Briefing on the drafting the Law on amending and supplementing a number of articles of the IP Law

adminquantri - April 14, 2021

In order to institutionalize the orientations and policies of the Party and State, rectify the shortcomings and problems in the enforcement and domestication of the international commitments in conformity with the international practices, Vietnam is currently implementing a law project amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Intellectual Property Law (Law No. 50/2005/QH11), effective from July 1, 2006, which was amended and supplemented in 2009 (Law No. 36/2009/QH12) and 2019 (Law No. 42/2019/QH14) (hereinafter referred to as “The Draft Law”).

Pursuant to the Prime Minister’s Decision, the Ministry of Science and Technology is assigned to assume the prime responsibility for and coordinate with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and other relevant agencies to prepare the Draft Law for submission to the Government in June 2021

The Draft Law has been posted on the Government’s online portal and the Ministry of Science and Technology (https://www.most.gov.vn/vn/Pages/chitietduthao.aspx?iDuThao=822) for public reviews and comments. In addition, series of seminars and conferences have been held thereby the Drafting Committee to directly exchange with and receive opinions from related agencies, organizations and individuals on the Draft Law. The Draft Law amending and/or supplementing 80 articles of 14 chapters of the current IP Law; accordingly it is expected that the IP Law after being amended and supplemented will have 18 chapters and 235 articles, with an increase of 13 new articles compared to the current IP Law.

As to D&N International Co., Ltd. (D&N International), on December 9, 2020, the firm sent to the Ministry of Science and Technology its written comments on the amendment of the Intellectual Property Law, specifically Article 74 (stipulating the cases where the marks are considered incapable of distinguishing), Article 87 (stipulating the Right to register trade marks), Article 96 (stipulating Cancellation of protection titles), Article 112 (stipulating Third-Party Opinions on the grant of protection titles), Article 117 (stipulating Refusal to grant protection titles). Notably, among its comments, D&N International emphasized the need to establish more specific legal grounds for an opposition, cancellation request against or refusal of grant of an IP protection title in the case of an applicant’s dishonest, producing a more precise and effective application of the law in practice.

It has been informed that the Government plans to submit the Draft Law to the Standing Committee of the National Assembly in August 2021 and then submit to the National Assembly for comments and approval at the upcoming October 2021 session.

Please visit the following sources for more information: http://noip.gov.vnhttps://www.most.gov.vn/