the holder through protection are extended to the following plant varieties:

1. Plant varieties derived from a protected plant variety, except in the case where the protected plant variety is derived from another protected plant variety. A plant variety is considered to be derived from a protected variety if it retains the expression of the main traits obtained from the genotype or the combination of genotypes of the protected variety, except for differences resulting from influences on the protected variety;

2. Plant varieties that do not differ significantly from a protected plant variety;

3. Plant varieties whose production requires the repeated use of a protected plant variety.

Article 188. Acts infringing on rights in plant varieties

The following acts are considered infringements on the rights of the holder of a protection certificate:

1. Exploiting or using the rights of the holder of a protection certificate without permission from the holder;

2. Using the name of a plant variety that is identical or similar to the name of a protected plant variety for a variety of the same species or a species closely related to the protected plant variety;

3. Using a protected plant variety without paying compensation according to the provisions of Article 189 of this Law.

Article 189. Temporary rights in plant varieties

1. Temporary rights in a plant variety are the rights of the person registering the protection of the plant variety that arise from the date the plant variety protection application is published until the date the plant variety protection certificate is granted. In the case that a plant variety is not granted a protection certificate, the person registering the protection does not have these rights.

2. In the case where the applicant knows that the plant variety they are registering for protection is being used by another person for commercial purposes, the applicant for plant variety protection has the right to notify the user in writing of the filing of the plant variety protection application, clearly stating the filing date and the date on which the plant variety protection application is published, so that the person can cease using the plant variety or continue using it.

3. In the case where the person has been notified according to the provisions in clause 2 of this Article but continues to use the plant variety, when the plant variety protection certificate is granted, the holder of the protection certificate has the right to require the person who has used the plant variety to pay a compensation equivalent to the transfer price of the right to use that plant variety within the corresponding scope and duration of use.

Section 2. LIMITATION OF RIGHTS REGARDING PLANT VARIETIES

Amended and supplemented provisions:

Article 190. Restrictions on the rights of the holder of a plant variety protection certificate

1. The following acts are not considered as infringements of the rights to a protected plant variety:

a) Using the plant variety for personal and non-commercial purposes;

b) Using the plant variety for breeding purposes for scientific research;

c) Using the plant variety to create a new plant variety that is different from the protected plant variety;

d) Individual fishery households use products harvested from protected plant varieties to self-propagate and plant for the next season on their own land.

2. Rights to plant varieties do not apply to acts related to materials of protected plant varieties that are sold or otherwise marketed in Vietnam or abroad by the holder of the protection certificate or with the permission of the holder of the protection certificate, except for the following acts:

a) Related to the further propagation of that plant variety;

b) Related to the export of plant variety materials capable of propagation to countries that do not protect those plant genera or species, except for exports of materials intended for consumption.

Article 191. Obligations of the holder of the protection certificate and the breeder of the plant variety

1. The holder of the protection certificate has the following obligations:

a) Pay remuneration to the plant variety breeder according to the agreement; in the absence of an agreement, the level of remuneration must comply with the provisions of the law;

b) Pay the fee to maintain the validity of the plant variety protection certificate according to regulations;

c) Preserve the protected plant variety, provide propagation material of the protected plant variety to the state management agency on plant variety rights, and maintain the stability of the protected plant variety according to regulations.

2. The plant variety breeder has the obligation to assist the certificate holder in maintaining the propagation material of the protected plant variety.

Chapter XV. TRANSFER OF RIGHTS TO PLANT VARIETIES

Article 192. Transfer of the right to use a plant variety

1. The transfer of the right to use a plant variety is when the certificate holder allows another person to perform one or several acts within the right of use regarding their plant variety.

2. In the case where the plant variety usage rights are co-owned, the transfer of the usage rights to another person must be agreed upon by all co-owners.

3. The transfer of plant variety usage rights must be made in the form of a written contract.

4. The contract for the transfer of plant variety usage rights must not contain provisions that unreasonably restrict the rights of the transferee, especially provisions that do not stem from the rights of the transferor regarding the corresponding plant variety or are not intended to protect those rights.

Article 193. Rights of the parties in the contract for the transfer of usage rights

1. The party transferring the right to use has the right to allow or not allow the party receiving the transfer of the right to use to transfer the right to use to a third party.

2. The party receiving the transfer of the right to use has the following rights:

a) To transfer the right to use to a third party, if allowed by the party transferring the right to use;

b) To request the party transferring the right to use to implement necessary measures to oppose acts of infringement by third parties that cause damage to them;

c) To take necessary measures to prevent acts of infringement by third parties if, within three months from the date of receiving the request from the party transferring the right to use, the request specified in point b of this clause is not carried out.

Amended and supplemented provisions:

Article 194. Transfer of rights regarding plant varieties

1. The transfer of rights over plant varieties is the act of the holder of the plant variety protection certificate transferring all rights over that plant variety to the transferee. The transferee becomes the holder of the plant variety protection certificate from the date the transfer contract is registered with the state agency managing plant variety rights according to the procedures prescribed by law.

2. In cases where the rights to a plant variety are co-owned, any transfer to another person must be agreed upon by all co-owners.

3. The transfer of rights over plant varieties must be carried out in the form of a written contract.

Article 195. Grounds and mandatory conditions for transferring the rights to use plant varieties

1. In the following cases, the right to use plant varieties is transferred to other organizations or individuals according to the decision of the competent state agency stipulated in Clause 1, Article 196 of this Law without the consent of the holder of the protection certificate or the person to whom the holder of the protection certificate has transferred the exclusive right of use (hereinafter referred to as the person holding the exclusive right to use the plant variety):

a) The use of plant varieties for public, non-commercial purposes, serving the needs of national defense, security, food security, and nutrition for the people, or meeting urgent social needs;

b) A person with the need and capacity to use the plant variety cannot reach an agreement with the person holding the exclusive right to use the plant variety on signing a contract for the use of the plant variety, despite having made reasonable efforts to negotiate with a fair price and commercial terms within a reasonable period.

c) A person who holds the exclusive right to use a plant variety is considered to be engaging in conduct that restricts competition prohibited under the provisions of competition law.

2. A person holding the exclusive right to use a plant variety has the right to request the termination of the use right when the basis for the transfer stipulated in paragraph 1 of this Article no longer exists and cannot reappear, provided that the termination of the use right does not cause damage to the person to whom the use right was transferred.

3. The use right of a plant variety transferred according to the decision of a competent state agency must meet the following conditions:

a) The use right being transferred shall not be an exclusive right;

b) The use right being transferred shall only be limited within the scope and duration sufficient to meet the purpose of the transfer and mainly to supply the domestic market, except in cases stipulated in point c, paragraph 1 of this Article;

c) The transferee of the right of use may not transfer that right to others, except in the case of transfer along with their business establishment, and may not transfer secondary rights of use to others;

d) The person receiving the transfer of the right to use must provide adequate compensation to the holder of the exclusive right to use the plant variety, depending on the economic value of that right in each specific case, in accordance with the compensation framework prescribed by the Government.

4. The Government shall specify the cases in which the transfer of the right to use plant varieties is mandatory and the compensation framework prescribed in point d, clause 3 of this Article.

Article 196. Authority and procedures for the transfer of the right to use plant varieties under a compulsory decision

1. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development shall issue a decision to transfer the right to use plant varieties under its state management on the basis of considering the request for transfer of the right to use in cases specified in Clause 1, Article 195 of this Law. Ministries and ministerial-level agencies shall issue a decision to transfer the right to use plant varieties under their state management on the basis of consulting the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in cases specified in Clause 1, Article 195 of this Law.

2. The decision to transfer the right to use plant varieties must specify the scope and conditions of use in accordance with the provisions of Clause 3, Article 195 of this Law.

3. The state authority authorized to decide on the transfer of the right to use plant varieties must promptly notify the person holding the monopoly on the use of the plant variety about that decision.

4. Decisions on transferring the right to use plant varieties or refusing to transfer the right to use plant varieties can be complained about or sued according to the provisions of law.

5. The Government shall specify the procedures for transferring the right to use plant varieties as prescribed in this Article.

Article 197. Rights of the holder of a protection certificate in the case of compulsory transfer of the right to use plant varieties

The holder of a protection certificate who is compelled to transfer the right to use plant varieties has the following rights:

1. To receive compensation corresponding to the economic value of that right or equivalent to the transfer price of the right to use under a contract with a corresponding scope and duration;

2. Request the state management agency in charge of plant variety rights to amend, suspend the effect, or cancel the effect of compulsory transfer of use rights when the conditions leading to that transfer have ceased, and such amendment, cancellation, or suspension does not cause damage to the person receiving the compulsory use rights.

PART FIVE. PROTECTION OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS

Chapter XVI. GENERAL PROVISIONS ON THE PROTECTION OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS

Article 198. Right to self-protection

1. The subject of intellectual property rights has the right to apply the following measures to protect their intellectual property rights:

a) Apply technological measures to prevent acts of infringement of intellectual property rights;

b) Request organizations or individuals who infringe intellectual property rights to cease the infringement, apologize, make a public correction, and compensate for damages;

c) Request the competent state agency to handle acts of infringement of intellectual property rights in accordance with the provisions of this Law and other relevant provisions of the law;

d) File a lawsuit in court or arbitration to protect one's legal rights and interests.

2. Organizations and individuals who suffer damage due to acts of intellectual property infringement, or who detect acts of intellectual property infringement that cause damage to consumers or society, have the right to request competent state agencies to handle the intellectual property infringement in accordance with the provisions of this Law and other relevant legal regulations.

Amended and supplemented provisions:

3. Organizations and individuals who suffer damage or may suffer damage due to unfair competition acts have the right to request competent state agencies to apply civil measures stipulated in Article 202 of this Law and administrative measures according to the provisions of competition law.

Article 199. Measures to handle acts of intellectual property infringement

1. Organizations and individuals who infringe upon the intellectual property rights of other organizations or individuals may, depending on the nature and extent of the infringement, be subject to civil, administrative, or criminal measures.

Amended and supplemented provisions:

2. In necessary cases, the competent state authority may apply temporary emergency measures, control measures for exported and imported goods related to intellectual property, preventive measures, and ensure the enforcement of administrative penalties according to the provisions of this Law and other relevant legal regulations.

Article 200. Authority to handle acts of intellectual property infringement

1. Within the scope of their duties and powers, courts, inspection agencies, market management, customs, police, and People's Committees at all levels have the authority to handle acts of intellectual property infringement.

2. The application of civil and criminal measures falls within the jurisdiction of the courts. In necessary cases, the court may apply temporary emergency measures according to the provisions of the law.

3. The implementation of administrative measures falls under the authority of Inspection agencies, the Police, Market Management, Customs, and People's Committees at all levels. In necessary cases, these agencies may apply preventive and enforcement measures to ensure administrative penalties in accordance with the law.

Amended and supplemented provisions:

4. The application of control measures on exported and imported goods related to intellectual property falls under the authority of the customs agency.

Amended and supplemented provisions:

Article 201. Intellectual property appraisal

1. Intellectual property appraisal is the act in which authorized organizations or individuals use their knowledge and professional expertise to assess and conclude on issues related to cases of intellectual property rights infringement.

2. State agencies authorized to handle acts of intellectual property rights infringement have the right to request an intellectual property appraisal when resolving the cases they are handling.

3. Subjects of intellectual property rights and other related organizations and individuals have the right to request intellectual property appraisal to protect their legal rights and interests.

4. The government shall specifically regulate intellectual property appraisal activities.

Chapter XVII. HANDLING INFRINGEMENT OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS BY CIVIL MEASURES

Article 202. Civil measures

The court shall apply the following civil measures to handle organizations and individuals who infringe upon intellectual property rights:

1. Compel the cessation of the infringing acts;

2. Compel to apologize and make public correction;

3. Compel the fulfillment of civil obligations;

4. Compel to compensate for damages;

5. Compel the destruction or compulsory distribution or non-commercial use of goods, raw materials, materials, and means primarily used for the production or business of goods infringing intellectual property rights, provided that it does not affect the ability to exploit the rights of the intellectual property right holder.

Article 203. Rights and obligations to provide evidence of the parties

1. The plaintiff and the defendant in an intellectual property infringement lawsuit have the rights and obligations to provide evidence in accordance with the provisions of Article 79 of the Civil Procedure Code and the provisions of this Article.

2. The plaintiff proves that they are the holder of intellectual property rights by one of the following pieces of evidence:

a) A copy of the Certificate of Copyright Registration, Certificate of Related Rights Registration, protection certificate; an extract from the National Register of Copyrights, Related Rights, National Register of Industrial Property, National Register of Protected Plant Varieties;

b) Necessary evidence to prove the basis for the emergence of copyright, related rights in the case where there is no Certificate of Copyright Registration, Certificate of Related Rights Registration; necessary evidence to prove rights to trade secrets, trade names, famous trademarks;

c) A copy of the contract for the use of intellectual property objects in cases where the right of use is transferred according to the contract.

3. The plaintiff must provide evidence of acts of infringement of intellectual property rights or acts of unfair competition.

4. In a lawsuit concerning the infringement of rights to a patented process for producing a product, the defendant must prove that their product is produced using a different process from the protected process in the following cases:

a) The product produced according to the protected process is a new product;

b) The product produced according to the protected process is not a new product, but the patent owner claims that the product produced by the defendant follows the protected process and, despite having taken appropriate measures, it is still impossible to determine the process used by the defendant.

5. In the case where a party in an intellectual property infringement lawsuit provides appropriate evidence to support their claim, but such evidence is controlled by the other party and thus cannot be accessed, they have the right to request the Court to compel the party controlling the evidence to produce it.

6. In case of a claim for damages, the plaintiff must prove that actual damage has occurred and state the basis for determining the amount of damages according to the provisions of Article 205 of this Law.

Article 204. Principles for determining damages due to infringement of intellectual property rights

1. Damages caused by acts of infringement of intellectual property rights include:

a) Material damages, including losses of property, reduction in income, profits, losses of business opportunities, reasonable expenses to prevent or remedy the damage;

b) Non-material damages, including losses of honor, dignity, reputation, prestige, and other mental losses caused to the authors of literary, artistic, scientific works; performers; authors of inventions, industrial designs, layout designs, plant varieties.

2. The extent of damage is determined based on the actual losses that the intellectual property right holder must bear due to the act of infringement of intellectual property rights.

Article 205. Grounds for determining the amount of compensation for damages caused by infringement of intellectual property rights

Amended and supplemented provisions:

1. In cases where the plaintiff proves that the act of infringement of intellectual property rights has caused material damage to them, they have the right to request the Court to decide the amount of compensation based on one of the following grounds:

a) The total material damage calculated in monetary terms plus the profits that the defendant has obtained from committing the act of intellectual property rights infringement, if the plaintiff's reduced profits have not been included in the total material damage;

b) The transfer price for the right to use the intellectual property object, assuming the defendant was granted the right to use the object by the plaintiff under an intellectual property usage contract within the scope corresponding to the infringement committed;

c) In case it is not possible to determine the amount of material damage compensation based on the grounds specified in points a and b of this clause, the material damage compensation level shall be determined by the Court, depending on the level of damage, but not exceeding five hundred million VND.

2. In case the plaintiff proves that the act of intellectual property infringement caused them mental damage, they have the right to request the Court to decide the compensation amount within the range from five million VND to fifty million VND, depending on the level of damage.

3. In addition to the compensation for damages specified in Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article, the intellectual property right holder has the right to request the court to require the organization or individual infringing the intellectual property rights to pay reasonable costs for hiring a lawyer.

Article 206. Right to request the court to apply provisional emergency measures

1. When filing a lawsuit or after filing a lawsuit, the intellectual property right holder has the right to request the court to apply provisional emergency measures in the following cases:

a) When there is a risk of irreparable damage to the intellectual property right holder;

b) When goods are suspected of infringing intellectual property rights or evidence related to the infringement acts is at risk of being dissipated or destroyed if not timely protected.

2. The court decides to apply temporary emergency measures at the request of the intellectual property right holder as stipulated in Clause 1 of this Article before hearing the opinion of the party against whom such measures are applied.

Article 207. Temporary Emergency Measures

1. The following temporary emergency measures shall be applied to goods suspected of infringing intellectual property rights, raw materials, materials, means of production, and business of such goods:

a) Seizure;

b) Attachment;

c) Sealing; prohibition to change the status; prohibition to move;

d) Prohibition of transfer of ownership.

2. Other temporary emergency measures shall be applied according to the provisions of the Civil Procedure Code.

Article 208. Obligations of the person requesting the application of temporary emergency measures

1. The party requesting the application of temporary emergency measures is obliged to prove the entitlement to request in accordance with the provisions of Clause 1, Article 206 of this Law by the documents and evidence prescribed in Clause 2, Article 203 of this Law.

2. The person requesting the application of temporary emergency measures is obliged to compensate for damages caused to the person subject to such measures in case that person does not infringe intellectual property rights. To ensure the fulfillment of this obligation, the person requesting the application of temporary emergency measures must provide a security deposit in one of the following forms:

a) An amount equal to 20% of the value of goods requiring the application of temporary emergency measures or at least twenty million VND if the value of the goods cannot be determined;

b) A bank guarantee or a guarantee from another credit institution.

Article 209. Cancellation of the application of temporary emergency measures

1. The court shall issue a decision to cancel the temporary emergency measure that has been applied in cases specified in Clause 1, Article 122 of the Civil Procedure Code and in cases where the person subject to the temporary emergency measure proves that the application of the temporary emergency measure is without valid grounds.

2. In the case of canceling a temporary emergency measure, the court must consider returning to the applicant of the temporary emergency measure the security deposit prescribed in Clause 2, Article 208 of this Law. In the case where the request to apply the temporary emergency measure is unjustified and causes damage to the person subject to the temporary emergency measure, the court shall obligate the applicant to compensate for the damage.

Article 210. Authority and procedure for applying temporary emergency measures

Authority and procedure for applying temporary emergency measures shall be implemented in accordance with the provisions in Chapter VIII, Part One of the Civil Procedure Code.

Amended and supplemented provisions:

Chapter XVIII. HANDLING INFRINGEMENT OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS BY ADMINISTRATIVE AND CRIMINAL MEASURES, CONTROL OF EXPORT AND IMPORT GOODS RELATED TO INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

Section 1. HANDLING INFRINGEMENT OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS BY ADMINISTRATIVE AND CRIMINAL MEASURES

Amended and supplemented provisions:

Article 211. Acts of infringing intellectual property rights subject to administrative penalties

1. The following acts of infringing intellectual property rights are subject to administrative penalties:

a) Committing acts of infringing intellectual property rights that cause damage to consumers or society;

b) Failing to cease acts of infringing intellectual property rights even though the intellectual property right holder has notified in writing to request the cessation of such acts;

c) Producing, importing, transporting, trading goods that infringe intellectual property rights as prescribed in Article 213 of this Law or entrusting others to carry out this act;

d) Producing, importing, transporting, trading items bearing trademarks or geographical indications that are identical or similar to the extent of causing confusion with protected trademarks or geographical indications, or entrusting others to carry out this act.

2. The Government shall specify acts of infringement of intellectual property rights subject to administrative penalties, the forms, levels of penalties, and procedures for handling these acts.

3. Organizations and individuals engaging in unfair competition related to intellectual property shall be subject to administrative penalties in accordance with the provisions of the law on competition.

Article 212. Acts of infringement of intellectual property rights subject to criminal handling

Individuals who engage in acts infringing intellectual property rights that constitute a criminal offense shall be criminally liable under the provisions of criminal law.

Article 213. Goods counterfeit in terms of intellectual property

1. Goods that infringe intellectual property rights as prescribed by this Law include goods that infringe trademarks and infringe geographical indications (hereinafter referred to as trademark-infringing goods) as stipulated in clause 2 of this Article, and pirated goods as stipulated in clause 3 of this Article.

2. Trademark-infringing goods are goods, or their packaging, that bear a trademark or sign identical or difficult to distinguish from a trademark or geographical indication that is being protected, used for the same type of goods without the permission of the trademark owner or the organization managing the geographical indication.

3. Pirated goods are reproductions produced without the permission of the author or related rights holder.

Amended and supplemented provisions:

Article 214. Forms of administrative sanctions and remedial measures.

1. Organizations or individuals that commit acts infringing intellectual property rights as specified in Clause 1, Article 211 of this Law shall be compelled to cease the infringing acts and may be subject to one of the following main forms of punishment:

a) Warning;

b) Monetary fine.

2. Depending on the nature and severity of the infringement, organizations or individuals infringing intellectual property rights may also be subject to one or more of the following supplementary forms of punishment:

a) Confiscation of counterfeit goods infringing intellectual property rights, raw materials, materials, and means primarily used to produce or trade counterfeit goods infringing intellectual property rights;

b) Temporary suspension of business activities in the sector where the violation occurred.

3. In addition to the forms of punishment prescribed in Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article, organizations or individuals infringing intellectual property rights may also be subject to one or more of the following remedial measures:

a) Compulsorily destroy or distribute or put into use non-commercially goods that infringe intellectual property rights, as well as raw materials, materials, and means primarily used to produce or trade counterfeit goods infringing intellectual property rights, provided that it does not affect the exploitable rights of the intellectual property right holder;

b) Compulsorily remove from the territory of Vietnam goods in transit that infringe intellectual property rights or compel re-export of counterfeit goods infringing intellectual property rights, means, raw materials, and materials imported primarily for producing or trading counterfeit goods infringing intellectual property rights after removing the infringing elements from the goods.

4. The fine specified in Point b, Clause 1 of this Article is set to be at least equal to the value of the detected violating goods and at most not exceeding five times the value of the detected violating goods. The Government shall stipulate in detail the method for determining the value of the violating goods.

Article 215. Measures for prevention and ensuring administrative penalty enforcement

1. In the following cases, organizations and individuals have the right to request competent authorities to apply preventive measures and ensure administrative penalty enforcement as prescribed in Clause 2 of this Article:

a) Acts infringing on intellectual property rights that may cause serious damage to consumers or society;

b) Violating evidence may be at risk of being disposed of, or the violating individual or organization shows signs of evading responsibility;

c) To ensure the enforcement of administrative penalty decisions.

2. Measures to prevent and ensure administrative penalties are applied according to administrative procedures for acts infringing intellectual property rights include:

a) Detain a person;

b) Temporarily seizing goods, evidence, and means of violating the law;

c) Personal search;

d) Inspection of means of transport, objects; inspection of places where goods, evidence, and means of violating intellectual property rights are hidden;

dd) Other administrative preventive measures according to the provisions of the law on handling administrative violations.

Amended and supplemented provisions:

Section 2. CONTROL OF EXPORT AND IMPORT GOODS RELATED TO INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

Article 216. Measures to control export and import goods related to intellectual property

Amended and supplemented provisions:

1. The measures to control export and import goods related to intellectual property include:

a) Temporarily suspending customs procedures for goods suspected of infringing intellectual property rights;

b) Inspecting and monitoring to detect goods showing signs of infringement of intellectual property rights.

2. Suspending customs procedures for goods suspected of infringing intellectual property rights is a measure carried out at the request of the intellectual property right holder in order to collect information and evidence about the shipment so that the right holder can exercise the right to request action against the infringement and request the application of temporary urgent measures or preventive measures and ensure administrative penalties.

3. Inspection and supervision to detect goods with signs of intellectual property rights infringement is a measure carried out at the request of the intellectual property right holder in order to collect information to exercise the right to request the application of the measure to suspend customs procedures.

4. During the implementation of the measures stipulated in clauses 2 and 3 of this Article, if counterfeit goods infringing intellectual property rights as prescribed in Article 213 of this Law are discovered, the customs authority has the right and responsibility to apply administrative measures for handling in accordance with the provisions of Articles 214 and 215 of this Law.

Article 217. Obligations of the applicant for the application of export and import goods control measures related to intellectual property

1. The applicant for the application of export and import goods control measures related to intellectual property has the following obligations:

a) Prove that they are the subject of intellectual property rights by the documents and evidence prescribed in clause 2, Article 203 of this Law;

b) Provide full information to identify goods suspected of infringing intellectual property rights or to detect goods showing signs of infringement of intellectual property rights;

c) Submit an application to the customs authority and pay fees and charges in accordance with the law;

d) Compensate for damages and pay the costs incurred to the person subject to control measures in cases where the goods under control do not infringe intellectual property rights.

2. To ensure the fulfillment of the obligation specified in point d, clause 1 of this Article, the person requesting the application of temporary suspension of customs procedures must provide a guarantee in one of the following forms:

a) An amount equivalent to 20% of the value of the batch of goods for which the temporary suspension of customs procedures is requested, or at least twenty million VND if the value of the batch cannot be determined;

b) A bank guarantee or a guarantee from another credit institution.

Amended and supplemented provisions:

Article 218. Procedures for applying temporary suspension of customs procedures

Amended and supplemented provisions:

1. When the person requesting the temporary suspension of customs procedures has fully performed the obligations prescribed in Article 217 of this Law, the customs authority shall issue a decision to temporarily suspend customs procedures for the batch of goods.

2. The period for suspending customs procedures is ten working days from the date of the decision. In cases where the applicant for suspension has a valid reason, this period may be extended, but not exceeding twenty working days, provided that the applicant for suspension of customs procedures submits an additional guarantee as stipulated in clause 2, Article 217 of this Law.

3. When the period specified in clause 2 of this Article ends and the applicant for suspension of customs procedures does not initiate a civil lawsuit and the customs authority does not decide to accept the case under the administrative violation handling procedure against the exporter or importer of the shipment, the customs authority has the following responsibility:

a) Continue customs procedures for the shipment;

b) Require the party requesting the suspension of customs procedures to compensate the owner of the shipment for all damages caused by the improper request to suspend customs procedures and to pay storage, preservation, and other incurred costs to the customs authority and other relevant agencies, organizations, or individuals in accordance with customs law;

c) Return to the party requesting the suspension of customs procedures the remaining secured amount after fulfilling the compensation obligations and paying the costs specified in point b of this clause.

Article 219. Inspection and supervision to detect goods with signs of intellectual property rights infringement

In the case that the intellectual property rights holder requests an inspection or supervision to detect goods with signs of intellectual property rights infringement, when a shipment with such signs is detected, the customs authority must immediately notify that person. Within three working days from the date of notification, if the requester does not request to suspend customs procedures for the detected shipment and the customs authority does not decide to consider applying administrative measures as prescribed in Articles 214 and 215 of this Law, the customs authority is responsible for continuing the customs procedures for the shipment.

PART SIX. IMPLEMENTATION PROVISIONS

Amended and supplemented provisions:

Article 220. Transitional provisions

1. Copyrights and related rights are protected in accordance with the provisions of the legal documents in force before the effective date of this Law; if the protection period is still valid on the effective date of this Law, they shall continue to be protected in accordance with the provisions of this Law.

2. Applications for registration of copyrights, related rights, inventions, utility solutions, industrial designs, trademarks, geographical indications of goods, layout designs, and plant varieties that were submitted to the competent authority before the effective date of this Law shall continue to be processed according to the provisions of the legal documents in force at the time of submission.

3. All rights and obligations under the protective certificates granted in accordance with the provisions of the law effective before the effective date of this Law, as well as procedures for maintenance, renewal, amendment, transfer of usage rights, assignment of ownership rights, and dispute resolution related to those protective certificates, shall be applied according to the provisions of this Law, except for the provisions on grounds for revocation of the validity of protective certificates, which shall only apply according to the provisions of legal documents in effect at the time the protective certificate was granted.

4. Business secrets and trade names that have existed and are protected under Decree No. 54/2000/NĐ-CP dated October 3, 2000 of the Government on the protection of industrial property rights for business secrets, geographical indications, trade names, and protection against unfair competition related to industrial property continue to be protected under the provisions of this Law.

5. From the effective date of this Law, geographical indications, including those protected under the Decree specified in Clause 4 of this Article, shall only be protected after being registered in accordance with the provisions of this Law.

Article 221. Effective date

This Law takes effect from July 1, 2006.

Article 222. Implementation guidance

The Government and the Supreme People's Court shall provide detailed regulations and guidance for the implementation of this Law.

This Law was passed by the National Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, Session XI, 8th meeting, on November 29, 2005.

CHAIRMAN OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY

(Signed)

Nguyen Van An