The revised Intellectual Property Law of Vietnam has taken effect from January 1, 2023. It includes provisions on plant varieties – one of the types of intellectual property in Vietnam. In the following article, ASL LAW will discuss notable changes in plant variety regulations in the revised Intellectual Property Law.
Amend and supplement regulations on organizations and individuals whose rights to plant varieties are protected
Amend and supplement Clause 2, Article 157 as follows:
"2. Organizations and individuals specified in Clause 1 of this Article include Vietnamese organizations and individuals; Foreign organizations and foreign individuals who are citizens of countries that are members of the International Association for the Protection of New Plant Varieties or countries that have signed an agreement on plant variety protection with the Socialist Republic of Vietnam plant; Foreign individuals permanently residing in Vietnam or have establishments producing and trading plant varieties in Vietnam; foreign organizations with establishments producing and trading plant varieties in Vietnam; Organizations and individuals who permanently reside or have establishments producing and trading plant varieties in the territory of a member country of the International Association for the Protection of New Plant Varieties."
Amend and supplement regulations on general conditions for protected plant varieties in Vietnam
Amend and supplement Article 158 as follows:
"Article 158. General conditions for protected plant varieties
A protected plant variety is a plant variety that has been selected, bred or discovered and developed, has a newness, distinctiveness, uniformity, stability, and has a suitable name."
Amending and supplementing regulations on names of plant varieties
Amending and supplementing a number of points and clauses of Article 163 as follows:
a) Amend and supplement Clause 1 as follows:
"1. Organizations and individuals registering rights to plant varieties must propose a suitable name for the plant variety to the state management agency on rights to plant varieties. That name must be the same as the name registered for protection in any member country of the International Association for the Protection of New Plant Varieties and the country has signed an agreement with the Socialist Republic of Vietnam on plant variety protection."
b) Amend and supplement point a clause 3 as follows:
"a) Include only numbers, except where the numbers relate to the characteristics or formation of that variety or include the species name of that plant variety;"
c) Amend and supplement point c clause 3 as follows:
"c) Easy to misunderstand about the characteristics and value of that variety;";
d) Add clause 6 after clause 5 as follows:
"6. In case the name of a plant variety registered for protection does not comply with the requirements specified in Clauses 2 and 3 of this Article, the state management agency in charge of rights to plant varieties shall refuse that name and request the registrant. Sign a proposal for another name within thirty days from the date of issuance of the notice. The state management agency for plant variety rights records the official name of the plant variety from the time of granting the plant variety protection certificate."
Amending and supplementing regulations on registration of rights to plant varieties
Amend and supplement Article 164 as follows:
"Article 164. Registration of rights to plant varieties
- To have plant variety rights protected, organizations and individuals must submit an application for protection to the state management agency on plant variety rights.
- Organizations and individuals with the right to register for plant variety protection (hereinafter referred to as registrants) include:
a) Authors directly select, create or discover and develop plant varieties with their own efforts and expenses;
b) Organizations and individuals investing in the selection, creation, discovery, and development of plant varieties in the form of job assignment or hiring, unless otherwise agreed upon by the parties or in the cases specified in Clauses 3 and 3. Clause 4 of this Article;
c) Organizations and individuals may transfer, inherit, or inherit the right to register for plant variety protection.
- For plant varieties that are selected, bred, or discovered, and developed as a result of scientific and technological tasks using the entire state budget, the right to register a plant variety is assigned to the organization in charge of that task automatically and without compensation.
- For plant varieties that are selected, bred, or discovered, and developed as a result of scientific and technological tasks invested by many capital sources, including a part of the state budget, part of the registration rights for plant varieties corresponding to the proportion of the state budget assigned to the host organization automatically and without compensation."
Amend and supplement regulations on representing rights to plant varieties in Vietnam
Amend and supplement Article 165 as follows:
"Article 165. Representation of rights to plant varieties
- Vietnamese organizations and individuals; Foreign organizations and individuals permanently residing in Vietnam or having establishments producing and trading plant varieties in Vietnam shall apply to register plant variety rights directly or through a service organization representing plant variety rights; Other organizations and individuals as prescribed in Article 157 of this Law submit applications through service organizations representing plant variety rights.
- Organizations that meet the following conditions may conduct business with the rights of plant variety representation services in the name of rights representation service organizations:
a) Being an enterprise, cooperative, law-practicing organization, Vietnamese science and technology service organization established and operating in accordance with the law, excluding foreign law-practicing organizations practice in Vietnam;
b) There is at least one individual with a practicing certificate for plant variety rights representation services.
- Plant variety rights representation services include: representing organizations and individuals before state agencies competent to establish and protect plant variety rights; Consulting on procedures for establishing and protecting plant variety rights; and Other services related to procedures for establishing and protecting rights to plant varieties.
- Plant variety rights representatives have the following responsibilities:
a) Notify customers of amounts, fees, and charges related to procedures for establishing and protecting rights to plant varieties;
b) Keep confidential information and documents assigned to you related to the case you represent;
c) Honest and complete information on notices and requests of state agencies competent to establish and protect rights to plant varieties; Timely delivery of plant variety protection certificates and other decisions to the represented party;
d) Timely comply with requests from state agencies competent to establish and protect plant variety rights for the represented party to protect the legitimate rights and interests of the represented party;
d) Notify the state agency competent to establish and protect rights to plant varieties of changes in the name, address, and other information of the represented party; Changed information about the representative's name, address, and representative;
e) Plant variety rights representation service organizations must bear civil liability to the person performing plant variety rights representation activities on behalf of the organization.
- Individuals are allowed to practice plant variety rights representation services if they meet the following conditions:
a) Have a practicing certificate for plant variety rights representation services;
b) Operating in a service organization representing rights to plant varieties.
- An individual will be granted a Certificate to practice plant variety rights representation services if they meet the following conditions:
a) Be a Vietnamese citizen, having full civil act capacity;
b) Permanent residence in Vietnam;
c) Have a bachelor's degree or equivalent degree;
d) Have directly worked on legal work on rights to plant varieties for five years or more or have directly worked on evaluating applications for registration of rights to plant varieties at a national or international agency on rights for plant varieties for five years or more or have graduated from a legal training course on rights to plant varieties recognized by a competent authority;
d) Not a civil servant, public employee, or employee working at a state agency with the authority to establish and protect rights to plant varieties;
e) Has passed the examination on the profession of representing rights to plant varieties organized by a competent agency.
- The Government regulates in detail the legal training program on plant variety rights, professional examination of plant variety rights representation, and issuance of practice certificates for plant variety rights representation services."
Amend and supplement regulations on granting plant variety protection certificates
Amend and supplement Article 183 as follows:
"Article 183. Grant of plant variety protection certificates
In case the protection registration application is not rejected according to the provisions of Article 182 of this Law and the registrant pays the fee, the state management agency in charge of plant variety rights decides to grant a plant variety protection certificate and records it in the national register of protected plant varieties.
The person who registers the rights to a plant variety according to the provisions of Article 164 of this Law and is granted a Plant Variety Protection Certificate by a competent state agency is the owner of the rights to the plant variety."
Amending and supplementing regulations on temporary rights to plant varieties
Amend and supplement Clause 2, Article 189 as follows:
"2. In case the registrant knows that the plant variety registered for protection has been performed by another person as prescribed in Articles 186 and 187 of this Law, from the time the application is announced and accepted as valid, the registrant will Plant variety protection authorities have the right to notify users in writing about having submitted an application for plant variety protection, clearly stating the date of application and the date the plant variety protection registration application is validly accepted for that person to stop using the plant variety or continue to use it."
Amend and supplement regulations on the transfer of rights to plant varieties
Amend and supplement clause 4 and add clause 5 after clause 4 Article 194 as follows:
"4. Rights to plant varieties selected or discovered and developed due to scientific and technological tasks using the state budget can only be transferred to organizations established under Vietnamese law, individuals are Vietnamese citizens and permanent residents in Vietnam. Organizations and individuals receiving the transfer of ownership rights must perform the corresponding obligations of the host organization according to the provisions of this Law.
The Government shall regulate this Article in detail."
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
