Trademark renewal in Vietnam

Trademark registration renewal is to protect the rights to your trademark that has been granted a Certificate is one of the issues that Vietnamese businesses and individuals encounter many difficulties. Each trademark meets the protection conditions and is granted a Trademark Registration Certificate valid for 10 years. After these 10 years, if the owner does not continue to renew, he will no longer enjoy the exclusive rights provided by the trademark. In the article below, Viet An Law Firm – Intellectual Property Representative will provide basic legal advice on trademark registration renewal services in Vietnam.

When must trademark registration be renewed?

Pursuant to Clause 16, Article 4 of the current Intellectual Property Law: “A trademark is a sign used to distinguish goods and services of different organizations and individuals.”

Renewal of trademark registration is understood as when the trademark expires, the trademark owner or authorized intellectual property representative organizations carry out procedures to renew the Trademark Registration Certificate. This certificate can be renewed many times in a row, each time for 10 years for all or part of the list of goods and services.

Advantages of trademark registration renewal

• Helps ensure legal and legitimate rights for trademark owners;
• Reduces the possibility of confusion, helping clients distinguish between products of different individuals and organizations;
• Avoid other individuals and organizations using the owner’s trademark illegally;
• In addition, renewing trademark registration through organizations providing representative services will help owners avoid forgetting to renew, leading to loss of rights to their trademark.

Some notes for renewal of trademark registration in Vietnam

Renewal can be conducted for all good/ service classes at the time of registration or only renew with good/ service classes currently being requested.

For organizations and individuals that need to extend the trademark protection validity for many different trademarks at the same time, a declaration requesting renewal of protection titles, the organization or individual can apply for renewal of multiple protection titles at once.

Requirements and conditions for extending trademark registration services

• To be extended, within 06 months before the date the Protection Title expires, the Protection Title owner must submit a request for renewal;
• The application for renewal can be submitted later than the prescribed deadline but must not exceed 06 months from the date the Protection Title expires and the Protection Title owner must pay the renewal fee plus 10% of the renewal fee for each month of late payment.

Required documents for renewal of Trademark Registration Certificate in Vietnam

Pursuant to Clause 2, Article 31 of Decree 65/2023/ND-CP, dossier requesting renewal of validity of Trademark Registration Certificate includes the following documents:

Order and procedures for trademark renewal in Vietnam

Within 01 month from the date of receipt of the renewal request dossier, the National Office of Intellectual Property reviews the dossier and carries out the following procedures:

In case the documents are valid

Issue a decision to extend the validity of the protection title, record it in the protection title (if required), register and publish the decision to extend the validity of the Trademark Registration Certificate in the Public Property Official Gazette. within 60 days from the date of decision.

In case the dossier is invalid

Issue a notice of intention to refuse the renewal, clearly state the reason and set a time limit of 02 months from the date of notice for the requester to correct errors or object if:

• The application for renewal is invalid or is not submitted according to prescribed procedures;
• The person requesting renewal is not the owner of the corresponding Trademark Registration Certificate or is not an authorized representative.

If at the end of the set time limit the requester does not correct the errors or the errors are not corrected unsatisfactorily, there is no objection or there is an objection that is not valid, the National Office of Intellectual Property shall issue an order decided to refuse the renewal.

State fees for trademark renewal in Vietnam

According to Circular 263/2016/TT-BTC on regulations on collection rates, collection, payment, management and use of industrial property state fees; as amended and supplemented by Circular 31/2020/TT-BTC and Circular 63/2023/TT-BTC, state fees for trademark registration renewal are as follows:

• Fees for renewing the validity of protection titles: 100,000 VND/class of goods and services
• Examination fee for renewing protection title: 160,000 VND/protection title
• Fee for using of protection title: 700,000 VND/class of goods and services

Scope of IP representatives providing trademark registration renewal services

Trademark registration renewal services may only be performed within the scope of authorization and may be sub-authorized to another industrial property representation service organization with the written consent of the authorizer.

Service provision representatives may perform the following activities:

• Representing individuals and organizations before the National Office of Intellectual Property on trademark registration renewal;
• Consulting on issues related to trademark registration renewal;
• Other services related to trademark registration renewal.

In addition, IP representatives may not perform the following activities:

• Withdrawal of application for renewal of trademark registration without permission of the authorized representative;
• Deceiving or forcing clients to enter into and perform trademark registration renewal service contracts.

If clients need to renew their trademark registration, they can use renewal service of Viet An Law – IP Representative Firm for the most detailed instructions.

Trademark registration renewal service in Vietnam of Viet An Law

• Conduct the search and notify clients in writing of the trademark search results;
• Draft documents and directly submit and monitor the status of trademark registration applications on behalf of the trademark owner;
• Notify, advise and handle shortcomings/rejections from competent State agencies (if any) during the process of tracking trademark applications, trademark renewal;
• Support in monitoring, representing and resolving objections and feedback to trademark owners;
• Receive official dispatches and certificates and hand them over to clients (if any);
• Package trademark renewal service for clients in Vietnam with the most reasonable fees.

If you have any related questions or need to register a trademark or trademark registration renewal in Vietnam, please contact Viet An Law – IP Firm for the best advice and support.