Agricultural Products Trademarks Registration in Vietnam

In Vietnam, agriculture still accounts for a large proportion in the economy, therefore, it has created conditions for the development of the market for agricultural products. The number of manufacturers participating in investment and competing with each other is a lot. Therefore, business entities are increasingly interested in registering trademark for their products. Trademark registration goes through a process lasting 13-18 months with many steps and procedures.

The first and important thing before submitting a trademark application at the Intellectual Property office is the grouping of trademarked goods and services according to the Nice Classification. According to the current law, if the applicants do not classify themselves or incorrectly classify, the Intellectual Property office will classify and the applicants shall pay the classification service fee according to the regulations. Agricultural products are divided into many groups as follow:

• Class 07 includes products such as agricultural implements except manual tools, plowshare…

Notices:

This group does not include hand-operated agricultural implements

• Class 08 includes: hand-operated agricultural implements; Tree pruning implements; axe; stick; garden implements (hand-operated implements); sickle; hoe;…

Documents need to be prepared:

• A registration declaration;
• A trademark sample (with dimensions bigger than 3 x 3 cm and smaller than 8 x 8 cm);
• A list of trademarked goods/services;
• Payment fees;
• A power of attorney to Viet An Law (in case the trademark owner carries out the procedures for submitting through representative of Viet An Law).

Beside, for an application for registration of a collective trademark/certification trademark, customers shall provide these requiring documents as follow:

• Regulations on using collective trademark/certification trademark;
• A description of the characteristic (or specific) nature and quality of the trademarked products (if the trademark is registered as a collective trademark for a particular product or a trademark of product quality certification or a mark of geographic origin);
• A map of the geographical area (if the registered trademark is the trademark certifying the geographical origin of the product, or collective trademark, the certification trademark contains a place name or other signs indicating the geographical origin of the local specialty);
• A document of the People’s Committees of provices/centrally-run cities permitting trademark registration (if the registered trademark is a collective trademark/certification trademark contains a place name or other mark indicating the geographical origin of a local specialty).

Submit and track application results:

          This process include these following steps: form appraisal; publish the application on the gazette; content appraisal; grant and publish the trademark registration certificate. After the publication of the trademark registration application step to before the decision to grant the protection title is issued, the applicant may have to reply in writing to the opinion of the third person (if the Intellectual Property office issues a notice).

          Notices: Before the Intellectual Property office issues a refusal notice to accept a valid application, a notice of refusal to grant a protection title or a decision to grant a protection title, the applicant can take the initiative or depend on request from the Intellectual Property office about amending, supplementing documents. However, amending and supplementing the documents shall not expand the scope (quantity) of protection beyond the contents of the list of goods and services for the trademark registration application. This one also shall not change the nature of the stated object in the application.

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