Trademark registration for Motorcycle Helmets in Vietnam

Vietnam is the country with the largest number of motorcycles in the world. The motorcycle is a popular means in our country. The convenience of motorcycles is as much as easy to move, light, and convenient for the driver. However, when riding a motorcycle, there are many dangers, so the traffic law requires that when in traffic, motorcyclists must wear helmets. Not only that, when in traffic to protect themselves, motorcyclists also voluntarily choose and wear a standard safety helmet. When choosing a helmet, consumers are not only interested in the color and style of the helmet, but most importantly, the quality of the helmet and safety. To understand about quality and safety of a helmet, consumers often look at the brand that the helmet carries. Therefore, we can say that the helmet brand is quality because of its reliability, reputation, safety, and peace of mind for users. 

         Therefore, exclusive trademark registration for helmet products is essential for the manufacturers and traders of this product. But to register a trademark for a helmet product, what procedures do we need to do, which agency do we work for and what documents do we need? In this article, Viet An Law would like to advise customers on the process of registering trademarks for motorcycle helmets by the law.

Procedures for motorcycle helmets trademarks registration in Vietnam include:

First, customers need to classify their service products. In a trademark registration dossier, the list of goods and services is one of the mandatory and important documents to determine the scope of trademark protection.

According to the Nice Classification, the motorcycle helmet is classified in class 25: Headwear. 

Customers design a trademark for their helmet product to register. After receiving the trademark sample from customers, Viet An Law will conduct a preliminary search of the trademark (within 1 day). However, to get the most accurate results on the distinction of the trademark, customers must perform a search at the Intellectual Property office (there is a fee), Viet An Law will represent customers for this procedure. After searching and seeing the possibility of a trademark being highly protected, Viet An Law on behalf of customers shall carry out trademark registration procedures at the Intellectual Property office. 

Step 1: Apply:

         Individuals, enterprises requesting trademark registration may themselves apply to the competent state agencies or can authorize the representative of Viet An Law to submit. When applying, customers pay the registration fees and take the receipts of fee payment. These receipts will be submitted attach with the dossier.

         Attach with the trademark registration application, customers need to provide these documents:

• A list of motorcycle helmets intended to register;
• A trademark registration declaration;
• A power of attorney Viet An Law to submit the dossier;
• 01 trademark sample (not smaller than 3 x 3 cm, not bigger than 8 x 8 cm);
• Receipts of fee payments.

Step 2: Receive and settle the trademark registration application

         The trademark registration application shall be received by the state management agencies in charge of industrial property rights if it meets the requirements according to the provisions of Clause 1 Article 108 of the Law on Intellectual Property.

         After receiving, the competent state agencies continue to settle the application through these stages:

Stage 1: Form appraisal

         The form application will be appraised to assess the validity of the application (necessary documents, classification, stated object classification, rights to apply…) It takes about 01 – 02 months to appraise from the date of submitting.

Stage 2: Publish the application

         The application is accepted as a valid application will be published on the gazette within 02 – 03 months from the date the application is accepted.

Stage 3: Content appraisal

         The content application will be appraised. The purpose of this stage is to assess the strongest possibility to grant the protection title and assess the scope of protection. The time to appraise content is 06 months from the date of publishment. During the content appraisal, the state management agencies in charge of industrial property rights shall request the applicant to explain the content, provide information on the stated objects.

Step 3: Grant the protection title and publish 

         The trademark registration applications are not the cases that refuse to grant the protection title according to Clause 1, 2 and Point b Clause 3 Article 117 Law on Intellectual Property and the applicant pays the fee, the state management agencies in charge of industrial property rights shall grant the protection title and publish on National Register of Industrial Property.

         The time to grant the protection title is 01 – 02 months from the date paying the granting fee.

Notices: Before submitting a trademark registration application, to be more secure about the intended trademark, customers can choose the search service of Viet An Law, including:

• A preliminary search: Viet An Law will conduct a preliminary search for customers within 01 days from the date of being provided with a trademark sample.
• Search at the Intellectual Property through the representative of Viet An Law – Independent cost: This search step will determine the highest protection capacity of the intended trademark to register.

For any information related to trademark registration in Vietnam for products and services, please contact Viet An Law for the most specific and detailed advice.