D&N International: Protecting Your Intellectual Property Rights

adminquantri - February 12, 2010
With its presence stretching across the country and a representative office in Paris (France), as well as its large network of foreign associate law firms throughout the world, D&N International is known as a leading law firm in Vietnam providing professional legal services meeting international standards in three main areas: intellectual property, investment consultancy and business laws. To learn more about D&N’s experiences in protecting of its clients’ rights and interests and in settling disputes in Vietnam and internationally, Vietnam Economic News’ Hoang Yen spoke with D&N’ Vice Managing Partner, Dang Viet Cuong.

What have D&N’s involvements been?

For nearly two decades of rapid development, D&N International, formerly known as D&N Intellectual Property Law Firm, is now capable of providing clients with optimal solutions for their legal problems. The firm represents a wide range of Vietnamese and international clients active in a diversity of trade and technology fields such as chemistry,  biochemistry, biotechnology, electricity, electronics, automation, information technology, pharmaceutical, cosmetics, food and beverage industries, telecommunications, automobile industry and entertainment etc. Each year, the firm settles thousands of cases in relation with establishments and enforcement of intellectual property rights. It provides high quality consultancy services to many domestic and foreign companies and works closely with state competent authorities to protect its clients’ rights and interests. Many disputes, including those involving foreign owners, have been successfully settled by D&N International. The firm has helped to orgnanize numerous raids leading to seizure and destruction of huge volumes of fake and imitation goods. It has also helped Samsung Electronics Inc. recovering its domain name samsungfunclub.net. D&N International is highly ranked by international intellectual property ranking organisations and magazines, for exemple it was ranked among top four by “The Asian Law and Practice” Journal (UK, in 2007) and top two by “The Legal 500” (in 2008) of Vietnamese intellectual property law firms.
 
How is the firm building its reputation?
D&N International works for well-known multinational corporations and research organisations, such as Ebay, New York University (US), Toyota, Lotte, YKK (Japan), Samsung, Posco (RoK), Phillip (Netherlands) and Vietnam’s leading research centers and businesses like the Hi-tech Research Center (Hanoi University of Technology), the Research Institute of Technology (Ministry of Industry and Trade) and the LiOA Company. The firm has continually trained its staff to keep them updated with the latest developments in the Vietnamese and international laws. Its service quality is controlled by ISO 9001 standards and it is expanding relations with foreign partners. By cooperating with the media and press in all issues relating to intellectual property and directly meeting with enterprises in order to provide them with knowledge on intellectual property and business laws and with useful investment consultancy, the firm has contributed to improving awareness about intellectual property among businesses and the public. As a result, many of them are better aware of the importance to register their intellectual property rights. For exemple, D&N International represents the Research Institute of Technology in registration procedure before the National Office of Intellectual Property to obtain patent for its scientific research projects KC 05 (equipment and technology for non-asbestos roofing production) and KC 06 (a grinding machine).
How can we develop the intellectual property rights of businesses and individuals in Vietnam?

The laws on protection of intellectual property rights in Vietnam are fairly comprehensive and adequate. However, the governmental policies in this field are sometimes not consistent. The government should encourage and facilitate more investors and organizations to invest, develop and apply advanced technologies as hightech, energy-saving technologies and most anvanced technologies in auxiliary industries through soft loans, tax exemptions and serious law enforcement. A government fund should be established for investing finance in Vietnamese’ strong patents as stocks of joint stock companies in order to developing them into practice and after that these stocks will be sent in order to invest finance in the other patents. A state organization responsible for tracing information about patents and inventions should be created. Efforts must be taken to establish a patent map in each particular techonology field, making it easier for people to trace information and get updates when necessary.

D&N International