Trademark registration for ginseng products in Vietnam

Ginseng is a valuable medicine with many benefits for human health, so many Vietnamese families choose to use it. Accordingly, many ginseng trademarks were founded to meet the demands of society. Does the ginseng trademark need to be registered? If so, how? In the article below, Viet An Law will answer clients’ questions about trademark registration for ginseng products in Vietnam.

Legal basis

• Law on Intellectual Property 2005, as amended and supplemented in 2009, 2019, 2022.
• Decree 65/2023/ND-CP has detailed several articles and measures to implement the Intellectual Property Law on industrial property, protection of industrial property rights, rights to plant varieties, and state management of intellectual property

What is trademark registration for ginseng products?

According to Clause 16, Article 4 of the Intellectual Property Law amended and supplemented in 2022: ” Trademark is any sign used to distinguish goods or services of different organizations and individuals.”

Thus, it can be understood that ginseng trademark registration is a procedure to establish rights for the ginseng trademark that is produced by the enterprise to be granted a Trademark Registration Certificate. According to the Nice classification applied in Vietnam from January 1, 2024, ginseng products belong to classes 5, 30, 32, and 35.

Classification trademark registration for ginseng products in Vietnam

Class 5:

• Health protection foods, nutritional foods, dietary supplements for medical purposes;
• Medicine; candy for medical purposes; herbal tea; ginseng used for medical purposes;
• Pharmaceutical preparations to stimulate hair growth; herbal;

Class 30:

Ginseng tea; ginseng candy; ginseng soaked in honey (honey is the main ingredient)

Class 32:

Ingredients from ginseng (for making soft drinks), and energy drinks (non-alcoholic drinks, not for medical purposes).

Class 35:

Buying, selling, distributing, importing and exporting:

• Pharmaceutical products, pharmaceuticals, functional foods, and dietary supplements from ginseng.
• Retail services or distribution industries for ginseng products (functional foods made from ginseng, confectionery); display products and advertising services; import-export services.

Notable trademark for ginseng products in Vietnam

Trademark: [6 nyeon-geun: 6-year-old ginseng root; To Jik Sam: dried ginseng directly from the soil; Cheon Sam: First-class ginseng; Koryo sam: …]

Application number: 4-0437393-000

Degree grant date: September 12, 2022

License holder: KOREA GINSENG CORP. : 71, Beotkkot-gil, Daedeok-gu, Daejeon, Republic of Korea

Trademark type: picture label.

Exclusion factor: The trademark is protected as a whole. Do not protect “6” separately, the Chinese part.

Good and service classes:

Class 5: pharmaceutical preparations using ginseng or red ginseng; dietary supplements for humans, consisting primarily of ginseng or red ginseng; processed ginseng and red ginseng (food, functional foods); frozen ginseng and red ginseng (functional foods); steamed ginseng and red ginseng (functional foods); health foods containing mainly ginseng and red ginseng, in liquid or jelly form, cooked, canned or bottled (functional foods); nutritional health supplements containing primarily ginseng and red ginseng for non-medical purposes, in liquid or jelly form, cooked, canned or bottled (functional foods); drinks based on ginseng without alcohol (functional foods); drinks based on non-alcoholic red ginseng (functional foods); ginseng powder used for beverages (functional foods); Ginseng extract used for beverages (functional foods).

What is the meaning of ginseng trademark registration?

• First, when the ginseng trademark is registered, the rights to possess, use, and dispose of the trademark must all be approved by the owner. In other words, the Trademark Registration Certificate will be the legal basis to protect the owner’s legitimate rights and interests;
• Second, a registered ginseng trademark is the basis for franchising, creating the ability to replicate a product/service business chain;
• Third, a registered ginseng trademark is also a basis for affirming the reputation of an individual/organization, so a registered trademark will prevent rivals designing identical or similar trademarks from plagiarizing, deceiving consumers, confusing the market;
• Fourth, an extremely important thing to note as stipulated in the Intellectual Property Law is the first-to-file principle – meaning that the first ginseng trademark registration application will be given priority for protection first.

The period of the trademark registration

The period of the trademark registration for ginseng products is 10 years from the date of application (priority date). Enterprises can renew their protection certificates with no limit on the number of extensions. As a result, the trademark will be an asset throughout the business and operations of the enterprise.

Application for trademark registration

According to Clause 1, Article 100 of the Intellectual Property Law and Decree 65/2023/ND-CP stipulating the components of a trademark registration application include:

For applications to register collective marks or certification marks, there must also be regulations on the use of collective marks/regulations on the use of certification marks;

Procedure of trademark registration for ginseng products in Vietnam

Step 1: Choose a consulting unit and select the trademark and goods and services for the trademark

If you need to register a ginseng trademark, choose a consulting unit to ensure the fastest and most successful label registration. Viet An Law Firm is an Intellectual Property Representative organization, so clients will be guaranteed all benefits when using our trademark registration services.

Clients will choose the trademark and goods category to register, usually, the goods and services the business sells:

• Trademark selection: Choose a trademark model that meets the protection standards. The selected trademark is not similar to other registered trademarks, well-known trademarks, or trademarks that are descriptive signs that cannot be granted protection.
• Select a goods category to register: You need to select a category of goods and services bearing the trademark according to the instructions above. Classifying of products and services should be done according to the Nice classification applied in Vietnam

Step 2: Research the trademark

To perform a trademark search, clients only need to provide Viet An Law:

• Trademark sample;
• List of goods and services that need to be looked up and registered.

Step 3: Submit trademark registration application

After an in-depth search and the trademark is assessed as capable of registration, the applicant submits the registration application. As soon as the application is submitted, the applicant must pay the registration fee.

The National Office of Intellectual Property of Vietnam is where receives and processes documents and collects registration fees in Vietnam in the following order:

• From 2024, the National Office of Intellectual Property will publicly disclose trademark application information immediately after receiving it, and then review the formality conditions of the application.
• If the business’s application meets the requirements. The National Office of Intellectual Property will issue a Notice of acceptance of the valid application and publish the application.
• If the business’s registration application does not meet the requirements. The National Office of Intellectual Property will issue a Notice of refusal of the application and request the enterprise to make amendments. The application owner and representative of the application owner shall make amendments as requested. After that, submit the amended dispatch to the National Office of Intellectual Property and pay additional fees if the group is classified incorrectly.

Step 4: Application publication

• Time limit for publication of trademark application: 02 months from the date of Notice of Acceptance of valid application.
• Published in the Industrial Property Official Gazette of the National Office of Intellectual Property.

Step 5: Substantive examination of the application

The time limit for substantive examination is 09 months from the date of publication of the application.

Step 6: Fee payment for granting a Certificate of Protection and issuing the Trademark Registration Certificate

• After receiving notice of intention to grant a protection title, the applicant shall proceed to pay the granting fee.
• After the trademark owner has paid the registration fee. The National Office of Intellectual Property will issue a trademark protection certificate within 2-3 months from the date of payment of the fee.

Trademark registration time is about 12 – 18 months from the date of acceptance of a valid application. However, this time can last from 2-5 months depending on the number of applications the National Office of Intellectual Property receives.

Clients who need advice on trademark registration for ginseng products in Vietnam, please contact Viet An Law Firm for the best support.