Procedures for renewal of trademark registration certificate in Vietnam

To renew the trademark protection, the owner of the Trademark registration certificate must carry out the trademark renewal procedure at the National Office of Intellectual Property. The National Office of Intellectual Property is the competent authority to receive, process, and issue decisions on renewing the protection title. How is the time limit for receiving and processing trademark renewal applications regulated? Below, Viet An Law will analyze the notes in the procedures for renewal of trademark registration certificate at the Vietnam National Office of Intellectual Property (NOIP).

What does a trademark renewal dossier include?

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

• The application form for extension of validity is made according to Form No. 07 in Appendix II of Decree 65/2023/ND-CP;
• Original Certificate of Trademark Registration (in case the protection title is issued in paper form and there is a request to record the extension on the protection title);
• Power of attorney (in case the request is submitted through a representative);
• Copy of fee payment receipt (in case of payment of fees via postal service or direct payment to the account of the state management agency of industrial property rights).

Note: In a file, it is possible to request an extension of validity for one or more protection titles if they have the same type of subject and the same owner.

Dossiers for trademark renewal are submitted to the National Office of Intellectual Property in one of the following ways:

• Paper application form: Applicants can submit trademark renewal applications directly or via postal service to one of the application receiving points of the National Office of Intellectual Property.
• Online application form: Applicants submit online through the Online Public Service Portal of the National Office of Intellectual Property of Vietnam at the link: http://dvctt.noip.gov.vn:8888

Procedures for renewal of trademark registration certificate at the National Office of Intellectual Property

The time limit for application examination

• 01 month from the date of application
• Within 01 month from receipt of the application for extension, the state management agency of industrial property rights (Intellectual Property Office) shall review the application and carry out the procedures pursuant to regulations.

Application processing

Under Clause 2, Article 31 of Decree 65/2023/ND-CP, the procedure for processing applications for trademark validity extension is as follows:

In case of a valid dossier

• Decide to extend the validity of the protection title;
• Recorded in the protection title (if required)
• Register and publish the decision to extend the validity of the Certificate of Trademark Registration in the Industrial Property Gazette within 60 days from the date of the decision;

In case of an invalid dossier

Invalid dossier include:

• The renewal application is invalid or not submitted following prescribed procedures;
• The person requesting the renewal is not the corresponding Certificate of Trademark Registration owner.

Accordingly, if one of the above cases occurs, handle as follows:

• Issue a notice of intended refusal to extend, stating the reasons and setting a deadline of 02 months from the date of issuance of the notice for the applicant to correct the deficiencies or make objections.
• If at the end of the specified period, the applicant fails to correct the deficiencies or fails to correct the deficiencies satisfactorily, has no objections, or has objections that are not valid, the National Office of Intellectual Property shall issue a decision refusing to extend the validity of the Certificate of Trademark Registration.

Procedure results

• Issue a Decision to record the extension of the validity of the protection title and publish it in the Industrial Property Gazette or a Decision to refuse to extend the validity of the protection title.
• Update the renewal content to the original protection title (if any) and return the certificate to the owner.

Note: In case the owner of the Certificate of Trademark Registration requests the National Office of Intellectual Property to record the decision to extend the validity of the protection title, the owner of the protection title must carry out the procedure to amend the protection title and pay the prescribed state fees.

Receiving online trademark renewal applications at the National Office of Intellectual Property

Clients can submit applications for renewal trademark registration certificates online through the Online Public Service Portal of the National Office of Intellectual Property of Vietnam at the link: http://dvctt.noip.gov.vn:8888.

The procedure for receiving and processing online applications is as follows:

• The applicant needs to declare and submit a request for transfer of the application on the Online application receiving system of the National Office of Intellectual Property. After completing the declaration and submitting the application on the Online application receiving system, the System will send the applicant a Confirmation of online document submission.
• Within 01 month from the date of submitting the online application, the applicant must go to one of the application receiving points of the National Office of Intellectual Property on working days during transaction hours to present the Confirmation of online submission of documents and accompanying documents (if any) and pay the prescribed fees/charges.
• If the documents and fees/charges are complete as prescribed, the officer receiving the application will issue an application number to the Declaration on the Online application receiving system and vice versa, if the documents and state fees are not complete as prescribed, the application will be rejected.
• In case the Applicant fails to complete the application procedure as prescribed, the online document will be canceled and a Notice of online document cancellation will be sent to the Applicant on the Online application receiving system.

Notes to avoid rejection of renewal application

• Trademark renewal application: must submit all application components according to Clause 2, Article 31 of Decree 65/2023/ND-CP.
• Time of submission: The application for renewal of the Certificate of Trademark Registration must be submitted within 06 months from the date of expiry of the Certificate of Trademark Registration. The request for renewal can be submitted after the above-mentioned deadline but not later than 06 months from the date of expiry of the protection title and the owner of the protection title must pay a fee for each month of delay.
• Subject has the right to renew: The person requesting renewal must be the owner of the corresponding Certificate of Trademark Registration. The owner of the Certificate of Trademark Registration is determined according to the information provided on the Certificate of Trademark Registration.
• In the case of applying via a representative, a written power of attorney is required. A power of attorney without a term of authorization is considered to be valid indefinitely and will only terminate when the authorizing party declares the termination of the authorization.
• Renewal fees: State fees for trademark renewal must be paid under Circular 263/2016/TT-BTC, including Renewal fee; Late renewal fee (if any); Renewal request examination fee; Usage fee; Fee for publishing the Decision on recording the renewal; Fee for registering the Decision on renewing the validity of the protection title.

The procedure for receiving applications for trademark renewal at the National Office of Intellectual Property will go through many different steps with special notes. By using the specialized legal services of Viet An Law, IP representatives, lawyers, and highly specialized experts will help businesses and individuals owning trademarks have a clear schedule for trademark protection and help Clients carry out administrative procedures for registration and renewal in the most effective way.

If you have any questions or need advice on procedures for renewal of trademark registration certificate, please contact the Viet An Law Firm – Intellectual Property Representative for the best advice and support!