Decree 186/2026: New Regulations on Administrative Sanctions for Infringements in the Internet Environment

ELITE LAW FIRM

On 26 May 2026, the Government issued Decree No. 186/2026/ND-CP, amending and supplementing a number of articles of Decree No. 99/2013/ND-CP on penalties for administrative violations in the field of industrial property. The Decree officially took effect on 15 July 2026. The amending Decree focuses on two main areas:

1. Restructuring the entire system for allocating penalty-imposing authority to fit the new administrative apparatus following the abolition of the district level and the merger of provinces;
2. Adding new legal tools to handle infringements of industrial property rights in the internet environment.

ELITE highlights the notable new points and their impact on businesses below.

1. A new remedial measure concerning domain names

What’s new: The Decree adds a new remedial measure: blocking access to domain names that infringe industrial property rights (Article 3a, clause 3a). This sits alongside the existing measures of compulsory return and compulsory revocation of domain names. When a competent authority issues a decision applying this measure, telecommunications enterprises must apply technical measures to block access to the infringing domain name within 5 days of receiving the decision, and report the results within 10 days after completion.

In addition, the measure of compulsory change of name, or removal of the infringing element from a name, now also applies to business households.

Impact on businesses: Businesses that own or operate domain names (including international domain names) may have their websites blocked in Vietnam within 5 days of the decision, even if the domain revocation procedure has not been completed. Conversely, businesses that own infringed industrial property rights gain a faster and more effective tool to protect their rights. Business households are now also exposed to the same risk of being forced to change their names as enterprises.

2. Amended penalty-imposing authority

What’s new: Articles 16 and 17 of Decree 99/2013/ND-CP are repealed, and the whole system of penalty-imposing authority is rebuilt from Article 15 to Article 21, reflecting the reorganization of the state administrative apparatus (abolition of the district level, merger of provincial-level administrative units, restructuring of specialized agencies):

1. Provisions on the penalty-imposing authority of titleholders under the Ministry of Science and Technology (Head of a specialized inspection team, Director of the Intellectual Property Office, etc.), with a maximum fine of VND 250 million depending on the title (Article 15a).
2. Amended titles within the Market Management force (now “Market Inspector” and “Department of Domestic Market Management and Development”), Customs (“Regional Customs Sub-Department”), and the Police (adding “Head of Commune-level Police”) (Articles 18, 19, 20).
3. Added penalty-imposing authority for the Director of the provincial Department of Science and Technology, allowing fines of up to VND 200 million (Article 20).

Impact on businesses: Penalty-imposing authority has changed completely in line with the new administrative apparatus. Businesses need to update their knowledge so they know the correct contact point when inspected or sanctioned, and avoid contacting the wrong agency, or filing complaints or enforcing decisions against the wrong party. This matters especially in localities that have just merged.

The new penalty-imposing authority under the Decree is summarized in the table below.

Penalty-imposing authority under Decree 186/2026/ND-CP

3. Amended penalty principles and procedures; handling in the electronic environment

What’s new: Article 30 sets out the principles clearly: each violation is penalized only once; where multiple organizations or individuals commit a violation together, each is penalized; and where one party commits multiple violations, each violation is penalized separately.

Notably, the Decree adds a provision allowing administrative violations of industrial property to be handled in the electronic environment, referring to the infrastructure, technical, and information conditions under Article 18a of the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations.

Impact on businesses: This signals that regulators will monitor and penalize industrial property violations on e-commerce platforms, social networks, and online marketplaces more strictly. Businesses operating online should review their use of trademarks and industrial designs on their digital platforms.

4. Detailed procedures and deadlines for implementing remedial measures

What’s new: Article 31 sets out specific procedures and deadlines:

1. Changing the name of an enterprise or business household: 60 days from the date the decision takes effect. Failure to comply results in enforcement through the business registration authority.
2. Returning a domain name: 30 days. After the deadline, compulsory revocation is enforced, with coordination from the Ministry of Science and Technology (Vietnam Internet Network Information Center) and the new generic top-level domain registry (New gTLD Registry) in Vietnam, a newly added party.
3. Blocking access to a domain name: telecommunications enterprises must implement it within 5 days, and restore access within 3 days if a restoration decision is issued.

Impact on businesses: The specific deadlines require infringing businesses to act quickly (60 days to change names, 30 days to return domain names). Delay leads to enforcement with no additional grace period. Telecommunications enterprises (network operators, ISPs) take on new technical and reporting obligations when implementing orders to block or restore access to domain names at the request of competent authorities.

5. Other amendments to administrative procedures

What’s new: Clause 3, Article 23 on powers of attorney is amended to allow submission of a copy if the original was already submitted in an earlier file with the same agency (the applicant need only identify the earlier file number).

Impact on businesses: The relaxed power-of-attorney rule reduces administrative procedures for businesses and industrial property right holders who file multiple requests for handling infringement with the same agency. They no longer need to repeat notarization or legalization of the power of attorney with each filing.

6. Conclusion

Overall, businesses should pay particular attention if they operate online, or own domain names or company names that may be confusingly similar to registered trademarks. The Decree gives the authorities faster and stronger handling tools, with short enforcement deadlines. Businesses, business households, industrial property right holders, and relevant state management agencies should proactively update and prepare to apply the regulations correctly from 15 July 2026.