The Intellectual Property Office of Vietnam (IPVN) just issued Notice No. 8181/TB-SHTT dated 9 September 2021, regarding extensions of deadlines in procedures for the acquisition of IP rights. Accordingly, deadlines like ones for priority claims, submissions of documents, filings of responses, annuity and renewal payments, fee payments, filings of appeals falling between 30 June 2021 and 31 October 2021 will automatically be extended until 30 November 2021.
The above list of deadlines is not a closed one. Although a similar notice was recently issued and applied (please see: https://investip.vn/vietnam-intellectual-property-ip-deadline-extensions-due-to-the-covid-19-epidemic/), the IPVN could not affirmatively confirm some cases; for example, whether or not such a deadline for filing a request for examination on a patent application will be extended to the date of 30 November. Therefore, it is advisable to proceed with clear cases and contact the IPVN before proceeding with the rest.
Clear cases: We can certainly enjoy the extensions for:
i. Submissions of power of attorney and priority document,
ii. Filings of response to an office action and appeal against a decision, and
iii. Payments of annuity, renewal, and granting fees.
Unclear cases: For other cases, as desired, it is advisable to contact the IPVN regarding those particular cases.
Normal extensions: For example, with an office action having the deadline of 25 November 2021 (two months from the date of the office action), then under the regulations, it is possible to file a request for a two-month extension to 25 January 2022. While the deadline is automatically extended to 30 November as mentioned above, and a request for extension is filed on 26 November for instance, the new deadline will be 30 January 2022. Accordingly, the two-month extended period will be counted from the automatically extended date of 30 November, not from the normal deadline of 25 November in this case.
No matter how strong the pandemic is, we still work from home to handle the work as usual with a specialized system supported online by our IT team and focus on supporting clients during this difficult time.
Do Tuyet Nhung, Deputy Director of Patent Department
INVESTIP IP LAW FIRM
