Amend industrial design registration application in Vietnam

Before the National Office of Intellectual Property issues a notice of acceptance or refusal to grant an industrial design protection title, the applicant will comply with the department’s requests or proactively correct the dossier. To ensure the rights and interests of the owner, the subject must clearly understand the modification process and also need to understand the conditions for industrial design protection. In the article below, Viet An Law Firm will provide clients with the necessary information to amend industrial design registration application in Vietnam.

Legal basis

• Law on Intellectual Property 2005, as amended and supplemented in 2009, 2019, 2022;
• Decree 65/2023/ND-CP detailing several articles and measures to enforce intellectual property laws on industrial property, protection of industrial property rights, rights to plant varieties, and state management on intellectual property;

General overview of industrial design in Vietnam

What is an industrial design?

Industrial design is the external appearance of a product, it is a combination of lines, shapes, and colors that create a unique entity. Industrial design is a protected object of intellectual property rights in Vietnam. After an industrial design is registered for protection, the owner will be able to use and exploit that design exclusively in Vietnam for a maximum period of 15 years. Industrial designs have a protection period of 5 years, but the owner can extend it 2 more times for 5 years each time.

Conditions for industrial design protection

According to Article 63 of the Intellectual Property Law, industrial designs are protected when they meet the following conditions:

• Novelty;
• Creative level;
• Potential for industrial applications.

Subject matter is not protected by industrial design

According to Article 64 of the Intellectual Property Law, some of the following subjects are not protected by law for industrial designs, which are:

• The product’s external appearance is required by the product’s technical characteristics;
• External appearance of civil or industrial construction works;
• The shape of the product is not visible during product use.

Amend industrial design registration application in Vietnam

Time of amendments and supplements

The applicant may amend or supplement a previously submitted industrial design application if the National Office of Intellectual Property has not yet issued a decision to refuse to accept the application (for applications currently in the formality examination stage) or has not issued a decision to grant or refuse to grant a protection title (with applications currently in the content examination stage).

Thus, the application can be amended or supplemented by the applicant proactively or at the request of the National Office of Intellectual Property after receiving the industrial design registration application and this application is in the examination stage without a final result on the granting decision, the applicant still has the right to amend and supplement the contents according to the provisions of law.

Scope of amendments and supplements in industrial design registration applications

Intellectual property law, specifically Decree 65/2023/ND-CP stipulates that only several contents can be amended and supplemented in a submitted industrial design registration application, including:

• The documents in the application provided that the amendments and supplements must not expand the scope (volume) of protection already disclosed in the drawings and descriptions of industrial designs shown in the set of photos and must not change the nature of the subject stated in the application;
• Amend the applicant’s name, address, and country code;
• Amend the name, nationality, and address of the author of the industrial design;
• Amend industrial property representation (in case of legal entities).

Note: You can request amendments and supplements with the same content related to multiple applications with the same type of industrial design in one declaration or a document requesting amendments and supplements.

Documents for amendments and supplements to industrial design registration applications

To request amendments or supplements, you must submit the following documents to the National Office of Intellectual Property :

• In case of amending and supplementing the application during the content examination stage: Declaration of amendments and supplements to the industrial property registration application according to Form No. 04 in Appendix II of Decree 65/2023/ND-CP.
• In case of amending or supplementing an application during the application formality examination stage: there is no specific form, but the request for amendment and supplement must be expressed in writing stating the content of the request for amendment and supplement.
• Amended and supplemented documents to be submitted depending on each specific case :
• 04 sets of drawings or 04 sets of photos, a description of the industrial design registration application;
• A detailed explanation of the content of amendments and supplements compared to the original submitted documents.
• In case of modifying information of the applicant and/or industrial design author: Confirming documents (original or certified copy) or legal documents (certified copy) proving the change, the enterprise registration certificate records the change of name and address;
• In case of modification of industrial property representative: for cases of legal entities, a Declaration of change of industrial property representative must be submitted.
• Power of Attorney to submit documents requesting amendments and supplements for individuals or Power of Attorney to submit documents to organizations (if submitted through industrial property representative Viet An Law);
• Copy of fee payment voucher (in case of payment of fees and charges via postal service or direct payment to the account of the National Office of Intellectual Property).

Form of application for amendments and supplements to industrial design registration applications

Applicants may submit their application in person or by mail to one of the following locations:

• National Office of Intellectual Property, address: 386 Nguyen Trai, Thanh Xuan district, Hanoi city;
• Representative office of the National Office of Intellectual Property in Ho Chi Minh City, address: 7th Floor, Ha Phan Building, 17/19 Ton That Tung, Pham Ngu Lao Ward, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City;
• Representative office of the Department of Intellectual Property in Da Nang City, address: 3rd floor, 135 Minh Mang, Khue My ward, Ngu Hanh Son district, Da Nang City.

Note, with the form of submitting an amendment request by post, the applicant needs to complete the fee via the postal service, then photocopy the money transfer receipt, and attach it to the application.

Processing time and fees for amending and supplementing applications

• In case the application has no errors, the National Office of Intellectual Property shall issue a notice recording the amendments and supplements and publish it in the Industrial Property Official Gazette if the application has been validly accepted.
• In case the application has errors or is invalid, the National Office of Intellectual Property will issue a notice of intention to refuse to record amendment and supplement fees, clearly stating the reason for the requester to correct the errors or give opposition. If the requester does not correct the errors or the correction is unsatisfactory, there is no objection or the objection is not valid, the National Office of Intellectual Property shall issue a notice refusing to record the change in the applicant.
• The time limit for resolving procedures is within 1 month from the date of receipt of the application, excluding the time to supplement any deficiencies in the request to amend the application.

State fees and charges

Regarding amendment and supplement fees, specific fees are specified in Circular 263/2016/TT-BTC, clients must complete the following costs:

• Fee for examination of request to amend or amend application: 160,000 VND/01 content requested to be amended;
• Fee for announcing amendments and supplements to applications: 120,000 VND/01 application.

Industrial design registration service of Viet An Industrial Property Representative –

• Consulting on conditions and procedures for registering industrial designs in Vietnam;
• Consulting related to amending and supplementing applications according to client requirements;
• Representing clients to submit applications, monitor applications, amend and supplement industrial design registration applications as authorized;
• Consulting on dispute resolution and international registration of industrial property.

Above is the advice for clients to amend industrial design registration application in Vietnam. If clients have any related questions, please contact Viet An law firm to receive quick and accurate support. most promptly. Best regards!