Vietnam's IP law is undergoing amendment. Last week, multiple Ministries responsible for IP issues hosted a workshop to consult on the draft law with IP owners, IP firms and IP associations. The draft law amendments will help Vietnam comply with its new treaty requirements under the EU and UK Vietnam FTAs, as well as the two CPTPP and RECP treaties.
Some of the amendments include:
- Copyright – a means to resolve royalty disputes with CMOs, clarity on parallel imports of copyright works and exhaustion of rights of IP owners to prevent subsequent distribution, clarity on exceptions and limitations.
- Trade marks – expanding the definition to include sound marks, various procedural matters. The issue of bad faith was raised in the consultation.
- Patents – national security exception on certain patents proposed to be filed abroad, compensation for regulatory approach delays for pharma patents
- Designs – partial product designs to be allowed; various procedural amendments
- IP Enforcement of IP rights – a major proposal is to restrict administrative action for IP infringement.
The timeline will likely be another year to enactment of the law, with the next step being finalising the draft following the workshop. The UK's Prosperity Fund FSIP program and the British Embassy also supported the workshop.
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