Governed by Articles 87 and 89, an application can be made by any of the following people:
- Individuals
- Organizations
- Foreign nationals residing permanently
- Foreign organizations having a production or trading establishment
- Non-resident foreign nationals or organizations not having a production or trading establishment shall apply through a lawful representative.
Governed by Article 105, documents, samples, information identifying the mark claimed for protection in a mark registration application shall include:
- Samples of the mark and list of goods or services bearing the mark;
- Rules on using collective marks or Rules on using certification marks.
- Description of sample in order to clarify its elements and meaning.
The application shall be examined within 1 month from the filing date (Article 119).
Formal Examination:
Governed by Article 109, to verify the formal validity of the application, an examination process shall be conducted.
Application is invalid in the following circumstances:
- The applicant does not fulfill the requirements of formality;
- The subject matter of the application is not eligible for protection;
- The applicant does not have the right to registration;
- The application was filed in contrary to the mode of filing;
- The applicant fails to pay the fees and charges.
The application for registration may be accepted with or without amendments until the notice of refusal by the State administrative authority. The applicant shall have the following rights.
- To make amendments or supplements to the application;
- To divide the application;
- To request for recording changes in name or address of the applicant;
- To request for recording changes in the applicant as a result of assignment under the contract, as a result of inheritance, bequest, or under a decision of an authority.
- Any amendment or supplement to an industrial property registration application must not expand the scope of the subject matter disclosed or specified in the application and must not change the substance of the subject matter claimed for registration in the application and shall ensure the unity of the application.
- Fee for amending applications, including for request of supplement, separation, assignment, change (per each amendment/ application): 120 thousand VND.
Governed by Article 117, refusal to register an application may be on the following grounds:
- The subject matter claimed in the application does not fulfill the protection requirements;
- The application satisfies all the conditions for the issue of a protection title but is not the application with the earliest filing date or priority date as in the case referred to in Article 90.1 of this Law.
- The application falls within the cases referred to in Article 90.1 of this Law but a consensus of all the applicants is not reached.
- The State administrative authority shall serve a notice of an intended refusal to grant a Protection Title, in which the reasons are clearly stated with a set time limit for the applicant to oppose to such intended refusal.
- The State administrative authority shall serve a notice of the refusal to grant a Protection Title if the applicant has no objection or has unjustifiable objection to such intended refusal.