Answer ... A trademark registration remains valid for a term of 10 years as from the filing date and may be renewed indefinitely for further 10-year periods thereafter by filing a renewal application in the six months prior to the expiry date. In practice, a premature renewal request (eg, one year before the due date) will normally be accepted by NOIP without shortening the term of registration.

Answer ... Proof of use of a registered mark is not required as a prerequisite for renewal. However, as noted in question 3.11, a registered mark without use in commerce may be vulnerable to invalidation by a third-party request for invalidation based on five years’ consecutive non-use.

Answer ... A potential claimant may seek invalidation or cancellation of a trademark registration on the grounds of Section 95 (invalidation) or Section 96 (cancellation). If an invalidation claim succeeds, the trademark will be declared invalid from the time an effective decision is issued. If a cancellation claim succeeds, the trademark registration shall be deemed void ab initio.

For claims based on Section 95, a registered mark may be invalidated on the following grounds:

• The renewal fee was not paid in due time;
• The trademark owner has relinquished its industrial property rights pertaining to the registered mark; or
• The trademark owner no longer exists and does not have a lawful heir.

For claims based on Section 96, a registered mark may be cancelled on the following grounds:

• The applicant did not have and was not assigned the right to register such mark; or
• At the time of grant, the registered mark did not satisfy the conditions for protection.

Answer ... In theory, only where no renewal fee is paid may NOIP cancel a registration on its own initiative. However, as there are no specific provisions on this matter, in practice there have been no instances in which a registered mark has been declared invalid by NOIP.

Answer ... Any organisation or individual may request NOIP to invalidate or cancel a trademark registration by submitting a written request along with the legal grounds, relevant evidence and requisite fee. This request shall be initially accepted by NOIP’s Appeal Settlement and Enforcement Division.

Answer ... A trademark owner can appeal NOIP’s decision to cancel a trademark registration before the upper body of NOIP (ie, the Ministry of Science and Technology) within 30 days of issue of NOIP’s decision, or may initiate an administrative lawsuit before a Hanoi-based court within one year of the date of receipt of NOIP’s decision.