1. Formulation and improvement of national legislation and policies  

Drafting IP legal documents   

In 2024, the Intellectual Property Office of Viet Nam (IP Viet Nam) presided over and coordinated with relevant units to draft a Circular amending and supplementing a number of articles of Circular No. 23/2023/TT-BKHCN of the Minister of Science and Technology dated 30 November 2023 detailing a number of articles of the IP Law and measures for implementing Decree No. 65/2023/ND-CP of the Government dated 23 August 2023 detailing a number of articles and measures for implementing the IP Law on industrial property, protection of IP rights, rights to plant varieties, and state management of IP related to procedures for establishing IPR and ensuring IPR information (hereinafter referred to as Circular 23/2023/TT-BKHCN). The amendment of Circular 23/2023/TT-BKHCN aims to supplement role of public non-business units under the IP Viet Nam in receiving and processing industrial property registration applications and collecting fees; amending and supplementing a number of provisions to meet practical needs and ensure consistency and synchronicity in provisions on opposition to applications, re-examination, publication, and ensuring industrial property information. Currently, the draft Circular is being further revised and finalized to be submitted to the leadership of Ministry of Science and Technology for consideration and approval for promulgation. In addition, the IP Viet Nam reviewed and amended document forms relating to industrial property application process to ensure those forms are complied with new provisions of Decree No. 65/2023/ND-CP and Circular No. 23/2023/TT-BKHCN. 

Another important task that the IP Viet Nam implemented in 2024 was to coordinate with the Legal Department of Ministry of Science and Technology to develop a Plan for codifying the legal normative system for the IP subject (under the Science and Technology theme) and organize the implementation of the codification according to the Plan. The IP subject in the Legal Code will allow users to have an overall view of the IP legal normative system that has been promulgated and applied. Users can quickly find provisions in legal documents and detailed guiding documents related to each issue in each specific application field. On the other hand, based on this, legal document drafting agencies can identify the legal status of all IP legal provisions and promptly propose appropriate amendments and supplements. The Draft codification results have been sent to Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism for confirmation and submitted to the Ministry of Justice for assessment. 

To ensure transparency and efficiency in its operations, in 2024,  the IP Vietnam developed and promulgated some certain crucial Regulations, including Regulations on Examination of Industrial Property Rights Transfer Contract Registration Dossiers and Regulations on Examination of Requests for Re-issuance, Amendment, Extension, and Maintenance of Protection Titles. In addition, the IP Viet Nam is on progress of reviewing and amending the Regulations on Examination of Trademark Registration Applications. 

In addition to above tasks, in 2024, the IP Viet Nam carried out several activities related to the operation, organization and financial mechanisms for the Office and its affiliated units, including the drafting of a Decision amending and supplementing Decision No. 06/2017/QD-TTg of the Prime Minister dated 20 March 2017 on financial mechanisms applied to the IP Viet Nam. This draft was circulated for seeking opinions from organizations and individuals in order to fulfill the dossier for next step implementation as regulated. 

  

Guiding the implementation of the IP law and regulations  

As the focal agency for State management of IP, the IP Viet Nam regularly guides the implementation of IP legal provisions for agencies, organizations, and individuals. In 2024, the Office answered and guided many contents such as the licensing of the use of the national name "Viet Nam" in trademark registration; on the registration of the "Vietnamese Wood" certification mark, protection of the "Khanh Hoa Salanganes' Nest" trademark; on letters of consent in trademark registration; on product labeling associated with geographical indications; guiding and commenting on some regulations on the management of geographical indications to comply with the provisions of Decree No. 65/2023/ND-CP; on recording changes of applicants when the applicant abandons the right to register; on procedures for amending and correcting protection titles, etc. 

  

Formulating and commenting on drafts, reviewing related legal documents  

Parallel to the drafting of legal documents, the IP Vietnam regularly contributes comments to the drafting of legal documents with IP-related content presided over by other agencies. In 2024, the Office provided comments (in writing and/or participated in meetings) for the drafts of 38 legal documents and guiding/operating documents, including: 04 laws, 15 decrees, 10 circulars, 09 programs, and decisions, many of which contain IP content or are directly applied in the field of IP. 

In addition, in 2024, the IP Vietnam also participated in reviewing legal normative documents on/related to IP field, such as reviewing and updating conditional business lines and investment conditions; reviewing and updating market access conditions for foreign investors; reviewing legal normative documents according to Resolution No. 93/NQ-CP of the Government dated 18 June 2024 on key tasks and solutions to promote growth, control inflation, and stabilize macroeconomics; reviewing the legal normative document system affected by organizational restructuring; reviewing and handling the validity of legal normative documents issued by the Government and the Prime Minister, etc. 

  

Controlling of administrative procedures  

In 2024, the IP Viet Nam implemented/actively participated in effectively implementing many tasks, specifically: reporting on administrative procedure control and implementing the one-stop mechanism as well as updating data on the National Public Service Portal periodically quarterly and annually; reviewing the list of administrative procedures under its management that are eligible for full online public services; reviewing administrative procedures under the Office's jurisdiction; developing 52 internal processes for resolving administrative procedures under the IP Viet Nam’s authority; sending officials to attend training sessions and coordinating in implementing Resolution No. 68/NQ-CP dated  12 May 2020 on the promulgation of the Program for simplifying regulations related to business activities in the period 2020 - 2025. 

  

2. International policy and legal framework  

In 2024, IP Viet Nam’s international policies and legal frameworks were carried out in diverse activities and has achieved remarkable results, including: 

  

Negotiating, signing, and ratifying international treaties on/related to IP  

In the recent year, the IP Viet Nam continued to participate in negotiating IP Chapter in the ASEAN – Canada Free Trade Agreement; commented on the draft Proposal to the Government on ratification of the UK's accession instrument to the CPTPP Agreement; coordinated in implementing tasks to submit for approval the Viet Nam – United Arab Emirates Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) (commenting on the draft Proposal to the Government, reviewing the IP content, and translating the Agreement text into Vietnamese); carried out preparations and attended the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Diplomatic Conference on Negotiating and Signing the WIPO Treaty on IP, Genetic Resources and Associated Traditional Knowledge, and attended meetings related to the development of other legal instruments of the Intergovernmental Committee on Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore (IGC). 

  

Ensuring the implementation of international treaties on IP  

In 2024, the IP Viet Nam actively participated in implementing IP contents under the CPTPP, EVFTA, UKVFTA, and RCEP Agreements; provided and updated information to partners on new changes in Viet Nam's IP policies and legislation, exchanged and discussed issues related to the implementation of commitments under the Agreements. The IP Viet Nam also completed all necessary procedures for the Government to adopt Resolution No. 08/NQ-CP dated 10 January 2025 relating to amendments of some declarations of Viet Nam related to the processing of international industrial design applications designating Viet Nam under the Hague Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Industrial Designs. 

In addition, in 2024, the IP Viet Nam also provided information to the World Trade Organization (WTO) Secretariat for the preparation of periodic reports on Viet Nam's trade review; and participated in commenting on and developing cooperation documents between the IP Viet Nam and some international partners, etc. 

  

Legislation and Policy Division