Vehicle Maintenance Services Trademarks Registration in Vietnam

The vehicle is an essential means of transport, associated with the safety of its users. Therefore, it is necessary to ensure the normal operation of the vehicle and limit the risks from happening. Vehicle maintenance services are therefore always chosen by consumers to renovate, check, and ensure that the details of the vehicle do not have any breakdown or incident. For business subjects in this field, they can apply for trademark protection for the services they provide to increase their reputation and attract more customers. If there is a need, enterprises can refer to the following procedures for registration of trademark (trademark) protection:

Classification of products registered for trademark protection:

          According to law, goods and services must be grouped according to the Nice Classification. Accordingly, vehicle maintenance services are classified in class 37. This classification helps to define the scope of protection and plays an important role in the search step of the possibility of trademark registration.

Search for trademark:

          Although the search is not required, it will help the applicant to evaluate the rate of successful registration of the trademark and then come up with suitable solutions. Customers can use the search service of Viet An Law including preliminary search and look up through a representative at the Intellectual Property office.

Draft a trademark registration dossier:

• A trademark sample with dimensions bigger than 3 x 3 cm and smaller than 8 x 8 cm;
• A list of goods/services intended to register:
• A trademark registration declaration (if customers authorize Viet An Law to submit, this declaration will be signed by the representative of Viet An Law);
• A power of attorney;
• Receipts of fee payments.

The application is submitted at the Intellectual Property Office and will take 13-18 months to process the application, including the following phases: Form appraisal; Publish the application on the gazette; Content appraisal; Grant and Publish the protection title.

Validity of protection title:

          According to law, a trademark registration certificate is valid for 10 years from the submitting date (the submitting date is the date on which the application is received by the state administrative authority of industrial property rights, or date of international submitting for applications under international treaties).

          Protection title can be renewed repeatedly for 10 years each time. To be extended invalidity, within 6 months before the date of expiration of the certificate of trademark registration, the owner must submit a request for an extension to the Intellectual Property office. The application for extension may be submitted later than the time limit specified above but not later than 06 months from the date on which the protection title expires and the protection titleholder must pay the renewal fee plus 10% of the renewal fee for each month of late submission.