- Email: rubby@ipcells.com
An industrial design means a specific appearance of a product embodied by three-dimensional configurations,lines,colors,or a combination of these elements.
PROCEDURE FOR FILING INDUSTRIAL DESIG IN VIETNAM
An industrial design means a specific appearance of a product embodied by three-dimensional configurations, lines, colors, or a combination of these elements.
Industrial Design Examination Procedure
Filing the application
In order to obtain right for industrial design in Viet Nam, you must file the application for granting an industrial design patent, directly to the National Office of Intellectual Property of Viet Nam (NOIP).
Foreign individuals not permanently residing in Viet Nam, foreign organizations and individuals not having a production or trading establishment in Viet Nam shall file applications for an industrial design patent through a lawful representative in Viet Nam.
The required documents
• Name and address of Applicant
• Name and address of Inventor
• Set of photo/Drawings
• Priority Documents (If any)
• Power of Attorney – simply signed by Applicant
The first-to-file principle
Viet Nam has adopted the first-to-file system, i.e. where two or more applications are filed by many different parties for protection of the same design, the patent may only be granted to the valid application with the earliest priority or filing date among applications that satisfy all required conditions; where there are two or more applications satisfying all the conditions and having the same earliest priority or filing date, the industrial design patent may only be granted to a single application out of these applications under an agreement by all applicants. Without such an agreement, all these applications shall be refused for the grant of the industrial design patent.
Formality examination
The time limit for formality examination of an application is one (1) month from the filing date.
Substantive Examination
An examination will be carried out by examiners of the NOIP within 6 months from the date of publication
Issue the Industrial design patent
Within one month after applicants pay fully and on time the prescribed fees and charges, the NOIP shall carry out the procedures for granting the industrial design patent.
The validity of Industrial design
A registered industrial design is given an initial protection period of 5 years from the date of filing and is extended for two further consecutive terms of 5 years each. The maximum protection period is 15 years.
In case you require more information or require advice on Trademarks as well as other IP matters in Vietnam, please do not hesitate to contact us via Mail: rubby@ipcells.com
The validity of a patent may be suspended if the patentee declares in writing abandonment of the design patent or fails to pay the prescribed renewal fee within the time limits as regulated.
When the design patent validity is suspended, the patent rights will be terminated from suspension of the design patent.
5 years from the validity date of design patents. In case the rights to the design patents have been established in bad faith, the time limit is the whole duration of dseign patent protection.
The following acts, committed without the consent from a patent holder, shall constitute a patent infringement:
(i) manufacturing products using a patented design;
(ii) using, importing, advertising or circulating products that have been manufactured using a patented design.
Yes. If independent usage of an industrial design identical with a design under a published industrial design application is taken place prior to the filing date by any person or legal entity (prior user), after the registration of this industrial design, the prior user is entitled to continue using the industrial design without extension and transferring the right to use to others
The scope of design protection includes any design having a set of main features that is identical to or is not substantially different from the same of the protected design.
When substantive examination of the application is requested, the Vietnamese translations of
annexes to the international preliminary examination report (Form PCT/ISA/237 or
PCT/IPEA/409) must be submitted.
