New IP law amendments and counterfeiting report in Vietnam

Its been a busy week in Vietnam’s IP world. The International Chamber of Commerce’s Business Action to Stop Counterfeiting and Piracy initiative (BASCAP) is a business driven program focused on stopping counterfeiting. It has released its first report on IP in Vietnam. Focusing on the prevalence of fake and pirated goods, the report identifies a series of problems that cause the widespread proliferation of fakes in Vietnam. They cite a large grey economy, corruption; weak enforcement systems and poor consumer awareness.  They report cites some recent developments but adds that more needs to be done. Their recommendations include:

• Better enforcement systems
• Legislative reform
• Use of international technical assistance
• The need for more capacity building in IP institutions

Vietnam's IPO is broadly supportive of the report. Progress has been made and there is more to do. they said at BASCAPS's report launch. 

In a separate step Vietnam’s Ministry of Industry and Trade has recently released amendments to the IP laws to comply with the CPTPP (see here for background). Among the amendments are:

1. Patent Novelty destroying disclosure exceptions are narrowed.

2. Trademark License recordal will no longer be compulsory

3. Legal Fees are limited in scope in Vietnam, but now, where a case is lost when a Court finds no infringement, the winner may claim losing appropriate lawyers’ fees.

The draft law has been submitted to the National Assembly for their review and adoption.