Opinion of Third Party Regarding the Grant of Protection Title

According to the law on Intellectual Property of  Vietnam, any third parties have the right to send opinion to the National Office of Intellectual Property in Vietnam (NOIP) regarding industrial property right, granting or not granting protection title to an application. When a third party may give the opinion and how NOIP will handle that opinion?

Firstly, the third party has the right to send opinion from the time of publishing the industrial publication on industrial Gazette till before the date of issuing the decision on granting protection title. Accordingly, the opinion must be in written form and attached the documents or sources of information for evidences. The written opinion of the third party is also a source of information for examining the industrial application.

Secondly, after the opinion of the third party submitted into NOIP, there would be the following cases:

-In case the opinion of the third party has legal grounds, NOIP will notify of the opinion to the applicant and set a time limit for applicant to reply to the written opinion. After receiving the response of the applicant, if necessary, NOIP informs that response of the applicant to the third party and set a time limit for third party to reply. After that time limit, NOIP shall process opinion of the applicant and the third party according to the evidence and arguments provided by the parties and documents included in the application. The third party shall also be informed of the results of substantive examination of corresponding application;

-In case the opinion of the third party is groundless, NOIP is not required to notify the applicant of those opinions but shall notify the third party of its refusal to consider the opinions, clearly stating the reason thereof;

-In case the opinion of the third party are related to the registration right, when finding it impossible to determine whether such opinions are supported with legal ground or not, NOIP shall notify the third party so that the latter can file a lawsuit to a competent court in accordance with regulations of the Civil Procedure Code. Within 01 month from the date on which the NOIP issues the notice, if the third party fails to send the NOIP the copy of the notice of case acceptance of the court, it will be considered that the third party has withdrawn the lawsuit and continue to process the application without the third party’s opinions. If the NOIP receives such copy within the abovementioned time limit, the NOIP shall suspend the application processing until the results of dispute settlement by the court are obtained. After the results of dispute settlement by the court are obtained, the application processing shall be resumed in accordance with those results.

Besides, during the above processing, NOIP may organize a face-to-face meeting between the third party and the applicant to further clarify the opposition.

If the client needs help with handling such complaint, our intellectual property attorney in Vietnam at ANT Lawyers will be of help.

ANT Lawyers in a law firm in Vietnam, 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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Patent Registration Procedures in Vietnam

Patent ownership of an invention or a utility is only established by the registration procedure, and in accordance with the scope of protection defined in each patent in Vietnam.

Once a dispute arisen, without other evidences, the patent is the only and the most important proof to prove the ownership. Therefore, it is advised that filing a patent for an invention or a utility model shall be a prior prevention of an infringement.

 Under the laws on Intellectual Property of Vietnam:

“Invention” means a technical solution in the form of a product or process which is intended to solve a problem by application of natural laws.

Unless an invention is common knowledge, it shall be protected in the form of the grant of a utility solution patent (or a utility model) when it satisfies the following conditions:

-It is novel

-And it is susceptible of industrial application.

With highly professional staff and great experience in IP aspect in Vietnam, ANT Lawyers would like to support you in filing a Patent on an invention or a utility in Vietnam.

1. Our services in Patent for invention and Utility model

Our services in Patent field include:

-Searching, provision of professional opinions and advice in relation to registering ability of Patent/Utility model;

-Preparation, drafting the description and necessary documents, filing and prosecution of applications Patent/Utility model;

-Maintenance;

-Amendment;

-License;

-Assignment;

-Opposition against proceedings;

-Appeal;

-Cancellation;

-Invalidation;

2. How to file a patent in Vietnam

Inventors or Organizations or individuals who have supplied funds and material facilities to inventors in the form of job assignment or hiring have the right to file patent application in Vietnam.

An invention shall be protected in Vietnam when it satisfies the following conditions:

-Novelty;

-Inventive step;

-Industrial applicability;

3. Required information and documents

For the purpose of filling the patent application in Vietnam, the following documents will be required:

-Full name and address of applicant(s);

-Full name, address and nationality of inventor(s).

-Original Power of Attorney (POA) from the Applicant(s)

-Copy of the description, drawings and abstract of the patent application in English (in Word format) and/or the amended description, claims (if any);

-Certified document for claiming priority right (if any).

Note: The POA must be signed by the applicant or a duly authorized representative on behalf of the Applicant and no further notarization or legalization is required.

4. Patent Examination Procedure

The patent application will be examined by National Office of Intellectual Property of Viet Nam (NOIP) with Patent Examination Procedure as below:

-Formality examination: Under Intellectual Property Law of Vietnam, the above application will be examined as to form within one [01] month as from the filing date or date entering the national phase. If the invention application meets the requirements as to form, the NOIP will issue a decision of formality acceptance and then the application will be further processed. Publication of the Patent Application is within 02 months from publication date of 19 months from priority date.

-Substantive Examination: Substantive Examination does not automatically proceed from filing, and the applicant must request for substantive examination by 42 months from the priority date, or by 36 months if the request is for a utility model, otherwise the application will be considered as withdrawn.

-Notification of the Substantive Examination Results.

-The Decision of Refusal or Request to pay fee.

-Issuing the Patent of Invention.

5. Patent Term and Maintenance

Invention patents shall each have a validity starting from the grant date and expiring at the end of 20 years after the filing date. The owner of a Patent for Invention or Patent for Utility Model is required to pay annuity fees in order to maintain its validity.

If you are looking for an experienced IP services in Vietnam to help you with your IP application, you should visit ANTLawyers.vn. Our attorneys have experience with the IP process and will work closely with you as you apply for your IP.

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