Vietnamese enterprises will have advantages when registering and protecting industrial designs in nearly 70 countries and foreign enterprises are also protected in Vietnam.
On October 1, Minister of Science and Technology, Mr Chu Ngoc Anh presented the Agreement on Accession to the La-hay Agreement on International Registration of Industrial Designs (Document Geneva 1999) to the Director General of WIPO in Switzerland, Mr Francis Gurry. The Agreement will enter into force for Vietnam three months after the date of submission of the document.
The La-Hay system is set up to make it possible to register for protection of industrial designs in many countries through a single application filed through the International Office of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) by a single currency (Swiss francs), making it easier for the applicant to carry out the procedures related to application for protection, renewal of validity, transfer of title and other procedures related to application. industrial design. The applicant does not need to file separate applications in each country that wants to apply for protection, thereby avoiding complicated procedures, saving time, effort and cost.
Currently, Vietnamese individuals and enterprises wishing to protect overseas industrial designs have only one form of filing a registration application directly to the Intellectual Property Offices of each country. This means that if you want to protect in many countries, you must make many different applications in the language and request of the host country, subject to many costs, especially the attorney fees. Foreign businesses and individuals also face similar difficulties when they want to protect industrial designs in Vietnam.
Statistics of the National Office of Intellectual Property (Ministry of Science and Technology) show that the number of industrial design applications filed by foreign organizations and individuals in recent period increased by over 15% per year, specifically, the number of applications in 2015 increased by 16% compared to 2014; in 2016 increased by 20% compared to 2015; in 2017, an increase of 15% compared to 2016. However, in reality, there are still difficulties in procedures and costs that make the number of applications for industrial design protection of foreigners in Vietnam as well as of Vietnamese people going abroad is only limited.
Therefore “The accession to the La-Hay Agreement shall meet practical demands, creates favorable conditions for domestic and foreign businesses and individuals in registration of industrial designs, ensures the practice of commitments. Vietnam in the EVFTA, CPTPP Agreements as well as in ASEAN “, Minister Chu Ngoc Anh said.