What is industrial property rights? Registration procedures and documents?

What is industrial property rights? How to prepare documents and procedures for registering industrial property rights for trademarks, patents and industrial design protection. fdiinvietnam.com will share with you in the article below.

What is industrial property rights?

Industrial property rights are the rights of organizations/individuals who legally own trademarks, inventions, trade secrets, trade names, integrated circuit layout designs, and industrial designs.

To protect industrial property rights and at the same time serve as a basis against illegal infringements, individuals and organizations need to register for industrial property protection with competent state agencies.

>> Related topic: What rights are included in intellectual property rights?

Procedures for registration of industrial property protection

1. Industrial property registration file

2. Industrial property registration process

After preparing the documents as fdiinvietnam.com instructed above, the applicant carries out the registration of industrial property protection in the following 2 steps:

➨ Step 1: Trademark search

A trademark search is the first step in determining whether a trademark is substantially identical or confusingly similar to another protected trademark. 

Through a trademark search, a trademark applicant can self-assess whether or not his trademark is eligible for protection. However, to perform this step, the applicant must pay a fee to have the trademark pre-examined by the Intellectual Property Office.

➨ Step 2: Submit application for industrial property protection

Applicants can submit their applications in the following two ways:

>> Submit online via the National Public Service Portal

• The applicant registers for a public service account, chooses to submit an application for industrial property rights registration (according to the specific industrial property rights), declares the registration information and uploads the registration form as a pdf file to the system;
• After successful registration, the applicant submits the original registration application along with the application code submitted online to the Department of Intellectual Property or the representative office of the Department of Intellectual Property in provinces and cities across the country.

>> Submit directly to the Intellectual Property Office

Currently, individuals and organizations can submit applications directly at the headquarters of the Intellectual Property Office or the representative office of the Intellectual Property Office at one of the following three addresses:

• Head office of the Intellectual Property Office, address at 386 Nguyen Trai, Thanh Xuan District, Hanoi City;
• Representative Office of the Department of Intellectual Property of Da Nang, address: 135 Minh Mang, Ngu Hanh Son District, Da Nang City;
• Representative Office of the National Office of Intellectual Property in Ho Chi Minh City: 17/19 Ton That Tung Street, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City.

Note:

Applications falling into one of the following cases will be considered invalid and will not be approved by the competent state agency, specifically:

• Form of application is not satisfactory;
• The registered subject is not an eligible subject;
• The applicant is the entity that has no rights to the industrial property object;
• The applicant did not follow the correct procedure and did not pay the fee as prescribed.

➨ Step 3: Receiving and processing documents

After receiving the dossier and application for industrial property protection of individuals and organizations, the Intellectual Property Office will conduct a formal examination of the application within 1 month from the date of submission.

After the application form is valid, it will move to the application content assessment stage, the assessment period is as follows:

• Not more than 18 months from the date of publication of the application for an invention;
• No later than 9 months from the date of publication of the application for a trademark;
• No more than 7 months from the date of publication of the application for industrial designs;
• No more than 6 months from the date of publication of the application for geographical indications.

See also:

>> Trademark registration procedures;

>> Patent registration procedures.

Basis for establishing industrial property rights

The establishment of industrial property rights is demonstrated on the following bases:

➨ For famous trademarks: The basis for establishing industrial property rights does not depend on the registration application, but is established through use.

➨ For trademarks, industrial designs, inventions, and semiconductor circuit layout designs: The basis for establishing rights is a protection certificate granted by a competent state agency in accordance with the provisions of the Law on Intellectual Property or an international treaty to which Vietnam is a member.

➨ For geographical indications: The basis for establishing rights is a protection certificate granted by a competent state agency in accordance with the provisions of the Law on Intellectual Property or an international treaty to which Vietnam is a member.

➨ For trade secrets: Rights are established on the basis of using trade secrets in a confidential and legal manner.

➨ For trade names: The basis for establishing industrial property rights is a legally used trade name.

Some frequently asked questions about industrial property registration procedures

1. What is the subject of industrial property rights?

Objects of industrial property rights include: trademarks, inventions, trade secrets, trade names, integrated circuit layout designs, industrial designs.

2. What does an industrial property registration file include?

Profile components include:

• Application form according to prescribed form;
• Information, documents, and samples representing the subject of industrial property rights as prescribed by the Law on Intellectual Property;
• Notarized copy of personal legal documents (CCCD/ID card) for individual applicants or notarized copy of business license for organization applicants;
• Other documents proving ownership/right of way/right of use (if any).

3. Where to submit application for industrial property registration?

Individuals and organizations can submit applications for industrial property registration in the following two ways:

• Submit directly or send documents by post to the headquarters of the Intellectual Property Office or representative offices of the Intellectual Property Office in Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City;
• Submit application online on Public Service Portal.

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