Maintenance fee of patent in Vietnam

A patent is understood as a title that recognizes the owner of an invention. Vietnamese law regulates the scope and terms of patent protection. To maintain patent protection, the patent owner needs to pay an annual fee throughout the protection period. However, in reality, many clients have difficulty determining how much the specific fee needs to be paid. To assist you in this matter, Viet An Law Firm offers the following article on the maintenance fee of patent 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 implement the Law on Intellectual Property, industrial property, protection of industrial property rights, rights to plant varieties, and state management on intellectual property;
• Circular 263/2016/TT-BTC regulates the rates, collection, payment, management, and use of industrial property fees and charges, as amended and supplemented by Circular 31/2020/TT-BTC.

What is a patent?

As one of the objects of industrial property rights, a patent is not only known as a tangible asset but also includes a process to solve a defined problem by applying natural laws. The World Intellectual Property Organization (abbreviated as WIPO) has defined that a patent is an exclusive right granted to a solution that is a product or process that offers a new way to do something or devise a new technological solution to a problem.

In Vietnam, based on Clause 12, Article 4 of the Intellectual Property Law, a patent is a technical solution in the form of a product or process to solve a defined problem by applying natural laws.

What is a patent protection title?

A protection title is understood as a document issued by a competent state agency to organizations and individuals to establish industrial property rights over a patent. The content of the patent protection title includes:

• Recognize the owner of the patent;
• The inventor;
• Subject matter, scope, and term of protection.

Exclusive ownership of an invention is established only through registration procedures, and the scope of protection is determined in the patent. When a dispute occurs, the patent protection title is an important legal document proving the exclusive ownership rights of the owner.

Maintenance fee of patent in Vietnam

In legal terminology, the validity maintenance fee of a patent is called an annuity fee, which is an annual fee that a patent owner has to pay to maintain a granted patent. The patent is valid throughout the territory of Vietnam, which is effective from the date of grant and lasts until 20 (twenty) years from the date of filing. To maintain the validity of the patent, the patent owner needs to pay a fee to maintain the validity of this protection title.

According to the provisions of Points 3.1 and 3.2, Section A; 1.6, 4.1, 4.2, and 5.1 Section B Schedule of industrial property fees and charges issued together with Circular No. 263/2016/TT-BTC, dated November 14, 2016, of the Ministry of Finance, the fees paid according to the maintenance application includes:

• Validity maintenance fees of of patents for inventions or utility solutions: 100,000 (one hundred thousand) VND/ each point of protection application;
• Late maintenance fee: 10% maintenance fee/each month of late payment;
• Maintenance request examination fee: 160,000 (one hundred sixty thousand) VND/protection title;
• Charge for publication information of Notice of maintaining: 120,000 (one hundred and twenty thousand) VND/application.
• Charge for registration of information about patent maintenance validity: 120,000 (one hundred twenty thousand) VND/ protection title.
• Charge for use if protection titles for inventions or utility solutions (applicable to each independent point of the protection application in each year):

Dossier to maintain patent in Vietnam

The application for maintaining a protection title for inventions or utility solutions is all the documents that need to be submitted.

Dossier components

Pursuant to Clause 1, Article 30 of Decree 65/2023/ND-CP, documents for maintaining a patent protection title include:

• Declaration according to Form No. 07 in Appendix II of Decree 65/2023/ND-CP;
• Power of Attorney for Viet An Law (in case the request is submitted through industrial property representative Viet An Law);
• Copy of fee and charge payment documents (in case of payment of fees and charges via postal service or direct payment to the account of the state management agency on industrial property rights).

What content does the declaration for maintaining a patent protection title include?

The declaration for maintaining the protection title for inventions or utility solutions is made according to form No. 07, Appendix II issued with Decree 65/2023/ND-CP, stipulating several contents:

• Applicant/Representative of the applicant;
• Subjects required to be maintained;
• Fees and charges;
• Documents included in the application;
• Commitment of the applicant/ Representative of the applicant.

Procedures for maintaining protection title for inventions or utility solutions

Procedures for maintaining a patent protection title are the procedures to maintain the protection title for inventions or utility solutions. Pursuant to Article 30 of Decree 65/2023/ND-CP, procedures for maintaining patent protection titles are carried out according to the following steps:

Step 1: Apply to maintain a patent protection title at a competent state agency.

Step 2: Process the dossier and issue a notice to maintain the patent protection title:

The National Office of Intellectual Property considers the request to maintain validity within 01 month from the date of receipt of the request and fees and charges of the requester.

• In case the application is valid: the National Office of Intellectual Property records it in the National Register of Inventions, issues a notice of maintaining the validity of the protection title, and publishes it in the Industrial Property Official Gazette within 60 days from the date of notification;
• In case of errors or invalidity: issue a notice of intention to refuse maintenance and set 02 months from the date of notice for the requester to correct the errors or express objections. If at the end of the set time limit the requester does not correct the errors or the correction of errors is unsatisfactory, there is no objection or there is an objection that is not valid, the state management agency regarding industrial property rights, issued a decision to refuse to maintain the validity of the protection title.

Note: Maintaining the validity of the protection title must be done within 06 months from the end of the validity period. Procedures for maintaining validity can be carried out later than the time limit specified above, but must not exceed 06 months from the end of the previous validity period.

If you maintain a patent protection title, please contact Viet An Law Firm for the best support.