In compliance with the Vietnam Government’s policy on digital transformation and administrative procedure reform, the Intellectual Property Office of Vietnam (IPVN) has issued Notice No. 438/TB-SHTT, dated 18 February 2025, announcing the delivery of its communications – such as office actions and notices of allowance – via e-mail.
These communications apply to documents issued from 1 January 2025 onward, and no paper confirmation copies will be provided. Such a document will be sent to the e-mail address previously provided by the applicant. If an e-mail transmission fails, the IPVN will send the documents in paper format instead. Similarly, if an applicant has not provided an e-mail address, the IPVN will continue to send paper documents as before.
Each e-mail will include the application number, the document number and date, as well as a link and code to access and download the document.
The Notice also confirms that these electronic documents will replace paper copies and hold the same legal value.
Our Comments
While the shift to electronic communications represents a significant effort by the IPVN to enhance the processing of IP cases and align with the global trend toward a paperless system, some issues remain:
– One of the key benefits for applicants is the possibility to receive IPVN communications more quickly, thereby gaining additional time to respond. However, in practice, there remains a delay between the document’s issuance date (which is used to calculate deadlines) and the actual date the applicant receives it. This delay diminishes the intended benefit. Hopefully, the IPVN will address this issue soon.
– Applicants should promptly notify the IPVN of any changes to their email addresses.
– Similarly, applicants should regularly check their spam folders, as IPVN e-mails may be mistakenly filtered there.
By Nguyen Tran Tien
Patent Department
