Trademark registration is a form of recording the enterprise’s ownership of the images of the goods and services. Trademark registration plays a particularly important role for enterprises because when the image of an enterprise or goods is in circulation on the market, it is inevitable that it will be copied or registered by other enterprises. Understand this, but at the early stage of starting a business, many enterprises devote all their resources to focus on business development and usually care about the trademark only when the enterprise is stable, and there will be nothing to guarantee at that time the enterprise’s trademark has not been submitted for protection registration by another party.
Submitting a trademark registration application right from the time the trademark is formed will bring many benefits for the enterprises, such as:
- The time to receive the protection certificate is quite long, however, the priority right to consider the owner status will be from the time of application submission;
- Create a protection mechanism for the trademark, avoid the case that other parties use the same, similar, or confusing trademark with the enterprise’s trademark, which affects the image and prestige of the enterprise;
- Increase the value of the enterprise when conducting capital and share purchase and sale transactions because the trademark is an intangible asset of the enterprise;
- Participating in e-commerce platforms in Vietnam or international e-commerce platforms because enterprises must prove that they have the legal ownership or use of the trademark attached to the goods for sale.
- Avoid damage when a business competitor has registered for your trademark in advance and this case you are forced to stop using the trademark because the party having registered for protection in advance has the right to request competent authorities such as customs, market surveillance, and courts to sanction you.
Procedures of Trademark Registration in Vietnam
| Process | Detailled description |
| Step 1 | Submit Trademark registration dossier at the National Office of Intellectual Property
The application can be submitted online or by post or in person at the National Office of Intellectual Property’s application receiving points. |
| Step 2 | Appraisal of trademark application form
The form appraisal time is about 02 months from the time of application submission. After there is a decision to approve the form, the application will be published on the website of the National Office of Intellectual Property. |
| Step 3 | Appraisal of the content of trademark registration application
Normally, the content appraisal time is 09-12 months. However in fact this time will be longer. |
| Step 4 | Receiving notice of protection certificate issuance
At the end of the content appraisal, the National Office of Intellectual Property will make a notice of intent to issue the certificate, the content of the notice will provide information about the fee or a notice of refusal to issue a trademark protection certificate. |
| Step 5 | Pay fees
In case there is a notice of protection certificate insurance, the enterprise shall pay the fee in full and on time to receive the protection certificate; or have a written response to the National Office of Intellectual Property’s notice of refusal to issue a protection certificate if the enterprise is refused. |
