Furniture Products Trademarks Registration in Vietnam

Furniture is a business field that brings high and stable profits for investors. In Vietnam. especially Hanoi city, there are more and more shops and production establishments. In addition to furniture products with well-known brands, many furniture products do not have their brands, have not been known by consumers, so the business performance is still low. From here, we know that trademark registration for furniture products is an essential procedure for business owners to conduct long-term business activities and develop in the market.

Therefore, what is the procedure for owners of furniture manufacturers and traders who want to register a trademark for their certain products? And how long does it take? Viet An Law would like to provide information relating to trademark registration procedures.

         First, customers need to classify goods/services intended to register. In a trademark registration dossier, the list of goods/services is important and mandatory, it helps to determine the scope of corresponding protection.

         According to the Nice Classification, furniture products are underclass 20: Furniture (tables, chairs, beds, wardrobes, shelves,…) mirrors, picture frames; Products (not elsewhere classified) of wood, reed, sedge, willow, horn,…

         Customers design a trademark sample to register. After receiving, Viet An Law will conduct a preliminary search within 01 – 03 days. However, to have the best result, customers should search at the Intellectual Property office (there is a fee), Viet An Law will represent for customers to carry out this procedure. After searching and have the strongest possibility of protection, Viet An Law will represent for customers to register a trademark at the Intellectual Property office. Procedures and orders for furniture products trademark registration include these stages:

Step 1: Submit the application

         Individuals, enterprises wishing to register a trademark can directly submit to the competent state agencies in charge of industrial property or may authorize through Viet An Law. When submitting, customers need to pay the fee and take the receipts to submit.

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

• A list of goods/services furniture products intended to register;
• A trademark registration declaration;
• A power of attorney Viet An Law to apply;
• 01 trademark sample with dimensions bigger than 3 x 3 cm and smaller than 8 x 8 cm;
• Receipts of fee payments.

Step 2: Receive and consider the application

         The application will be received if it meets the conditions and requirements about documents and information according to Clause 1 Article 108 Law on Intellectual Property.

         After receiving, the competent state agency will consider the application through these stages:

Stage 1: Form appraisal

         The application will be appraised to evaluate the validity of the application including necessary documents; stated objects classification; right to submit… In case the application is valid, the competent state agency in charge of industrial property will issue a notice to accept as a valid application and grant the protection title, record on the National Register of Industrial Property. If the application is one of the cases prescribed in Clause 2 Article 109 Law on Intellectual Property, the competent state agency will issue a notice to refuse (clearly state the reason).

         The time to appraise the form is 01 – 02 months from the date of submitting.

Stage 2: Publish the application

         The accepted application will be published on the gazette within 02 months from the date of acceptance as a valid application.

Stage 3: Content appraisal

         The accepted applicants will be appraised content. The purposes of these steps are to assess the possibility of protection and to determine the scope of corresponding protection. The time to appraise content is 06 months from the date of publication. During the content appraisal, the competent state agency in charge of industrial property may request the applicant to explain the content, provide information relating to the nature of stated objects.

Step 3: Grant and Publish the protection title

         The application is not one of the cases refusing to grant the protection title prescribed in Clause 1, Clause 2 and Point b Clause 3 Article 117 Law on Intellectual Property and the applicant pays the fee, the competent state agency will grant the protection title and record on National Register of Industrial Property.

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

Notices: Before applying, to ensure more about the trademark intended to register, customers can use the search of Viet An Law including:

• Preliminary search: Viet An Law conduct a preliminary search for the trademark sample provided within 01 – 03 days.
• Search at the Intellectual Property office: Viet An Law will through the representative of Viet An Law to search at the Intellectual Property office. This step helps to evaluate the strongest possibility of protection.

Viet An Law provides legal services relating to trademark registration:

• Legal advice on conditions and procedures for trademark registration;
• Advice on the possibility to register;
• Conduct a preliminary search about trademark registration;
• Search at the Intellectual Property office;
• Represent for customers to register the trademark;
• Draft the trademark registration dossier;
• Submit and monitor the registration process;

Represent customers in the whole process and discuss with the Intellectual Property office. Foreign investors in Vietnam would like to protect their intellectual property in Vietnam such as trademark registration, renewals, copyright, patent, industrial design registration. Please send us your inquiry at email info@vietanlaw.com.