A seminar was held in Hanoi on April 14 to raise public awareness of the importance of intellectual property enforcement and the role of managing agencies, businesses, associations and individuals in enforcing the law and regulations on intellectual property.

Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Cam Tu said Vietnam ’s important objective is to build and effectively operate an intellectual property system.

He emphasised the need to raise public awareness of enforcement of intellectual property law and encourage businesses and consumers to closely coordinate with authorised agencies in doing the work.

According to Chairman of Vietnam Association for Anti-counterfeiting and Trademark Protection (VATAP) Le The Bao, the main reason for intellectual property violations in Vietnam as well as in other countries in the world is the remarkable profits that counterfeiters can earn from using others’ innovations to make imitation goods with lower costs.

However, the illegal activity is still accepted because of the wrong perception of a huge number of people, he said, adding that counterfeit products will have no market if consumers are more aware in choosing products for themselves.

The seminar was jointly held by the EU-Vietnam Multilateral Trade Assistance Project III (MUTRAP III), the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) and VATAP./.