What are the benefits that a society gets from intellectual property rights (IPR)?

In theory, intellectual property encourages innovation by rewarding scientists, inventors, artists, scholars, and other creators with exclusive rights to their ideas and expressions. This in turn results in greater artistic, scientific, and technological achievement, which in turn advances the economy and quality of life, and progress of humanity as a whole.   

IP Enforcement in Vietnam

It also satisfies a deeply held sense of ownership, that if you discover or make something it’s yours. This may be cultural rather than innate – not every society believes this about the fruits of creativity.

Whether an IP regime serves these goals depends a lot on the legal regime put in place around it, and how that plays in a given cultural and economic context. To establish something as property involves creating a bundle of rights such as a right to alienate it by selling, trading, or licensing, a right to exclusivity, the ability to create and enforce contracts about it, and a right to enforce ownership through legal means. A lot of fine tuning is involved, which could result in an effective IP system, or alternately, one that enforces privilege and disparity of wealth by denying basic things like life-saving drugs, software tools, or popular songs to those without ability to pay, that concentrates wealth by adding IP assignment terms to every employment or contractor relationship, or that suppresses innovation by denying creators access to what other creators have done. Even so, an unfair IP regime may (or may not) create wealth for a society.

Source: Quora

If you are looking for an experienced IP attorney in Vietnam to help you with your patent application, you should visit ANT Lawyers.vn. Our attorneys have experience with the IP process and will work closely with you as you apply for your patent. We routinely match inventors with experienced IP attorneys for a free consultation on our platform and offer a money back guarantee.

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How Mediation and Labor Arbitration Councils Work in Settlement of Labor Disputes?

During and after the Covid-19 pandamic, the financial health of enterprises have been negatively impacted leading to management’s decision to reduce cost through termination of labour contract with employee. The illegal termination of labour contract could lead to disputes between employer and employee which sometime would cost the employer more than it gains. It is important for the employer to engage with labour lawyers to consult before taking the decision to consider factors that would involve. After disputes arise, mediator or labour arbitration councils could be used for resolving disputes.

Individual labor disputes shall be settled through mediation by labor mediators before being brought to the Labor arbitration council or the Court, except for the following labor disputes which mediation is not mandatory: disputes over disciplining under dismissal or unilateral termination of employment contracts; disputes over damages and allowances upon termination of employment contracts; disputes between a domestic worker and his/her employer; disputes over social insurance in accordance with social insurance laws, disputes over health insurance in accordance with health insurance laws, disputes over unemployment insurance in accordance with employment laws; disputes over insurance for occupational accidents and occupational disease in accordance with occupational safety and hygiene laws; disputes over damages between an employee and enterprises, organization that dispatches the employee to work overseas under a contract; disputes between the outsourcing employee and the employer using outsourcing employee.

The mediator shall complete the mediation process within 05 working days from the receipt of the request from the requesting parties or the authority. Both disputing parties must be present at the mediation meeting. The disputing parties may authorize another person to attend the mediation meeting.

In case the two parties reach an agreement, the labor mediator shall make a written record of successful mediation which bears the signatures of the disputing parties and the labor mediator. In case the two parties do not reach an agreement, the labor mediator shall recommend a mediation option for the disputing parties to consider. Where the two parties do not agree with the recommended mediation option or where one of the disputing parties is absent for the second time without a valid reason after having been legitimately summoned, the labor mediator shall make a record of unsuccessful mediation which bears the signatures of the present disputing parties and the labor mediator.

The disputing parties shall be entitled to request the settlement from Labor arbitration councils in the following cases: a disputing party fails to perform the agreements specified in the record of successful mediation; mediation is not mandatory; the labor mediator fails to initiate the mediation by the deadline; the mediation is unsuccessful.

After the Labor arbitration council has been requested to settle a dispute, the parties must not simultaneously request the Court to settle the same dispute.  If within 07 working days from the receipt of the request, an arbitral tribunal is not established; or within 30 working days from the establishment of the arbitral tribunal, it fails to issue a decision on the settlement of the labor dispute, parties shall be entitled to request the settlement from the Court. In case a disputing party fails to comply with the decision of the arbitral tribunal, the parties are entitled to bring the case to Court.

If the client needs any other information or requires for further advice, our lawyers at ANT Lawyers in Vietnam will be available for service.

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Digitalizing Vietnam Supporting Industry Database

On June 19, the Department of Industry (Vietnam Ministry of Industry and Trade) collaborated with the International Financial Corporation (IFC) of the World Bank Group, with funding from the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) and the Swiss Federal Economic Office (SECO) organized the “Opening Ceremony of the Database System of Vietnam’s processing, manufacturing and supporting industries” and put the Supporting Industry Portal into operation.

Digitalizing Vietnam Supporting Industry Database

This system is intended to support the provision of adequate information about enterprises for organizations and individuals wishing to search, connect and trade; It provides foreign-invested enterprises (FDI enterprises) with an overview of production capacity, supply capability, product quality and technology of Vietnamese manufacturing enterprises, as the same time, enhancing connectivity between Vietnamese enterprises and FDI enterprises and investors.

Supporting industries are industries that produce raw materials, accessories, spare parts, and semi-finished products to supply the manufacturing, processing and assembling industry of finished products being production materials manufacturing or consumer products.

Vietnam’s supporting industry is growing and playing an important role in participating in the global supply chain and value chain. Large foreign companies and corporations have established many company manufacturing, processing and assembling factories in Vietnam. In 2019, the whole country has 3,478 new projects, with a total capital of nearly 31.8 billion USD; in which, processing and manufacturing industry accounted for the highest proportion with a total capital of 21.6 billion USD, accounting for 67.8% of total registered investment capital. This demonstrates the expectation of FDI enterprises to reduce transportation costs and risks, so it will create great opportunities for domestic parts suppliers to develop production.

According to data on the Enterprise Information Database system, Vietnam now has 500 enterprises in the field of mechanical engineering, 347 enterprises in the field of automobiles, 750 enterprises in the field of electricity, 1,145 enterprises in the textile sector and 910 enterprises in the footwear sector.

The database system of manufacturing, processing and supporting industries is an important milestone in addressing the need to establish a domestic B2B connection network with foreign countries, helping enterprises and investors finding information quickly, accurately, meeting the needs of investment connection, enhancing cooperation opportunities between Vietnamese enterprises and FDI enterprises and multinational corporations.

In the future, the government will continue to support resources and finance to improve the qualifications of the database system management staff, expand the data information of many industries and continue to develop new features that allow enterprises to create their own booths to introduce products, proceed to establish an e-commerce platform for the processing, manufacturing and supporting industries, help enterprises proactively approach and promote cooperation, contribute to the development of Vietnam’s industry in the future.

ANT Lawyers - A law firm in Vietnam with international standards, recognized by Legal500, IFLR1000. We are an exclusive Vietnam member of Prea Legal, the global law firm net work covering more than 150 jurisdictions. The firm provides a range of legal services as following to multinational and domestic clients.

For advice or serive request, please contact us via email ant@antlawyers.vn, or call us +84 24 730 86 529

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What are Conditions for Cosmetics Manufacturing and Trading in Vietnam?

Cosmetic product is a substance or preparation that is used to contact parts of the outside of the human body (skin, hair system, nails, toenails, lips and outside of the genitalia) or teeth and oral mucosa with one or more of the following main purposes: cleaning, aromatic, changing the appearance, appearance, adjusting body odor, keeping the body in good condition. Investors in the field of cosmetics manufacturing and trading are not restricted under Vietnam’s commitments when joining the WTO. Therefore, investors are allowed to establish economic organizations with 100% foreign investment.

However, the field of cosmetics manufacturing and trading is a conditional business for foreign investors. After being granted an investment registration certificate and enterprise registration certificate, before conducting business activities, investors must meet the conditions to be allowed to operate. To produce cosmetics, investors need to apply for a certificate of eligibility for cosmetics production. In order to sell the cosmetics manufactured by the enterprise itself, investors need to meet the conditions for cosmetic product announcement, apply for a cosmetic product proclamation certificate before launching the product to the market. In addition, for trading cosmetic products, investors need to apply for a business license for retail goods.

In order to have a certificate of eligibility for cosmetics production, a cosmetics manufacturing establishment must meet the conditions on personnel, facilities and quality management system.

Regarding personnel, the person in charge of production must have specialized knowledge in one of the following specialties: Chemistry, biology, pharmacy or other relevant subjects to meet the requirements of the job.

Regarding the conditions of facilities, there should be locations, areas, workshops and equipment to meet the requirements of production lines and types of cosmetic products that such establishments are expected to produce as stated in the dossier of application for a certificate of eligibility for cosmetics production; storage of raw materials, packaging materials and finished products must ensure a separation between raw materials, packaging materials and finished products; have separate areas for storage of flammable and explosive substances, highly toxic substances, discarded, recovered and returned materials and products.

At the same time, the quality management system meets the following requirements: raw materials, auxiliary materials and semi-finished products used in cosmetic production must meet the manufacturer’s quality standards; water used in the production of cosmetics must at least meet national technical standards on drinking water promulgated by the Minister of Health; having production processes for each product; having a quality control department to check the quality of raw materials, semi-finished products, packaged products and finished products.

A dossier of application for a certificate of eligibility for cosmetics production comprises the following documents: an application for a certificate of eligibility for cosmetics production; floor plans and designs of production facilities; list of existing equipment of the manufacturer.

For cosmetic products proclamation, the dossier must include the cosmetic product proclamation report with the proclamation data (soft version of proclamation report). Complete cosmetic products at each different manufacturing company are individually announced.

In addition, investors conducting retail distribution of cosmetics need to apply for a business license. Foreign investors shall be granted a business license when having a financial plan in order to undertake the activities for which a business license is requested; and not having overdue tax debts if it has been established in Vietnam for one year or more. In addition, if the foreign investors belong to a country or territory which is a member of an international treaty of which Vietnam is also a member and which commits to open the market for goods trading and directly related activities, they need to satisfy the conditions on market access in the international treaty of which Vietnam is a member. If the foreign investor does not belong to a country or territory which is a member of an international treaty of which Vietnam is also a member, they must satisfy the following criteria: consistency with the provisions of specialized branch law; compatibility with the competitive level of domestic enterprises in the same operational sector; ability to create jobs for domestic workers; ability to contribute and level of contribution to the State budget. An application file comprises: request for issuance of a business license; explanatory document; data from the tax office proving that there are no overdue tax debts; copies of the enterprise registration certificate and of the investment registration certificate (if any) for the project of goods trading and directly related activities.

For the efficiency, it is recommended to seek advice from lawyers in Vietnam in the specialized fields for legal consultancy.

To learn more about Cosmetic Law Firm in Vietnam or contact our lawyers in Vietnam for advice via email ant@antlawyers.vn or call our office at  +84 28 730 86 529

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What happens if I have a trademark without registering?

Trademark registration provides protection and exclusive rights to the owner of a Trademark in relation to his goods and services used commercially.

Trademark registration services in Vietnam 

A Trademark differentiates the identity and brand name of a business and separates the goods and services of a business from that of other similar goods or services in the market.

If your Trademark is not registered, it can be easily infringed upon by someone. In such case, you cannot file an infringement suit, but only claim remedy for passing-off. Passing off in trademark is when infringement of an unregistered trademark happens. The mark is not only deceptively similar to the trademark of other company but also creating confusion for the customers, which ultimately results in damage to the business of company.

Legal Remedy In Case Of Passing Off

The trademark owner can file a suit in district court/ High Court within the local limits of the jurisdiction, where the person instituting actually and voluntarily resides or carries on business or personally works for gain.

Where the passing off does not involve the use of trademark or where there is no sale of goods, the suit may be filed in a subordinate judge’s court or a court of superior to it. The plaintiff in a suit for passing off must be the owner of an unregistered trademark which has acquired reputation in relation to some goods or the owner of the goodwill in a trade name, or get-up relating to some goods or business or profession.

The defendant in the suit must be a person who has passed off or whose activities are likely to pass off his goods or business as the goods or business of the plaintiffs. Passing off actions may be instituted by many plaintiffs in a representative capacity provided there is a common interest, common grievance and a remedy beneficial to all. The rules governing the preparation of the plaint and the subsequent proceedings are the same as in any other suit and are governed by the Code of Civil Procedure.

If you are looking for an experienced Trademark attorneys in Vietnam to help you with your trademark application, you should visit ANT Lawyers.vn. Our attorneys have experience with the trademark process and will work closely with you as you apply for your trademark. We routinely match inventors with experienced Trademark attorneys for a free consultation on our platform and offer a money back guarantee.

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Automatic Extension of Temporary Residence for Foreigners in Vietnam

On May 18th, 2020 of the Immigration Department, issued a Notice of “Automatic Extension of Temporary Residence” for foreigners. Accordingly, foreigners who enter the country on the basis of visa exemption or entry on e-visas or tourist visas from March 1st, 2020 are now “automatically extended temporary residence” until the end of June 30th, 2020.

They may exit during the above period without having to carry out procedures for extending the temporary residence. In case of entry before March 1st, 2020, if proved to be stuck due to Covid-19 epidemic, certified by the diplomatic mission through a diplomatic note (with a Vietnamese translation) or a written certification issued by the Vietnamese competent authority on isolation, treatment of Covid-19 or other force majeure reasons, the foreigners are also considered to emjoy “automatic extension of temporary residence” until June 30, 2020 and must present the above note or confirmation document on exit.

In the meantime, the foreigners during the “automatically extended temporary residence” period must still declare temporary residence and medical declaration as prescribed.

Foreigners who are not subject to the above provisions or have committed other law violations shall comply with current provisions of Vietnamese law.

Immigration lawyers in Vietnam at ANT Lawyers in Vietnam always follow changes in the immigration laws to provide update to the client.

Please click here to learn more about ANT Lawyers Foreign Investment Practice or contact our lawyers in Vietnam for advice via email ant@antlawyers.vn or call our office at +84 28 730 86 529.

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Vietnam Authority Received Request to Investigate Anti-Dumping Case of High Fructose Corn Sweetener Products (HFCS) from China and Korea

On May 21^st, 2020, Trade Remedies Authority of Vietnam (TRAV) acknowledged the Dossier on request of investigation to impose the anti-dumpingmeasures to some High Fructose Corn Sweetener products (HFCS) originated from People’s Republic of China and Republic of Korea from the companies representing the domestic industry (Requester). If there is anti-dumping actions, the anti-dumping investigation will be initiated and related parties would cooperate with TRAV to provide data as required.

On the basis of assessing the Dossier, on June 2^nd, 2020, TRAV had confirmed the sufficiency of the dossiers according the the laws on trade remedy.

Within 45 days from the date of receiving sufficient and lawful dossier, TRAV will assess dossier to submit Minister of Ministry of Industry and Trade for consideration whether to process the investigation.

The assessment’s contents includes:

-Identify the legal representative status of the domestic industry of organizations and individuals who submit dossier in accordance with the Law on Foreign Trade Management;

-Define evidence on the dumping of imported goods that cause or threaten to cause significant losses to a domestic manufacturing industry or substantially prevent the formation of a domestic manufacturing industry.

In order to serve the assessment process, as well as to ensure the legitimate rights and interests of the enterprise, TRAV recommends that the domestic enterprises manufacturing/trading in the same goods mentioned above provide the following information.

-Enterprise’s information;

-Manufacturing production of HFCS and/or refined sugar;

-Enterprise’s opinion on the case (to agree, oppose, have no opinion);

-Any document/evidence which company considers to be related to the case

The due date to provide the above information is before 5p.m June 19^th, 2020.

Competition, anti-dumping, and countervailing duty lawyers of International trade and tax  in Vietnam practice at ANT Lawyers, a law firm in Vietnam always follow up anti-dumping cases and its development to update clients on regular basis.

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US Anti-Dumping and Countervailing Duty Petitions of Tire Products From Vietnam

On May 13, 2020, The United States Department of Commerce (“DOC”) has received an investigation request for anti-dumping and countervailing measures against passenger and light truck tires (“PVLT tires”) originating from Korea, Taiwan-China, Thailand and Vietnam. The madatory respondents being US importers have also consulted with anti-dumping and countervailing duty lawyers in Vietnam and US to prepare for the investigation cooperation.

In this case, the plaintiff alleges that the tires under investigation were dumped and subsidized into the United States market, causing significant damage to the domestic manufacturing industry. In 2015, the same petitioner succeeded in securing anti-dumping and countervailing duties on PVLT tires from China.

The scope of these investigations is passenger vehicle and light truck tires. Passenger vehicle and light truck tires are new pneumatic tires, of rubber, with a passenger vehicle or light truck size designation. Tires covered by these orders may be tube-type, tubeless, radial, or nonradial, and they may be intended for sale to original equipment manufacturers or the replacement market. The products covered by the investigations are currently classified under the following Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (“HTSUS”) subheadings: 4011.10.10.10, 4011.10.10.20, 4011.10.10.30, 4011.10.10.40, 4011.10.10.50, 4011.10.10.60, 4011.10.10.70, 4011.10.50.00, 4011.20.10.05, and 4011.20.50.10.  The scope could also include tires entering under HTSUS subheadings 4011.90.10.10, 4011.90.10.50, 4011.90.20.10, 4011.90.20.50, 4011.90.80.10, 4011.90.80.50, 8708.70.45.30, 8708.70.45.46, 8708.70.45.48, 8708.70.45.80, 8708.70.60.30, 8708.70.60.45, and 8708.70.60.60.

Petitioner alleges the following dumping margins: 45.95% to 195.20% for South Korea, 21% to 102% for Taiwan, 106.4% to 217.5% for Thailand, and 14.73% to 33.06% for Vietnam. The petitions also detail numerous government subsidies benefitting Vietnamese tire producers, including loans, tax breaks, and grants. PVLT tire imports from these four countries shot up nearly 20% from 2017 to 2019, reaching 85.3 million tires, valued at 4.4 billion dollars, last year.

According to data from the United States International Trade Commission (“USITC”), the export value of Vietnam’s investigated products to the United States market reached 12.1 million dollars in 2019, accounting for about 6.7% of total United States imports of this product.

In Vietnam, the product under investigation is a product that has been warned by the Ministry of Industry and Trade of risks of foreign investigation by applying trade remedies measures from July 2019 with a high level of warning. Therefore, in the past time, the Ministry of Industry and Trade has actively coordinated and worked with associations and exporters to the United States to actively capture information and respond in case of initiating an investigation. Under United States regulations, the DOC will consider initiating an investigation of the case within 20 days of receiving it. In the event that the DOC decides to initiate an investigation, the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Vietnam will closely coordinate with export associations and enterprises in investigating the case and have timely support and treatment measures to protect the legitimate rights and interests of Vietnamese enterprises.

Vietnaminternational trade lawyers in competition, and anti-dumping practice will need to be involved with the process including data collection and possibly initial drafting of questionnaire responses in cooperation with US anti-dumping and countervailing duty lawyers to defend the case.

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How do I get a patent for a website/app idea?

You can’t patent an idea. Patents are for tangible inventions, so you need to have an invention to be granted a patent. An invention can be a product, a machine, a process or a method for doing something; but, an idea is not an invention. That is not to say that you can’t get a patent, you just can’t get a patent on your whole idea. You need to define what it is you are seeking a patent to protect.

Patent Consultant in Vietnam

So your first step is to determine if you have an invention. If you do have an invention, it still must meet certain requirements to receive patent protection. It needs to be new and not simply an obvious improvement. The “state of the art” will be examined to make sure that the claimed invention is not already in the public domain and that it is more than an obvious improvement on what currently makes up the state of the art. The invention also needs to be useful. The idea behind a patent is that as a society we want to incentivize innovation that provides value to society by granting inventors very strong patent protection. So, in order to get the patent protection, you need to show that your invention has a use to society.

Now, those are the basic requirements, but how do you actually get a patent? Well, you will want to hire a patent attorney to help you with the application process because it can be tricky. You will file an application with the US Patent and Trademark Office. For that application, you will need to persuade the PTO that your invention is worthy of a patent and to do that you will need to gather evidence that will prove that you invention meets all patent requirements.

Generally, patents provide the most protection of all intellectual property rights and therefore are also generally the hardest to acquire. But, an experienced patent attorney will know how to navigate the process and will be able to advise you about your best options.

Source: Quora

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What is a Trademark?

A Trademark generally refers to a “brand” or “logo”.

Trademark registration can also be obtained for a business name, distinctive catch phrases, taglines or captions.

Trademark registration services in Vietnam

Properly used and promoted, a Trademark may become the most valuable asset of a business. Trademarks such as Coca Cola, HP, Canon, Nike and Adidas serve as an indication of origin of the goods as well as an indication of quality.

It is also essential to obtain trademark registration for the business name/trade name under the Trademarks Act. Registration of a company or business name under the Companies Act does not in itself give protection against others who might commence using identical or similar marks.

Use of TM, SM and ® symbols

'TM' stands for Trademark and 'SM' stands for Servicemark. The use of TM and SM symbols notifies the public that the company is claiming exclusive ownership of the trademark and can generally be used by one who has filed a trademark application.

The ® symbol, can be used only once the trademark is registered and the registration certificate is issued. Also, you may use the registration symbol only in connection with the goods and/or services in respect of which the trademark is registered.

Source: Quora

If you're looking for an affordable Trademark attorneys in Vietnam, check out ANT Lawyers.vn was established to meet these needs by providing fast, effective and economical solutions. Hope that clears things up a bit. Feel free to message me directly to chat further about any other IP questions that you face.

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Cooperation between Vietnam and Japan After the Covid Epidemic

On May 15, 2020, the Minister of Planning and Investment met Ambassador Mr. Yamada Takio (Japan) on the occasion of starting his working term in Vietnam. The parties spent time welcoming and sharing a number of problems that need to be resolved to promote investment activities between the two countries in the context of the Covid-19 epidemic, including promoting public investment, promoting investment in the private sector, attracting investors to set up company, factory and implement investment into export processing zones in Vietnam.

Law firm in Vietnam

The Ambassador said there are currently more than a thousand Japanese experts who wish to have work permit, investment visa, temporary residence card to go to Vietnam to restore business production. In addition, Japanese small and medium enterprises are very interested in the Vietnam market.  Japan Government has provided 23.5 billion yen (USD 220 million) to encourage domestic enterprises to transfer production activities to Southeast Asian countries, including Vietnam, which is an opportunity for Vietnam to attract FDI to register investment project in setting up factory in Vietnam.

Following the the investment shift after the US-China Trade war (2019) and the Covid-19 epidemic, many Japanese investors intend to withdraw from China to invest in Vietnam to set up factory, and company and form a new supply chain. Accordingly, Vietnam will have a plan to create a working group to attract Japanese enterprises to invest in the fields and provinces that Vietnam wishes to contribute more to the socio-economic development of Vietnam. In 2019, Japan is the fourth-largest FDI country in Vietnam, the second largest investment partner in Vietnam implementing the project, with a total investment of USD 59.3 billion.

With its advantages and experience, Japanese investors are investing in Vietnam in the fields of professional science, technology, information technology, wholesale, retail, engineering and real estate. These industries are the advantages of Japanese investors when investing in Vietnam, which it not only brings benefits to investors but also helps Vietnam to learn management experience and operation from Japan, helping Vietnam to apply to develop the domestic economy.

The Vietnamese representative emphasized the importance to attract Japanese enterprises to invest smoothly and successfully in Vietnam, including large and small and medium-sized enterprises to contribute more to the socio-economic development of Vietnam. At the same time, the Ministry of Planning and Investment continued to work closely with the Embassy as well as with the Ambassador’s individual to bring closer cooperation between the two countries.

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