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Below are measures to protect intellectual property rights in Vietnam.
What constitutes a violation of intellectual property rights in Vietnam?
Violation of intellectual property rights is understood as the use of objects of intellectual property rights, such as trademarks, industrial designs, copyright, geographical indications, etc., without the consent of the rights holder.
An act is considered a violation of intellectual property rights if it meets the following conditions:
– The subject under consideration falls within the scope of objects protected by intellectual property rights under the laws of Vietnam.
– There is an infringement element in the subject under consideration.
– The perpetrator of the act under consideration is not the holder of intellectual property rights and is not authorized by law or competent authorities to use the intellectual property object in accordance with the Intellectual Property Law.
– The act under consideration occurs in Vietnam. The act under consideration is also considered to occur in Vietnam if it takes place on the internet but targets consumers or users in Vietnam.
Measures to protect intellectual property rights in Vietnam
There are 04 measures, ways to protect intellectual property rights in Vietnam, including:
Self-protection measures
The rights holder who is infringed upon may take the following measures to protect their rights:
– Apply technological measures to prevent the infringement of intellectual property rights. Technological measures include providing information about their intellectual property rights, such as the basis for the right, protection certificates, owners, scope of protection, and other relevant information on products, services, original copies, or copies of works, performances, recordings, broadcasts to indicate that the product is an object under protected intellectual property rights and advise others not to infringe; use means or technical measures to mark, identify, and distinguish genuine and counterfeit products, etc.
– Demand that organizations or individuals infringing on intellectual property rights immediately cease the infringement, apologize, publicly correct the infringement, and compensate for damages (if any). The rights holder informs, in writing, the organization or individual infringing on intellectual property rights of the aforementioned requirements.
Administrative measures
Administrative measures are applied to address infringements in the following cases:
– Infringement causing harm to authors, rights holders, consumers, or society.
– Production, import, transportation, trade in counterfeit goods related to intellectual property or entrusting others to carry out these activities.
– Production, import, transportation, trade in fake labels, signs, or other items with fake trademarks or geographical indications, or entrusting others to carry out these activities.
– Unfair competition practices related to intellectual property.
The level of penalties, jurisdiction, and procedures for administrative penalties comply with the provisions of the Intellectual Property Law and laws on administrative penalties in the field of copyright and related rights, industrial property rights, rights to plant varieties, and competition laws.
Administrative violation handling measures include:
a) Primary penalty forms:
– Warning
– Monetary fine
b) Additional penalty forms:
– Confiscation of counterfeit goods related to intellectual property, materials, and means used to commit infringements.
– Temporary suspension of business activities violating the law.
c) Remedial measures:
– Obligation to destroy or distribute for non-commercial purposes counterfeit goods related to intellectual property, materials, and means used to commit infringements, with the condition not to affect the rights holder’s ability to exploit the intellectual property right.
– Compel removal from Vietnam for goods that have transgressed intellectual property rights or compel re-export for counterfeit goods related to intellectual property, materials, and means used for infringement after removing the elements infringing on intellectual property rights on those goods.
d) Measures to prevent and ensure the enforcement of administrative penalties:
– Temporary detention of individuals
– Temporary seizure of goods, evidence, means of violation
– Personal search
– Inspection of means of transportation, goods, places where goods are hidden, evidence of intellectual property rights infringement
– …
How is the trade of counterfeit goods handled in Vietnam?
Criminal measures
Criminal measures are applied to address infringements in cases where the act has elements constituting a crime according to the provisions of the Criminal Code. The jurisdiction, procedures, and application of criminal measures comply with the regulations of criminal procedural laws.
According to the 2015 Criminal Code (amended and supplemented in 2017), crimes related to intellectual property include:
– Crime of producing, trading in counterfeit goods (Article 192)
– Crime of producing, trading in counterfeit food, food additives (Article 193)
– Crime of producing, trading in counterfeit medicines (Article 194)
– Crime of producing, trading in counterfeit animal feed, fertilizers, veterinary drugs, plant protection drugs, plant varieties, and animal breeds (Article 195)
– Crime of infringing copyright, related rights (Article 225)
– Crime of infringing industrial property rights (Article 226)
Criminal offenses associated with intellectual property rights in Vietnam
Civil measures
Civil measures are applied to address infringements by filing a lawsuit in the competent People’s Court. Organizations or individuals with the right to file a lawsuit are the rights holders or entities, individuals harmed by the infringement. Civil measures are applied even if the infringement has been or is being processed through administrative or criminal measures. The jurisdiction, procedures, and requirements for applying civil measures comply with the regulations of civil procedural laws.
The court may apply the following civil measures to address the infringing party:
– Compel the cessation of the infringement
– Compel an apology, public correction
– Compel the fulfillment of civil obligations
– Compel compensation for damages
– Compel the destruction or distribution for non-commercial purposes of goods, materials, and means used to commit intellectual property infringement, with the condition not to affect the rights holder’s ability to exploit the intellectual property right.
In necessary cases, the court may apply temporary urgent measures such as:
– Seizure
– Preservation
– Sealing, prohibiting changes in status, prohibiting movement
– Prohibiting the transfer of ownership rights
– Other temporary urgent measures as stipulated by the Civil Procedure Code.
Some regulations on resolving intellectual property ownership disputes in Vietnam
Compensation for damages in Vietnam
Damage caused by intellectual property infringement includes:
– Material damage: losses in property, loss or reduction of income, profit, loss of business opportunities, and reasonable costs to prevent, remedy the damage.
– Moral damage: losses to dignity, reputation, reputation, and other spiritual losses caused to the author of the work; performers; authors of inventions, industrial designs, layout-designs of integrated circuits, and plant varieties. The compensation for moral damage depends on the extent of the damage but is capped at 50 million VND.
– In addition, the rights holder of intellectual property has the right to demand that the organization or individual engaging in intellectual property infringement pay reasonable fees for hiring a lawyer.
Lawyers specializing in resolving intellectual property disputes in Vietnam
With a team of lawyers trained extensively in intellectual property and many years of experience in intellectual property cases in Vietnam, we take pride in providing our clients with professional and effective services in handling intellectual property disputes.
Contact Us Now:
DCNH LAW
Address: 38B Tran Nhat Duat, Phuoc Hoa ward, Nha Trang city, Khanh Hoa province, Vietnam.
Phone: (+84) 343320223 – 974278893
Email: [email protected]
