Mark means any sign used to distinguish goods or services of different organizations or individuals.

A mark is eligible for protection when it satisfies the following conditions:

3.1. Organizations and individuals may register marks to be used for goods they produce or services they provide.

3.2. Organizations and individuals that conduct lawful commercial activities may register marks for products they are marketing but produced by others, provided that the producers neither use such marks for their products nor object to such registration.

3.2. Lawfully established collective organizations may register collective marks to be used by their members under regulations on use of collective marks. For signs indicating geographical origins of goods or services, organizations that may register them are collective organizations of organizations or individuals engaged in the production or trading in relevant localities. For other geographical names or signs indicating geographical origins of local specialties of Vietnam, the registration must be permitted by competent state agencies.

3.4. Organizations with the function of controlling and certifying the quality, properties, origins, or other relevant criteria of goods or services may register certification marks, provided that they are not engaged in the production or trading of these goods or services. For other geographical names or signs indicating geographical origins of local specialties of Vietnam, the registration thereof must be permitted by a competent state agency.

3.5. Two or more organizations or individuals may jointly register a mark in order to become its co-owners when the prescribed conditions are satisfied.

3.6. Persons with the registration right stipulated in clauses 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4 and 3.5 of this artic,le, including those who have already filed registration applications, may assign the registration right to other organizations or individuals by a written contract, bequest, or inheritance in accordance with the law, provided that the assignee satisfies the conditions applicable to persons with the registration right.

3.7. For a mark protected in a country being a contracting party to a treaty of which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a member, which treaty prohibits the representative or agent of a mark owner from registering such mark, the representative or agent shall not be permitted to register such mark without agreement from the mark owner unless there is a justifiable reason.

For a marks protection registration applications to be accepted by the NOIP, an organization or individual must submit the following documents:

From the date of receipt, by National Office of Intellectual Property, marks registration applications are considered in the following order:

• – Formal examination of applications
• – Publication of valid applications
• – Substantive (ex-officio) examination of applications
• – Grant of or refusal to grant protection titles
• – Official registration and publication of decisions on the grant of protection titles.

If you are interested and need advice or assistance with the mark registration procedure, please contact us at phone number  +84 916-545-618 or email to hung.le@cnccounsel.com and  thanh.tran@cnccounsel.com for specific instructions!