"Trade mark" means a visible sign in the form of letters, words, pictures, devices, including three-dimensional devices or a combination thereof, represented in one or more colours used to distinguish the goods or services of different organisations and individuals.

There are four types of marks: trade mark, service mark, collective mark, and certification mark. Trade mark rights may be acquired only through registration, except for the rights to a well-known mark which shall be established on the basis of actual widespread use of a trade mark and it is recognized as “a well-known mark” pursuant to civil proceedings or by a decision of the National Office of Intellectual Property (hereafter referred to as “the Office”).

Vietnam applies the first-to-file principle for registration of trade marks.

Trade mark application requires the following documents and information:

• A signed Power of Attorney from the Applicant duly affixed with its seal (if any) (click here to download form). No notarization and/or legalization are required.

• 10 specimens of the mark with the dimensions not less than 8x8 mm and not exceeding 80x80 mm.

• A list of goods and services for which a trade mark is applied and their International Classification.

• Full name and address, and nationality of the applicant.

• Description of the mark: colours, translation and transliteration of non-English word(s).

In case the right of priority is claimed:

• Information regarding the filing date, application number, name of country of the priority application;

• A copy of the priority application certified by the Patent and Trade Mark Office receiving the priority application and the sworn English translation in the case the priority application is not in English (required within three (3) months from the filing date);

• Deed of Assignment of the Priority Right signed by each party duly affixed with their seal (if any), or its notarized copy, where the Applicant is different from the Applicant of the Priority Application (required within three (3) months from the filing date).

The trade mark application shall be examined as to form, published for opposition and examined as to substance.

The formal examination shall be completed within one month from the filing. If the application is found acceptable as to form, a Decision on Acceptance of Application as to Form shall be issued.

If the application is found not acceptable as to form, the Office will send to the applicant a Notice of Results of Formal Examination advising of the reasons, and the applicant shall have a period of one month to reply or amend his application.

If the trade mark application is accepted as to form, within two months from the date of accepting, it shall be published in the Official Gazette of Industrial Property. As from the date of publication up until prior to the date of issuance of a decision granting a trade mark registration certificate, any organization or individual shall have the right to express a written opinion to the Office regarding the right to register, the priority right, protection criteria or other matters relating to the trade mark application.

The trade mark application after being accepted as to form shall be examined as to substance. The time-limit for the examination as to substance shall be nine (9) months from the date of publication of the trade mark application for opposition.

After examining the trade mark application as to substance, the Office issues a Notice of Results of the Trade mark Application Examination notifying the applicant of whether the trade mark is registrable or it is unregistrable.

The trade mark registration is effected on the granting date and expires after 10 years from the filing date, and is renewable indefinitely for periods of 10 years. A trade mark shall be removed from the Register if its owner has, without legitimate reasons, failed to use the trade mark within 05 consecutive years prior to the allegation of non-use.

Vintell Patent & Trademark Company provide clients with a full range of trade mark services, including searching, filing, prosecution of trade mark applications, appeals, licensing and assignments, and enforcing through negotiation and litigation.