Protecting Industrial Designs for Household Goods in Vietnam

In the context of the increasingly fiercely competitive household goods market, besides quality and functional factors, product design is becoming one of the strategic advantages helping enterprises attract consumers and enhance brand value. Especially, the household goods industry is an area frequently copied and counterfeited in design, so Household design registration is important and urgent for every organization and individual doing business in this field. In the article below, Viet An Law Firm will provide clients with information about protecting industrial designs for household goods in Vietnam, ensuring strong appliance design protection.

💡 Please be advised that, effective April 1, 2026, upon the entry into force of the 2025 Amended Intellectual Property Law, the protection of industrial designs shall be extended to non-physical products in Vietnam. This represents a significant advancement in intellectual property protection associated with the digital technology industry, most notably exemplified by the protection of current UI/UX interfaces

Conditions for protecting industrial designs for household goods

Based on Article 63 of the Law on Intellectual Property 2005, an industrial design for household goods is protected when satisfying the following conditions:

• The industrial design must be novel, having significant differences compared to other industrial designs that have been publicly disclosed, described in written documents or in any form domestically or internationally before the filing date or priority date;
• The industrial design must be creative, cannot be easily created by a person with average knowledge in the respective field;
• The industrial design has industrial applicability if it can be used as a model for mass production of products with outer appearance being that industrial design by industrial or handicraft methods.

Conditions for protecting industrial designs for household goods

Who has the right to register an industrial design?

The following organizations and individuals have the right to conduct household design registration:

• Authors who create the industrial design by their own effort and expenses;
• Organizations and individuals who invest funds and material facilities for authors in the form of assigning or hiring;
• In case multiple organizations and individuals jointly create or invest to create the industrial design, all those organizations and individuals have the right to register, and it can only be carried out if agreed upon by all such organizations and individuals;
• Organizations and individuals having the right to register an industrial design have the right to transfer the registration right to other organizations and individuals in the form of a written contract, even in cases where the registration application has been filed.

Protection period for industrial designs of household goods

Based on Article 63 of the Law on Intellectual Property 2005, amended 2022, the protection title for an industrial design of household goods takes effect from the granting date and lasts until the end of five years from the filing date. The title owner can renew it for two consecutive times, each time for five years.

For an international industrial design registration application under the Hague Agreement, it takes effect from the date the National Office of Intellectual Property (NOIP) issues a decision to accept protection or from the day following the end of the six-month period from the date the International Bureau publishes that international industrial design registration, whichever is earlier. The validity period of the international industrial design registration is calculated according to the provisions of the Hague Agreement.

List of industrial design classes for the household goods industry

According to the Locarno Agreement’s International Classification for Industrial Designs, registering industrial designs for the household goods industry is mainly registered for the following classes:

• Class 02 includes: Class 02-07 (Haberdashery);
• Class 03 includes: Class 03-01 (Trunks, suitcases, briefcases);
• Class 04 includes: Class 04-01 (Brushes and brooms for cleaning);
• Class 06 is the furniture class including: Class 06-01 (Seats); Class 06-02 (Beds); Class 06-03 (Tables and similar furniture); Class 06-04 (Cupboards)…
• Class 07 is the household goods class including: Class 07-01 (China, glassware, dishes and other similar articles); Class 07-02 (Cooking appliances); Class 07-03 (Knives, forks and spoons)…
• Class 15 for washing machines, dryers, air conditioners, refrigerators…

Industrial design registration dossier

The industrial design registration dossier for the household goods industry includes the following documents:

• The declaration for industrial design registration according to Form No. 07 in Appendix I issued with Decree 65/2023/ND-CP;
• 04 copies of the industrial design description (Note: The industrial design description must have a section describing the industrial design and the protection scope of the industrial design), specifically:
  • The industrial design description must satisfy all conditions such as: The design features representing the essence of the industrial design and clearly stating the new, different design features compared to the least different known industrial design, consistent with the set of photos or drawings; If the application has multiple variations, the description must fully demonstrate the variations, the differences between the basic variation and the remaining variations; If the registered design is a design of a set of products, the description must fully demonstrate the design of each product in that set.
  • The protection scope of the industrial design must clearly show the design features to be protected (including new features, different from known similar industrial designs).
• 04 sets of photos, drawings of the industrial design fully displaying the design features of the industrial design;
• Documents proving the registration right, if the applicant is the heir or inherits the registration right;
• A copy of the application or the first applications certified by the agency that received the first application if claiming priority right;
• Power of attorney to submit a dossier requesting amendments and supplements for individuals or Power of attorney to submit a dossier for organizations (if submitting through an industrial property representative of Viet An Law Firm);
• Copies of receipts for fees, state fees.

Forms of registration

Before 08/2025, the National Office of Intellectual Property (NOIP) receives industrial design registration applications through 02 forms including: Submitting the paper dossier directly or submitting via postal services to the National Office of Intellectual Property (NOIP) or the representative office of the National Office of Intellectual Property (NOIP) in Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang.

According to Notice No. 2929/TB-SHTT, from August 10, 2025, the National Office of Intellectual Property (NOIP) implements receiving and processing applications submitted online for administrative procedures in the field of industrial property. Therefore, applicants can perform protecting industrial designs for household goods in Vietnam online at the website: https://dichvucong.ipvietnam.gov.vn

How is registering industrial designs for household goods carried out?

• Step 1: The National Office of Intellectual Property (NOIP) gives a receipt of the industrial design registration application for household goods to the applicant, stating the information on the filing date, application number, and the result of checking the application’s document list;
• Step 2: Formality examination of the application
  • If the application is invalid, the National Office of Intellectual Property (NOIP) issues a notice of intention to refuse to accept the valid application;
  • If the application is valid, the National Office of Intellectual Property (NOIP) issues a notice of acceptance of the valid application.
• Step 3: Publication of the industrial design registration application on the Industrial Property Official Gazette;
• Step 4: Substantive examination of the industrial design registration application;
• Step 5: Returning the result of processing the dossier:
  • Sending a notice of intention to refuse to grant a protection title in the following cases: The industrial design does not meet the protection conditions; The applicant does not have the right to register; Not being the application with the earliest priority date or filing date;
  • Decision to grant a protection title and record it in the National Register of Industrial Property if it does not fall into the cases of refusal to grant a title.

How long does registration take?

Based on Clause 15, Article 1 of the Law on Intellectual Property amended 2009, to register industrial designs for household goods and secure Consumer goods IP Vietnam takes a long period of time, specifically:

• The formality examination period is 01 month from the filing date;
• The publication period of the industrial design registration application is 02 months from the date the application is valid, the industrial design registration application can be published at a later time at the request of the applicant at the time of filing but not exceeding 07 months from the filing date;
• The substantive examination period of the application is 07 months from the publication date of the application;
• In case of re-examination of the application, the examination period is equal to two-thirds of the initial examination period, for complex cases, it can be extended but not exceeding the initial examination period.

Industrial Design Registration Timeline

Industrial designs for household goods registered in Vietnam

• Sunhouse Group Joint Stock Company is a leading entity in the household goods and kitchen equipment sector in Vietnam. Sunhouse always focuses on unique product design and styling, often associated with brand identity. To ensure the exclusive exploitation of the product’s outer appearance advantage, Sunhouse has registered industrial designs for the company’s products for proper appliance design protection and many industrial designs have been granted protection titles such as:
• Minh Long I LLC is an enterprise producing high-end ceramic products established in Vietnam in 1970. Minh Long company has been granted industrial design protection titles for many ceramic products showcasing its Consumer goods IP Vietnam such as:

Clients who have the demand for protecting industrial designs for household goods in Vietnam, please contact Viet An Law Firm for the best support!