Cases concerning Phu Quoc fish sauce, Vinataba cigarettes or Buon Ma Thuot cafe were good examples or just some companies who have fallen foul of foreign IP regulations. (Photo: sohuutritue.net) Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - Experts are again issuing a warning to local enterprisesto pay attention to intellectual property (IP) rights when doing businessoverseas.
According to Le Ninh Giang, director of the centre for IP technology andapplication (IPTA) said a lot of enterprises focused on formingbusinesses, calling for investment capital but not registering for any IPprotection rights.
He said it comes as no surprise when he discovers cases where companieslost their IP assets in foreign countries when trading.
He said cases concerning Phu Quoc fish sauce, Vinataba cigarettes or BuonMa Thuot cafe were good examples of just some companies who havefallen foul of foreign IP regulations.
Giang said: “Many business owners still don’t know about IP registrationand they are not yet aware of the importance of protecting IPs when exportingtheir products.
“While multinational enterprises in the world have invested a lot of resourcesin registering IP, few local enterprises understand the importance of theissue.”
He said in many cases, Vietnamese enterprises invested a lot in their brands inthe country, making their products known by local consumers, but when they wentto the international market, they became anonymous or already lost their brandswhich were being registered by another foreign company.
Vu Thi Thuan, chairwoman of Traphaco said: “In the pharmaceutical industry,there are many creative values that need to be protected. However, thecurrent understanding of IP protection in Vietnam is not yet sufficient,leading many businesses to potentially violate the law.
"For sustainable development and integration, local enterprises must firstlyrespect IP rights.”
In order to effectively implement commitments on IP with further integration tothe international economy, lawyer Pham Duy Khuong, SB Law Firm said:“Vietnamese enterprises need a strategy for international trademarkregistration with good consideration for cost, time, quantity and country ofregistration.”
Khuong advised businesses to learn carefully about the register to save time,cost and bring the best effect to the trademark in a foreign country.
Lawyer Le Quang Vinh from BROSS & Partners Law Firm added: “If theenterprises don’t register for IP protection, they will lose exportopportunities to expand their markets and will face with legal risks and losemany opportunities to benefit from free trade agreements like CPTPP, EVFTA,RCEP.
“If they discover that their IP rights have been lost, it is necessary toquickly research and collect evidence, file an objection and cancel or suspendthe validity of the rights.”
At the same time, seeing the increasingly deepening internationalintegration of Vietnam through the participation in the new generation of freetrade agreements (FTAs) as well as the wave of the industrial revolution4.0 and the trend of trade protection in the world, the NationalOffice of Intellectual Property, Ministry of Science and Technologyalso organised a consultation workshop on the draft law to amend andsupplement the current IP Law in Hanoi earlier this week.
It was expected that after this process, the law will have 18 chapters and 235articles./.
VNA
