Patent

ELITE: According to Vietnam Intellectual Property Law amended in 2022 (Article 96), invention, utility solution patent may be canceled by the NoIP in the following:

1. A patent protection tile shall be entirely canceled in the following cases:
   1. The registration application is filed contrary to the provisions on security control for inventions;
   2. The invention registration application which is directly created based on genetic resources or traditional knowledge about genetic resources but does not disclose or incorrectly disclose the origin of genetic resources or traditional knowledge about the genetic resources contained in that application.
2. A patent protection tile shall be partly or entirely cancellated if entirely or partly of that protection tile fails to satisfy the provision on register rights, protection conditions, amended, supplemented tile, invention disclosed, first–to–filed principle, in the following cases:
   1. The registration applicant has neither had nor been assigned the right to register the invention by the person having the right to register.
   2. An invention failed to satisfy the protection conditions;
   3. Amendment or supplementation of an application for registration of industrial property expand the scope of the subject disclosed or stated in the registration application, change the nature of the subject for registration stated in the application;
   4. The invention has not been published sufficiently and clearly for a person with average knowledge of the relevant technical field to do;
   5. The patented invention extends beyond the scope of disclosure in the original description of the registration application;
   6. The invention does not satisfy the first filing principle of the IP Law.

According to Vietnamese regulations, if a patent/utility solution is partly cancellated or entirely cancellated in those cases mentioned above, entirely or partly of the Patent/Utility solution patent will be invalidated from the grant date of the protection tile.

ELITE: Required documents of an appeal against a Decision on refusal of granting a Patent 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;
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 (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 invention 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: The purpose of filing an appeal against the Decision on the refusal of granting a Patent for an invention application is to protect the Invention Applicant’s legitimate rights and interests by the law, specifically, requesting the NOIP to reconsider and withdraw the previous refusal Decision and issue a fresh Decision to grant a Patent for the Appellant.

ELITE: An appeal against a Decision on the refusal of granting a Patent for an invention registration means that the Invention Applicant having such a refusal Decision issued by the National Office of Intellectual Property of Vietnam (NOIP) requests the NOIP to reconsider and withdraw such refusal decision if there are sufficient legal grounds to prove that this Decision is contrary to law provisions, directly infringing upon the Invention Applicant’s legitimate rights and interests.