The
amended IP Law was passed by the National Assembly on June 19, 2009, with effectiveness
as from January 1, 2010.The main changes
are summarized as follows:
From 21 March
2009 new official rates for industrial property fees will
be applied. According to Circular No. 22/2009/TT-BTC issued by
Vietnam Ministry of Finance the new rates will be increased by
around 20% and fees will be applied to some of the works that have not
been applied before, for example:
- In opposition proceeding against the grant of a
trademark application: VND 300.000 (USD 17.65). For the information, this fee
is not applied before the effective date of this Circular.
- In granting registration certificate: the fees will
be calculated based on the number of classes (to the trademark applications);
number of variants (to industrial design applications), and number of
independent claims (to patent applications).
FYI, registration fees have been calculated per
application (but not on the number of Classes/variants/independent claims)
before the effective date of this Circular
Well-known international
trademarks are automatically recognized in Vietnam and legally protected as
registered brand names even if the owners have yet to apply for protection, a
senior official has said.