Design

ELITE: The VNIPO shall examine the request for validity renewal within 01 months from the date of receipt of the request.

If the request is considered valid, the VNIPO shall issue a decision on renewal of the protection title, register it, and publish it in the Industrial Property Official Gazette. If the application is considered invalid, the VNIPO shall notify the applicant of its intended refusal. If within a set time limit the requester fails to correct errors or unsatisfactorily corrects errors, makes no opposition or an unreasonable opposition, the VNIPO shall issue a decision on its rejection of the request for protection title renewal. Return the protection title to the owner.

ELITE: The required documents for an industrial design renewal application:

• Design patent validity renewal application (according to form No. 07 Appendix II Decree 65/2023/ND-CP);
• Original protection title (if the extension is requested to be recorded in the protection title);
• Power of attorney (if filed through an IP Agent);
• Receipt of application fee payment;
• Other documents (if necessary).

ELITE: Industrial design patents shall have a validity starting from the grant date and expiring at the end of 5 years after the filing date and may be renewed for two consecutive terms, each of 5 years. Requests for renewal of one or several industrial design variations stated in the industrial design patent must include a basic variation.

To have the validity of his/ her industrial design protection title renewed, a protection title holder shall file a request for renewal of protection titles’ validity and pay a validity renewal fee within six months before the expiration of the validity term. The payment of the validity renewal fee may be delayed for no more than six months after the expiration of the current validity term but the protection title holder shall pay the delayed renewal fee for each month of delayed payment.

ELITE: Divisional applications are subject to formal examination and shall be further processed according to the procedures not yet completed for their parent applications.

ELITE: The dossier for a request for industrial design application division includes:

• 02 Declaration for registration which is typed according to form No. 07 Appendix I of Decree 65/2023/ND-CP, in the declaration forms of a divisional application, the serial numbers of parent applications (original application) and date of filing of the parent application must be specified;
• 01 descriptions of the industrial design;
• Documents request in writing, proposal for divided industrial design application;
• Power of attorney (in case the request is filed through a representative);
• For each divisional application, the applicant shall pay all fees for procedures:
  • In case the parent application has had the result of substantive examination of applications:
    • Official charges for filing application: VND 150,000/ 01 application;
    • Fee for publication of application: VND 120,000/ 01 application;
    • The fee for publication application from the 2nd image onwards is VND 60,000/ 01 image;
    • Parent applications (after being divided) shall be further processed according to normal procedures and applicants shall pay an amendment fee (VND 160,000).
  • In case the parent application has not yet had the result of substantive examination of applications:
    • If the variants stated in the parent application are divided into divisional applications, the divisional application must bear the fees/ charges:
      • Official charges for filing application: VND 150,000/ 01 application;
      • Fee for publication of application: VND 120,000/ 01 application;
    • If the variants are not stated in the parent application, the applicant shall pay all fees for procedures carried out independently from the parent application for each divisional application.

ELITE: Before the VNIPO issues decisions on the rejection of an application, decisions on refusal to grant a protection title, or decisions on the grant of a protection title, an applicant may divide, on his/her initiative or upon the request of the VNIPO, his/her application. A divisional application must bear a new serial number and is entitled to the filing date or date(s) of priority (if any).

ELITE: The time limit for processing a dossier for registration of an industrial design application transfer request is 02 months.

ELITE: A request for application transfer includes:

• 02 declarations requesting application transfer (according to form No. 05 Appendix II Decree 65/2023/ND-CP);
• Documents proving that the transferee satisfies the requirement on the right of registration (must include the following principal contents: full names and addresses of the assignor and the assignee; the “serial number of the application assigned” or information sufficient to identify the application);
• Power of attorney (in case the request is filed through a representative);
  (iv) Fee for application transfer request.

ELITE: Before the VNIPO issues decisions on rejection of an application, decisions on refusal to grant a protection title, or decisions on the grant of a protection title, an applicant may request the VNIPO to record the transfer of his/ her application to another person. 

ELITE: The time limit for processing a dossier for registration of an industrial design application amendments request is 02 months.

ELITE: A request for application amendments includes:’

• 02 declarations requesting application amendments which are typed according to form No. 04 Appendix II Decree 65/2023/ND-CP;

• Documents certifying the change of the application [In response to a request for amendment or supplementation of the industrial design registration applications, the applicant shall submit amended or supplemented copies of documents enclosed with a detailed written explanation of the amended contents as compared with the initial submitted documents, specifically: 04 sets of drawings or photos and a description. The amendment of an application must not expand the protection coverage (or increase the protection volume) beyond the contents disclosed in the application];

• Power of attorney (in case the request is filed through a representative);

• • In case the application is amended in terms of content (additional objects/ variants), the applicant needs to pay an application examination fee for additional objects/ variants (700,000 VND / 01 object/ variant), a fee for the patent search for the examination process of additional objects/ variants (VND 480,000/ 01 object/variant), image-publishing fee for additional objects/variants (VND 60,000 / 01 image).
  • An application amendment request is filed after the VNIPO issues a Notification of the intended grant of certificates and pays fees, and charges in case the amendment of information related to the nature of the object stated in the application (specifically, the set of photos/ drawings and the description), the application must be re-examination and the fee for substantive re-examination is calculated based on the number of objects (VND 700,000/ 01 objects).

ELITE: Before the VNIPO issues decisions on rejection of an application, decisions on refusal to grant a protection title, or decisions on the grant of a protection title, the applicant may amend the application on his/her initiative or upon the request of the VNIPO.

ELITE: From the date on which the registration application is received by the VNIPO, the registration application of an industrial design shall be examined in the following order:

• Formality examination: within 01 month from the filing date;
• Publication of applications: within 02 months after it is accepted as a valid application;
• Substantive examination: within 07 months from the date of application publication.

ELITE:

• Each application can request the grant of one protection title which is of a type suitable to the geographical indication stated in the application;
• All documents of the application must be in Vietnamese. For documents that are allowed to be made in another language according to the provisions of Article 100.2 of Vietnam IP Law, they must be translated into Vietnamese;
• All documents of the application must be presented in the portrait format (particularly, drawings, figures, charts, and tables may be presented landscape) on A4 paper sheets (210 mm x 297 mm), of which the top, bottom, left and right margins are all 20 mm, in Times New Roman font, text is not smaller than size 13, except for accompanied documents originally not intended to be included in the application;
• For documents that must be made according to pre-designed forms, those forms shall be used with all necessary information filled in appropriate sections;
• A document consisting of many pages must have page numbers in Arabic;
• All documents must be typewritten or printed with a non-fading ink, clear and clean, and free from erasures and modifications; if detecting any negligible spelling error in a document submitted to the Intellectual Property Office of Viet Nam (VNIPO), the applicant may correct such error but shall append his/her signature of certification (and a seal, if any) at the corrected words;
• Terms used in the application must be common ones (other than dialects, rare words, and coined words). Symbols, units of measurement, electronic fonts, and spelling rules used in the application must conform to Vietnam standards;
• The application may be accompanied by carriers of electronic data of part or the entire content of its documents.

ELITE: The required documents for the industrial design registration application include:

• 02 Declaration for registration which are typed according to form No.07 Appendix I of Decree 65/2023/ND-CP;
• 01 industrial design description; [a description of the industrial design description must satisfy the general requirements specified in Appendix I of Decree No. 65/2023/ND-CP, and must contain the following contents:
  • Name of the industrial design;
  • The field in which the industrial design is used;
  • The most similar industrial design;
  • List of photos or drawings;
  • Detailed description of the industrial design;
  • Coverage of protection (or claim for protection) of the industrial design].
  • 04 sets of photos/ drawings of an industrial design.
  • Fee and charge receipts.

In certain cases, you may have to submit additional documents as follows:

•  Power of attorney (in case the request is filed through a representative);
• Paper on the assignment of the right to file an application (if any);
• Documents certifying the lawful right of registration (in case the applicant enjoys the right to file from another person);
• Documents evidencing the right of priority (if the patent application has a claim for priority right).

ELITE: According to Article 64, Article 8 of Vietnam IP Law in 2005 (Amended and supplemented in 2009, 2019, 2022), the subject matters shall not be protected as industrial designs, including:

• Appearance of a product, which is dictated by the technical features of the product;

• Appearance of a civil or an industrial construction work;

• Shape of a product, which is invisible during the use of the product;

• Intellectual property objects that are contrary to social ethics and public order and prejudicial to defense and security.

ELITE: According to Article 63, Article 65.1, Article 66, and Article 67 of Vietnam IP Law in 2005 (Amended and supplemented in 2009, 2019, 2022), the general conditions for industrial design protection are:

• Being novel: An industrial design shall be considered novel if it significantly differs from other industrial designs that are already publicly disclosed through use or using written descriptions or in any other form, inside or outside the country, before the filing date or the priority date, as applicable, of the industrial design registration application.
• Being inventive: An industrial design shall be considered to be inventive if, based on industrial designs already publicly disclosed through use or using written descriptions or in any other form, inside or outside the country, before the filing date or the priority date, as applicable, of the industrial design registration application, it cannot be easily created by a person with average knowledge in the art.
• Being susceptible to industrial application: An industrial design shall be considered susceptible to industrial application if it can be used as a model for mass-producing products with an appearance embodying such industrial design by industrial or handicraft methods.

If many applications are filed for registration of industrial designs identical with or insignificantly different from one another, the protection title may only be granted to the valid application with the earliest priority or filing date among applications satisfying all the conditions for the grant of a protection title.

In case many applications are filed for registration of industrial designs identical with or insignificantly different from one another, and satisfying all the conditions for the grant of a protection title and having the same earliest priority or filing date, the protection title may only be granted for the object of a single application out of these applications under an agreement of all applicants. Without such agreement, all relevant objects of these applications will be refused for the grant of a protection title.  

ELITE: According to Article 4.13 of Vietnam IP Law in 2005 (Amended and supplemented in 2009, 2019, 2022), the definition of industrial design stipulates: 

Industrial design means a specific appearance of a product embodied by three-dimensional configurations, lines, colors, or a combination of these elements and seen in the process of exploiting the uses of a product or complex product.

Along with that, article 21 of Circular 23/2023/TT-BKHCN/2023/TT-BKHCN stipulates: 

• Products are understood to mean articles, tools, equipment, or parts used for assembling such products, manufactured by industrial or handicraft methods, with a structure and clear function, be circulated independently, and can be removed from complex products; 
• A complex product is a product made up of many replaceable parts that can be removed and reassembled. Products and parts for assembly and composition of complex products below are collectively referred to as products unless specifically stated.

ELITE:

02 application for registration of industrial design, (form);

01 Description of the industrial design (including all prescribed contents);

04 sets of photos/drawings of industrial design, each set includes 07 photos (taken/drawn according to regulations);

Proof of payment of application fees (the normal filing fee for 1 design option with 07 images is VND 1,735,000;

Power of Attorney (form) - if the industrial property registration application is filed through an industrial property agency such as ELITE LAW FIRM

Documents evidencing the priority right (if the industrial design application contains a claim for enjoying the priority right).

Note: To ensure complete information storage, customers should prepare 02 dossiers of application for industrial design patents, 01 set to be submitted to NOIP, and 01 set for customers to keep.

ELITE: The procedure for registration of industrial design protection at the National Office of Intellectual Property of Vietnam (NOIP) according to regulations needs to go through several steps, including filing an application, formal examination of the application, publication of the application, substantive examination of the application, making a decision on grant a protection title, paying the licensing fee and the NOIP granting an industrial design patent for a registration application that meets the protection requirements. Accordingly, the total time to carry out the procedures for industrial design registration according to the provisions of the current Vietnam Intellectual Property Law is 11 months.

ELITE: According to Vietnamese regulations, an industrial design patent can only be established based on the decision to grant a protection title of the National Office of Intellectual Property of Vietnam, address: 384-386, Nguyen Trai Str., Thanh Xuan., Hanoi, Vietnam.

ELITE: According to regulations (Art. 28 and Art. 37 of the Law on Appeal in 2011), the time limit for resolving the first-time Appeal against the Decision on refusal to grant a Patent for an industrial design application at NOIP must not exceed 30 days from the acceptance date of the Appeal; for complicated cases, the time limit for resolving/settlement may be prolonged but must not exceed 45 days from the acceptance date. The time limit for resolving a second-time Appeal must not exceed 45 days from the acceptance date of the Appeal; for complicated cases, the time limit for resolving may be prolonged, but must not exceed 60 days from the acceptance date.

ELITE: Required documents of an appeal against a Decision on the refusal of granting a Patent for an industrial design application are as follows:

1. An Appeal Application (under the Form);
2. An official letter explaining legal reasons/grounds for the Appeal enclosed with the Appeal Application and evidence or supporting documents (if any);
3. A copy of the NOIP's Decision on refusal of granting a Patent for an Industrial Design Application.;
4. An original Power of Attorney signed by the Appellant (in case the Appeal is filed through an IP Representative/Agent);
5. A copy of the fee payment for the Appeal.

ELITE: According to regulations (Article 9 of Law on Complaints 2011), the statute of limitations for filing a first-time Appeal is 90 (ninety) days from the date that the Appellant receives a Decision on refusal of granting a Patent for an Industrial Design Application from the VNIPO.

ELITE: The purpose of filing an appeal against the Decision on refusal of granting a Patent for an industrial design application is to protect the Applicant’s legitimate rights and interests under the laws and regulations, namely requesting the NOIP to reconsider and withdraw the previous refusal Decision and issue a fresh Decision to grant a Patent for an Industrial Design of the Appellant.

ELITE LAW FIRM (ELITE): An appeal against a Decision on refusal of granting a Patent for an industrial design application means that a design applicant having such a refusal Decision issued by the National Office of Intellectual Property of Vietnam (NOIP) requests the NOIP to reconsiders and withdraws such refusal Decision if there are sufficient legal grounds to prove that the said Decision is contrary to law provisions, directly infringing upon the applicant’s legitimate rights and interests.