The Intellectual Property Office of Vietnam (IPVN) has issued Notice No. 1029/TB-SHTT dated 14 March 2023 regarding additional handling of certain Intellectual Property (IP) applications and requests such as requests for patent invalidation (IP cases).
As previously reported (please see: https://investip.vn/en/vietnam-delays-in-handling-ip-cases-due-to-amended-ip-law/), the Law on Intellectual Property (IP Law) was amended and came into effect on 1 January 2023. Following amendments to a law in Vietnam, relevant decrees issued by the Government and relevant circulars issued by relevant Ministries are typically amended or replaced to provide sufficient provisions for the amendments to be effectively applied.
In the case of the amended IP law, Decree No. 103/ND-CP and Circular No. 01/2007/TT-BKHCN had not yet been amended/replaced, resulting in a lack of sufficient provisions for applying the amendments to some extent, and the IPVN issued Notice No. 333/TB-SHTT dated 3 February 2023 regarding some delays in handling IP cases, listing certain types of IP cases to be suspended; for example, for all IP cases filed since 1 January 2023, the effective date of the amended IP Law, the IPVN would not issue communications such as office actions (until the Decree and Circular are amended/replaced).
However, after almost three months from the effective date of the amended IP law, the Decree and Circular have not yet been amended/replaced, the IPVN issued said Notice No. 1029/TB-SHTT to reduce the delays. Overall, according to the new Notice, IP cases will be handled as long as the amended IP law, current Decree and Circular contain provisions applicable to handle those IP cases (among the cases suspended under the old Notice). In said example, all IP cases filed since 1 January 2023 will not be handled under the old Notice, but a number of them will be handled under the new Notice. The other cases would still be suspended, pending the new Decree and Circular. Accordingly, the scope of IP cases to be suspended has been reduced.
This is great news for applicants. Hopefully, the amendment/replacement of the Decree and Circular will be completed soon so that everything will be in order.
By Nguyen Duc Thang and Dinh Thi Thuy Trang
Patent Department