What is Intellectual Property Law?

Our legal system provides certain rights and protections for owners of property. The kind of property that results from the fruits of mental labor is called intellectual property. Rights and protections for owners of intellectual property are based on federal patent, trademark and copyright laws and state trade secret laws.

Protecting Intellectual Property Rights in Vietnam

In general:

-Patents protect inventions of tangible things.

-Copyrights protect various forms of written and artistic expression.

-Trademarks protect a name or symbol that identifies the source of goods or services.

It is important to note that patents, trademarks, and copyrights constitute the basis on which the underlying intellectual property may be protected in law. It is therefore vital that a great degree of skill be exercised in drafting the documents and following the procedures necessary for obtaining this protection.

By relying on a specialist in the field who has good standing and recognized ability in his profession, the inventor or artist can be assured that the intellectual property will be adequately protected.

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.

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What is the copyright process?

For works first published after March 1, 1989, an author need not include a copyright notice to be protected under the law. Although a notice is not required, it’s super worth it for you to obtain one and list it on your website. When a work contains a valid copyright notice, an infringer cannot claim in court that s/he wasn’t aware the work was copyrighted. Thus, an author has a greater chance to win a copyright infringement case and spend much less litigating in the process if s/he has a copyright notice.

Copyright in Vietnam 

If a work is created on or after January 1, 1978 then it is protected for a term of the life of the author plus 70 years. However, if the work is a “work for hire” or is published under a pseudonym, the copyright lasts between 95 and 120 years, depending on the date the work is published.

Regarding your specific question, the U.S. Copyright Office has some helpful info on how to copyright Registering a Work (FAQ) & Copyright in General (FAQ). Be sure to check out Stanford’s Copyright & Fair Use website too.

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.

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How do I get my hospital name and logo trademarked?

For getting the logo and the name of your hospital trademarked you need to file an application for registration of trademark in the designated Registry for your area. But before filing any application for trademark registration, you need to check that the brand you are planning to register is already registered by someone else or is pending for registration.

Also you also need to mention the class in which the trademark has to be registered, the correct description of goods/services you are offering and the date from which you have been using the trademark. In case you plan to use the trademark in future, you need to file it on *proposed to be used* basis.

The above mentioned details are extremely crucial while filing an application for registration of a trademark and any oversight on these details may prove to be fatal in case there is any litigation in future.

Filing of a trademark application form is easy but the follow up is an extremely complicated task and it is always better to get your Trademark application through an IP attorneys specialising in trademark registration and brand protection.

Source: Quora

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.

 

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Officially Issuing the Schedule of Tariff Concessions for Import and Export to Implement CPTPP Agreement

On June 26^th, 2019, the Government issued Decree No. 57/2019/ND-CP on Preferential tariff for export, Special preferential tariff for import to implement CPTPP Agreement from 2019 to 2022. CPTPP has come into force as of January 14^th, 2019, however, the Decree 57 is the official legislation incorporating CPTPP’s commitment into national laws.

Tariff concessions applying to each country

In addition to 0% tax applied to many products as soon as effect of Decree 57, the remaining is eliminated as scheduled into 4 stages: from January 14^th, 2019 to end of 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022 equivalent to each tariff concessions.

The first six countries which have approved CPTPP Agreement including Mexico, Japan, Singapore, New Zealand, Canada and Australia. Vietnam was the seventhly country completing ratification procedures to bring the Agreement into effect. Under the CPTPP Agreement, the first six countries ratifying the Agreement have the right to notify to the later ratifying countries about the schedule of tariff concessions. Based on such provision, Article 4 and 5 of Decree 97 stipulates the reduction of import and export tax levels for each group of countries including: the group of five countries of Japan, Singapore, New Zealand, Canada and Australia shall may be applied the second level of tax reduction from January 14^th, 2019 due to similar application of such countries to Vietnam; and Mexico shall be applied the first level of tax reduction from January 14^th, 2019.

The conditions for applying preferential export tariff

Under the CPTPP Agreement, the Schedule for preferential export tariff include 519 tax lines, tax of 0% shall be applied to the goods outside such Schedule exporting to territory of country members to which CPTPP Agreement has taken effect. The exporting companies shall meet the followings to enjoy the preference:

-Goods shall be exported to 6 countries to which CPTPP Agreement has taken effect (Mexico, Japan, Singapore, New Zealand, Canada and Australia).

-Having the instruments of transportation showing the destination in territory of country members to which CPTPP Agreement has taken effect

-Having importing declarations of the shipment at customs of the member countries to which the CPTPP Agreement has taken effect.

The conditions for applying special preferential import tariff

Imported goods subject to special preferential import tariff under the CPTPP Agreement shall meet the following conditions:

-Imported goods belong to Preferential import tariff or List of products and preferential import tax or List of products and special preferential import tax for used cars.

-Being imported from member countries to which the CPTPP Agreement has taken effect and Vietnamese non-tariff zones to domestic market.

-Being transported into Vietnam from member countries to which the CPTPP Agreement has taken effect (in case of transshipment and cargo in transit, other conditions).

-Meeting the provisions on origin of goods and having C/O according to form of CPTPP Agreement.

-Vietnam currently is a member and negotiating many free trade agreements to promote exports. This action will make a strong progress in import and export activities in international arena.

ANT Lawyers is a Law firm in Vietnam with international standards, recognized by Legal500, IFLR1000. We are an exclusive Vietnam member of Prea Legal, the global law firm network coverig more than 150 juridictions. The firm provides a range of legal services as following to multinational and domestic clients.

To learn more about ANT Lawyers International Trade and Tax or contact our lawyers in Vietnam for advice via email ant@antlawyers.vn or call our office at (+84) 24 730 86 529

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Establishing Distribution Company in Da Nang

Da Nang is a city in the Central of Vietnam, with the advantage of being a trading place of many countries in the world. Danang has a large seaport in the top 10 large seaports of Vietnam, facilitating trading activities with many countries around the world. 

Lawyers in Da Nang

At the present, Da Nang is promoting foreign investment into Da Nang, and many investors have chosen Da Nang to do business in the distribution business line. For this business line, Vietnam has committed to open up to attract 100% foreign investment. As committed, foreign-invested companies in the distribution sector will be allowed to provide commission agents, wholesalers and retailers of all products manufactured in Vietnam and legally imported products into Vietnam. Therefore, the investors can import or produce goods, then they distribute the goods in accordance with regulations.

In addition, with the increasing in the number of tourists coming to Da Nang in recent years, the demand for consumer products, fashion and other items for tourists has increased. This triggers demand that many companies to provide essential goods for tourists, and this is a great investment opportunity for investors both domestically and abroad. The investors could explore this opportunity to set up company in Da Nang and fill the market’s demand.

In addition, with many policies to support enterprises in administrative procedures, as well as management, investors can easily carry out procedures as well as manage and control their business better. Enterprises investing in Da Nang are now very satisfied with the way public services are handled in the city’s administrative procedures, therefore more and more investors are choosing Da Nang as a destination for investment when targeting in Vietnam.

ANT Lawyers is a Law firm in Vietnam with international standards, recognized by Legal500, IFLR1000. We are an exclusive Vietnam member of Prea Legal, the global law firm network covering more than 150 jurisdictions. The firm provides a range of legal services to multinational and domestic clients.

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Can a trademark expire?

Once your trademark is 10 years old, it would expire. This is a primary caveat with trademark; it only lasts for about 10 years. Once the 10 years have come close and you haven’t applied for renewal or restoration, the expiration process begins.

Time limit of trademark protection extension

To that end, it is definitely important for you to either renew or restore it:

1. Trademark renewal: Application for the trademark renewal has to be applied 6 months before the expiration date has come near. Once this period is not taken heed to, the trademark shall expire and you are only left with the next measure.

2. Trademark restoration: trademark restoration takes place after the expiration date is over. How is this option? The answer is a pretty simple one! Once the trademark has been expired, the most definite and the logical way to make sure that you still have access to it are through trademark restoration. Once you apply for the restoration, you would go through the same strides as you went through when you applied for trademark registration for the first time. You would go through the initial application. This application might be objected against by the department, and you would have to file a reply for it. This restoration process also involves putting the trademark in the journal for about 4 months. Once the mark is restored, you would again receive a certificate from the department that implies the same.

To that end, it would be better if you go by the former part of renewal and don’t wait for the restoration process.

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.

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What is a Copyright?

Fundamentally, copyright is a law that gives you ownership over the things you create. Be it a painting, a photograph, a poem or a novel, if you created it, you own it and it’s the copyright law itself that assures that ownership. The ownership that copyright law grants comes with several rights that you, as the owner, have exclusively. Those rights include: 

 Copyright in Vietnam 

-The right to reproduce the work

-To prepare derivative works

-To distribute copies

-To perform the work

-To display the work publicly

These are your rights and your rights alone. Unless you willingly give them up (EX: A Creative Commons License), no one can violate them legally. This means that, unless you say otherwise, no one can perform a piece written by you or make copies of it, even with attribution, unless you give the OK.

Inversely, if you’re looking for material to use or reuse, you should not do any of these things without either asking permission or confirming that the work is in the public domain, which means that the copyright has expired and all of the above rights have been forfeited. Simply put, if the work isn’t in the public domain and you don’t have permission to use a piece, you put yourself in risk of legal action, regardless of your intentions.

Because, beyond fair use and parody (issues for later essays), the holder of a copyrighted piece has near carte blanche to do what they want with their work. It’s no different than owning a car, a house or a pen. One can lend it out to a friend, sell it, modify it or even destroy it. In short, if you own the copyright to something, you have the same rights that you do with anything else and, in some instances, even more. After all, you did create it. It only makes sense that you would own the fruits of your labor. That’s what copyright law is all about.

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.

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