Educational Training Services Trademark Registration in Vietnam

 Along with economic development, knowledge development is also an issue state is concerned about.Currently, our country’s educational training is being completed and socialized, in particular, private educational training institutions are increasingly established. Educational training services include: Preschool education; Primary school; Secondary school and High school education, Vocational education; Vocational training; College and university training; Art and cultural education; Sports education and entertainment;… Education and training activities at the current institutions have created their own brands and also they are very well-known. In order to improve the prestige and quality of their operation, training institutions need to create a trademark for themselves and conduct exclusive registration for that trademark.

            For customers to understand the correct knowledge of the procedures and procedures to be able to register a trademark for educational training services in accordance with the law, Viet An Law would like to advise customers on the trademark registration procedures as follows:

            Firstly, intended educational training services are classified in class 41 according to the Nice Classification.

            Trademark registration procedures for educational training services are carried out according to the following steps:

Step 1: Submit trademark registration application

            Individuals and organizations wishing to register trademarks may themselves submit a trademark registration at a competent state agency or they can authorize through a representative of Viet An Law. On the other hand, when submitting the registration application, the customers shall pay the trademark registration fee and take the receipt of the trademark registration fee to submit with the documents.

            Attached to the trademark registration application, customers need to provide all of the following documents:

• A list of educational training services intended to be registered as a trademark;
• A trademark registration declaration;
• A power of attorney for Viet An Law to submit the trademark registration application;
• 01 trademark sample (not smaller than 3 x 3 cm, not bigger than 8 x 8 cm);
• Receipt of payment fee.

Step 2: Receive and process the trademark registration application

            The trademark registration application shall be received by the state agency in charge of industrial property rights if sufficient information and documents are available according to the provisions of Clause 1 Article 108 of the Law on Intellectual Property 2005.

            After receiving the trademark registration application, the state agency shall process the trademark registration application through the following stages:

Stage 1: Examine the form of the trademark registration application

            The trademark registration application shall be formally examined to evaluate the validity of the application, including necessary documents: subgroup; classify the object stated in the application; the right to submit… In case the application is properly signed, the state agency in charge of intellectual property shall issue a notice of acceptance of the valid application or carry out the procedures for granting protection title and recording in the National Register Book of Industrial Property. If a registration application is one of the cases in Clause 2 Article 109 of the Law on Intellectual Property, the state agency in charge of industrial property rights shall issue a notice of refusal, this notice shall clearly state the reason.

            Formal examination period is 01 month from the submitting date.

Stage 2: Publish the trademark registration application

            The trademark registration application which is legally accepted by the state management agency in charge of industrial property shall be published in the Intellectual Property office’s gazette for a period 02 months from the date the application is accepted as a valid application.

Stage 3: Content examination

            The valid trademark registration application will be announced at the same time as the substantive examination. The purpose of substantive examination is to assess the posibility of granting protection titles to the objects stated in the application according to the protection conditions and to determine the corresponding coverage of protection. The time limit for substantive examination is 06 months from the date of publication. During the substantive examination of the application, the state administrative agency of industrial property rights may request the applicant to explain the contents of the application and provide information within the nature of the object stated in the application.

Step 3: Grant and publish the trademark protection

            A trademark registration application is not one of the cases of refusal to grant protection titles specified in Clause 1,2 and Point b Clause 3 Article 117 of the Law on Intellectual Property. When the customer pays the fee, the State administrative body of industrial property rights shall decide to grant the title of protection and record in the National register of industrial property.

            Time to grant the protection title is 01 – 02 months from the date of paying the title fee.

Notices: Before applying for a trademark registration, to be more secure about the intended trademark, customers can choose the search service on Viet An Law include:

• Preliminary trademark search: Viet An Law will conduct a premilinary search for the trademark you provide within 01 – 02 working days from the date of receipt of the intended trademark for registration.
• Search at the Intellectual Property office: Viet An law will through representative to search the trademark at the Intellectual Property office. This search step will determine the highest protection capacity of the intended trademark.

After the consulting results are available, Viet An Law – Vietnam Intellectual property Firm will notify customers and give advices so that customers can complete and submit their application as soon as possible. Viet An Law would like to provide customers with the best trademark registration & Trademark renewal service.