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The administration of IP in local authorities in 2019 saw many encouraging results. Propaganda and dissemination of knowledge, policies and laws on industrial property continued to be a highlight activities to raise the awareness of all levels, branches, enterprises and the public. Many localities implemented propaganda and training on IP, including regulations and laws on intellectual property, guidance of trademark registration, exploitation of IP rights in localities etc. The protection of IP rights continues to be focused and strengthened. In 2019, cases of handling infringement of IP rights, especially administrative sanctions, sharply increased in both the number of cases and sanctioned amount. This demonstrated growing awareness and interest of enterprises and IP rights holders to their IP assets, and also showed the effective enforcement of IP rights of competent authorities.
Guidance on the establishment and protection of industrial property rights plays an increasingly important role in supporting local producers and businesses to enhance the competitiveness and value of their IP assets. Supporting projects in the development of IP assets promoted their efficiency, especially the development of local specialities were highly supported, products with export potential paid due attention to investment, and that created strong motivation for the development of the socio-economy. In addition, measures to encourage and promote innovative and creative activities were implemented across the country with many diversified activities. 

 

National Conference on Intellectual Property in 2019 

Some key points of 2019 IP activities in localities are summarised below: 

Organisational structure and human resources for the State management of industrial property  

Compare to 2018, the organisational structure in charge of industrial property at the Departments of Science and Technology in local authorities remained stable. Currently, there are still only two Departments of Science and Technology in Ha Noi and Ho Chi Minh City that have specialised sections in charge of industrial property management (IP Section), while in other provinces, the State management function of industrial property is combined with other sectors (technology, radiation safety etc.) under the common name of specialised management.
In terms of human resources, the number of officials was basically unchanged compared to 2018. Currently there are 163 officials taking the responsibility of the State management of industrial property at Departments of Science and Technology (53 full-time officials and 110 part-time officials). Most of these officials have participated in IP training courses organised or jointly organised by IP Viet Nam. 

Formulation and issuance of guiding documents for the State management of industrial property   

Formulation and issuance of guiding documents for the State management of industrial property was carried out by Departments of Science and Technology. In 2019, there were 46 documents issued by local authorities, mostly related to local support programmes in the development of IP assets (issuance of implementation plans, approval of funds etc.), guidelines on the management of geographical indications, certification marks. Specifically, in guiding Circular No. 03/2019/TT-BTC of the Minister of Finance dated 15th January 2019 stipulating budgeting, items and funding from the State budget to implement initiative activities, many localities issued regulations related to implementing initiative activities and budgeting for initiative activities. These issuances contributed significantly to bringing IP laws to life based on practical needs and the specific economic conditions of each locality. 

Propaganda and dissemination of knowledge, policies and laws on IP  

Propaganda and dissemination of knowledge, policies and laws on IP were concerned and implemented in many different forms such as training, seminars, conferences, livestreams, news and report broadcasting etc. In 2019, 50 seminars, 169 training courses and 166 sessions of propaganda and dissemination of knowledge on IP were organised by localities, increased of 15% in comparison with 2018. In addition to the support of IP Viet Nam (lecturers and materials), local authorities organised events based on their practical needs, including Kien Giang (16 workshops), Ben Tre (32 training courses) and Lang Son (one workshop and 13 training courses). 

Guidance on the establishment and protection of industrial property rights  

Over the past few years, guidance on the establishment and protection of IP rights to organisations and individuals has become one of the key activities of most Departments of Science and Technology. Besides the network of industrial property representative organisations (mostly concentrated in big cities like Ha Noi, Ho Chi Minh City), Departments of Science and Technology have been a reliable address for thousands of organisations and individuals seeking consulation on industrial property with 3,464 turns of trademarks, 144 turns of industrial designs and 120 turns of patents. Outstanding localities in these activities were Ho Chi Minh City and provinces such as Ha Tinh, Don Nai, Quang Ninh and Bac Giang. 

Enforcement and handling of industrial property rights infringement  

The measure to handle infringments of industrial property rights that was most often used and most effective was administrative sanctions. In 2019, 3,293 cases infringing industrial property rights were administratively sanctioned with a total amount of 26,536,667,000 VND (81.8 percent up in the number of cases and 11 percent up in sanctioned amount compared to 2018). In addition, 2,029,032 products infringing industrial property rights were handled by competent authorities. Among these, subject to be infringed mostly were trademarks at 99 percent of the total cases and 91.5 percent of the total sanctioning amount. The provinces that handled the most infringment cases were Ho Chi Minh City, Nam Dinh and Lang Son. 

Supporting activities for the development of IP assets  

Supporting activities in the development of IP assets were implemented effectively in most provinces. A total 43/63 provinces/cities have established local support programmes for the development of IP assets, in which 66 projects were implemented, 153 specific local products were supported for IP protection and management, 59 collective organisations were established to manage community IP assets, 1,197 businesses were supported on IP and 98 sessions of IP propaganda were broadcasted. These programmes were carried out in many forms such as support programmes on building collective marks and certificated marks, a programme on “Establisment and development of trademarks for provincial agricultural products” and local support programmes for the development of IP assets. 

Implementation of measures to promote initiatives, innovative and creative activities  

Promoting initiative activities was strengthened by most localities in many different ways such as formulating and submitting to authorities to issue regulations on management of initiative activities, holding training courses on initiatives, establishing provincial council to review and evaluate initiatives etc. Promoting innovative and creatitive activities was strengthened by most localities. In 2019, 20 provinces/cities held technical innovation contests, 19 provinces/cities held children and youth creativity contests in addition to some other contests such as: Award of Provincial Creative Labour, Communication and Information Technology Innovation Award etc. 

IP VIETNAM