Notification On Application Time Limits for Applicants Affected by Covid-19

Due to social distancing requirements of government to curb the spead of Covid-19, Vietnam government agencies including National Office of Intellectual Properties (NOIP) issues notification to provide instructions to related parties to ensure smooth business operation for not only government officers but also applications and Intellectual Property attorney representing clients in registration, and other IP related works at the NOIP.

IP services in Vietnam

In order to minimize the disadvantages caused by Covid-19 to applicants/industrial property right owners relating to procedures for registration of industrial property rights with NOIP, on March 13, 2020, NOIP has issued the Notification No. 5277/TB-SHTT on application of legal provisions relating to time limits for applicants affected by Covid-19 and transactions between applicants and the NOIP. The specific content is as following:

1. Extension of time limits for applicants affected by Covid-19 in carrying out procedures

All procedures for registration of industrial property rights which are due in the period from 30 March 2020 to 30 April 2020, namely requests for claiming priority rights, provision of supplement documents, responses to decisions/notifications of NOIP, requests for annuities/renewal of the validity of protection titles, payment of all types of fees and charges, lodgement of appeals/oppositions, shall be automatically extended to 30 May 2020.

In other cases, applicants who are still suffering from impacts of Covid-19 in perusing their applications for establishment of the industrial property rights with IP Vietnam, can request for the application of regulations on objective obstacles, force majeure provided for in Points 9.4, 9.5 of Circular No.01/2007/TT-BKHCN amended by Circular No.16/2016/TT-BKHCN.

2. Filing PPH requests PPH agreement between NOIP and the Japan Patent Office

The receiving date of PPH requests will be re-scheduled from May 4^th 2020 instead of April 1^st 2020 as announced earlier by NOIP.

3. Transactions between NOIP and applicants

From April 1^st 2020, all transactions between NOIP (including Headquarters in Hanoi, Representative Offices in Da Nang City and Ho Chi Minh City) and applicants will only be conducted via the postal service or through online filing system until further notice. The payment of fees and charges by applicants is made via the postal service or by bank transfer to IP Viet Nam’s bank account at the State Treasury (pursuant to Notice No. 5241/TB-SHTT dated 27 March 2020) until further notice.

ANT Lawyers - A Law firm in Vietnam is supported by a team of experienced patent, trademark, design attorneys with qualification and skills handling full range of legal services relating to intellectual property rights in Vietnam.  We have specialized in the preparation and registration of patents, trademarks and designs for our clients. To learn more about ANT Lawyers or contact our lawyers in Vietnam for advice via email ant@antlawyers.vn or call our office at +84 28 730 86 529. Best regard,

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What is a patent?

A patent is a type of legal property right.

Just as owning real estate property gives you the right to exclude others from trespassing on your land, a patent also gives you the right to exclude others from "trespassing" on your invention. In the US, patents may be granted for a limited time for new and useful processes, machines, products, and compositions of matter.

Patent Law Firm in Vietnam 

Just as land has definite boundaries specified by a survey, a patent has definite boundaries specified in its claims. If someone else makes, uses, or sells what is within the scope of the claims of a patent, then they are "trespassing" on the patent rights ("infringing" is the legal term used). And just as a real estate owner can lease out their land to renters, a patent owner can license the patent to others.

Just as an owner of real estate property must pay property tax to the government, an owner of a patent also must pay the government a property tax (called a maintenance fee, renewal or annuity).

This is a rough analogy, that breaks down if you push it too far. For example, whereas real estate property boundaries are usually non-overlapping, the boundaries of patent rights can intersect and overlap. Another difference is that patent rights expire after a limited time, usually 20 years from the time the patent application is filed. And, whereas real estate property is tied to pre-existing real land, patents are intellectual property that are virtual in the sense that the rights are tied to making, using, or selling anything within the general scope defined by the claims.

There is a lot more to say about what kinds of things can and can not be patented, the criteria that must be met for an invention to be considered patentable, the process of preparing a patent application, filing it, and getting it granted, and so on. But the above hopefully gives basic idea of what a patent is.

ANT Lawyers - A Law firm in Vietnam is supported by a team of experienced patent, trademark, design attorneys with qualification and skills handling full range of legal services relating to intellectual property rights in Vietnam.  We have specialized in the preparation and registration of patents, trademarks and designs for our clients.

Source: Quora

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Why is intellectual property protection important to a company?

Intellectual property protection is critical to fostering innovation. While it is difficult to determine the exact scope and extent of the problem, every indication is that copyright piracy, trademark counterfeiting, and patent infringement have become significant problems in the business community in general, including small businesses.

Protect Intellectual Properties Rights in Vietnam

Any individual or a company investing in R&D, reaping new results would want to protect their product and reimburse when granted a patent on it. A similar kind of protection is available when it comes to Trademarks and Copyrights. Any company would want to protect their Trademark from being used by a competitor. Copyright protection is best suited to protect an individual’s work, say a software program or a newly created font by a company. I’m sure no company would want to give away their credits and brilliance to their competitors.

Also, it would be good for a company to protect their IP as there are “eyes and ears” that would want to know the know-how of a product which a company produces. It could be categorized as Trade Secret but if their is already a surface protection for a company’s IP, even if a competitor tries to get hold of any information, the ball is pretty much in a company’s court. Hence, protection of Intellectual Property is extremely important to a company, especially for the start-ups.

ANT Lawyers -  A Law firm in Vietnam is supported by a team of experienced patent, trademark, design attorneys with qualification and skills handling full range of legal services relating to intellectual property in Vietnam.  We have specialized in the preparation and registration of patents, trademarks and designs for our clients.

We assist our clients in all steps of the prosecution phase of IP management.

Related post: How important is intellectual property protection for a starup?

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