Procedure of Trademark registration

1. Person with the right to register a trademark

According to Article 87 of the Intellectual Property Law, organizations and individuals that have the right to register trademarks include:

• Register a trademark for the goods they produce or the services they provide.

• Register a trademark for a product which the organizations or individuals puts onto the market but which was manufactured by others and provided that the manufacturer does not use that trademark for a product and does not object to such registration.

• Lawfully established collective organizations shall have the right to register collective trademarks to be used by the members of the collective organization pursuant to the regulations of the collective organization on use of collective trademarks.

• Organizations with the function of controlling and certifying quality, properties, origin or other relevant criteria of goods or services shall have the right to register certification marks, provided that such organizations are not engaged in production or trading of such goods or services.

2. Application for trademark registration

• Trademark registration form or clients can directly download the form from the website of National Office of Intellectual Property at the address noip.gov.vn

• 05 registered trademark samples (size 05cm x 05cm). Note: The trademark sample needs to be clear, not blurred, smudged and printed on A4 paper to be submitted together with the registration form.

• Fees for filing trademark registration applications. Trademark registration fee (minimum VND 1,000,000 – state fee) + VND 360,000 (registration certificate fee).

• Authorization letter for trademark registration (according to the form and applicable in case of authorization for registration).

• Documents proving the priority right, donation or inheritance (if any).

• Other documents (if any) for each application.

The registration application will be prepared in 02 sets. When submitting the application, the National Office of Intellectual Property will collect 1 set and 1 set will be returned to the applicant for monitoring. In case organizations or individuals have difficulties, they can contact our Lawyers for guidance and service provision support (if required).

3. Trademark registration procedures

Trademark registration procedures are carried out through the following stages:

Stage 1: Submission of a trademark registration application 

Application for trademark registration needed to prepare:

• Authorization letter.

• 01 sample of trademark (not less than 3×3 cm, not exceeding 8×8 cm).

• List of products and services intended for trademark registration.

In addition to the above documents, when registering a collective mark, the application for trademarks certification needs to provide the following additional information:

• Regulations on the use of collective trademarks/trademark certification.

• The description of the characteristic (or distinctive) nature and quality of the product bearing the mark (if the registered trademark is a collective trademark used for products with special properties or is a quality certification trademark or a mark of geographical origin).

• Map identifying the territory (if the registered mark is a mark certifying the geographical origin of the product).

Agency receiving and processing trademark registration application in Vietnam: Vietnam Intellectual Property Department.

Stage 2: Formal examination of the trademark registration application

The time limit for formal examination of a trademark registration application is 1 month from applying date.

• The National Office of Intellectual Property will consider the application for eligibility in terms of form, label form, application owner, filing right, subheading, etc.

• If the enterprise's application meets the conditions, the National Office of Intellectual Property will notify the acceptance of the valid application and publish the application.

• If the enterprise's application does not meet the conditions, the National Office of Intellectual Property will issue a Notice not to accept the application and request the enterprise to adjust. Enterprises make adjustments as required and submit adjustments to the National Office of Intellectual Property.

Stage 3: Content Appraisal of the trademark application

Time limit for content appraisal: 09 months from the date of application publication.

The National Office of Intellectual Property considers the conditions for trademark registration, thereby evaluating the possibility of issuance of a trademark certification that the applicant has registered. If the trademark registration application satisfies all conditions, the National Office of Intellectual Property shall issue a Notice of intention to issue a certification for the trademark registered by the enterprise.

If the trademark registration application does not satisfy the conditions, the National Office of Intellectual Property shall issue a Notice of refusal to issue a trademark certification registered by the application owner. The trademark application owner shall review and send a written response to appeal against the decision of the National Office of Intellectual Property, and at the same time provide grounds for issuance of a trademark certification for his or her trademark.

Stage 4: Receive the certificate of trademark registration and hand it over to the enterprises

These are the entire procedure for trademark registration in Vietnam. Individuals and organizations registering trademarks need to understand about the above procedures to ensure the smoothest and most convenient registration process.