Food Trademarks Registration in Vietnam

 Food plays an important role in life, it provides energy for people to work, study, plays every day. Besides, the safe and hygienic food issue is always concerned by consumers, especially currently more and more food is counterfeited, unsafe… Therefore, this problem negatively affects people. To ensure certain benefits for not only the business but also for each person, food producers and traders should register trademarks for their products.

Customers can register trademark themselves or can choose to use Viet An Law’s services including:

• Advice on intellectual property in general and trademark in particular;
• Search for trademark and consult, evaluate the strongest possibility of registration: Viet An Law conducts a preliminary search for trademark within 01 days. If the possibility is available, customers should use an in-depth search to have a general assessment of the registration for protection.
• Consult amendment plan to increase the possibility of successful registration;
• Draft the dossier and submit it at the Intellectual Property office;
• Monitor the registration process at the Intellectual Property office;
• Represent for customers in the whole process and discuss with the Intellectual Property office about trademark registration;
• Discuss, provide information to customers.

If customers submit the dossier themselves, customers need to prepare the following documents:

• A trademark registration declaration;
• A trademark sample with dimensions bigger than 3 x 3 cm and smaller than 8 x 8 cm;
• A list of goods/services;
• Receipts of fee payments;

(In case customers authorize Viet An Law to submit, a power of attorney is requested);

Notices: Goods, services need to classify according to the Nice Classification. Food products are under class 29. However, this class does not include infant food (class 05); dietary food for medical treatment (class 05); live animals (class 31).

The application is submitted at the Intellectual Property office. After receiving, it takes 13 – 18 months to consider and complete granting the protection title procedures. During this stage, the applicant can amend, supplement the application and answer the third party’s opinion (if there is).

Enterprises should carry out the registration as soon as possible, especially before using to ensure that competitors can not intrude. Soon registration also helps to increase the possibility of registration.

 After being granted the protection title, the trademark will have been protected for 10 years. At the end of 10 years, the protection title can be renewed but procedures must be followed and the fees must be paid.

Notices: It is important to distinguish the date of submitting and the date of issue to renew in time. The submitting date is the date on which the application is received by the competent state agency in charge of industrial property. It is also known as the date of international submission according to a treaty.

For any information relating to trademark registration in Vietnam, please contact Viet An Law to have the best and detailed advice.