Hanoi (VNA) – Three months after the Prime Minister issued a dispatch on May 5 calling for decisive measures to prevent and deal with intellectual property rights infringements, authorities have detected 4,562 cases showing signs of related violations.
According to Le Huy Anh, Deputy Director of the Intellectual Property Office of Vietnam under the Ministry of Science and Technology, immediately after the dispatch was issued, the ministry released an implementation plan and instructed the office to establish a coordination mechanism, while urging relevant agencies to report and consolidate implementation results nationwide.
During the three-month period, authorities imposed administrative penalties in 3,872 cases, with total fines amounting to nearly 46.2 billion VND (1.7 million USD) and the value of infringing goods estimated at nearly 147.8 billion VND. A total of 3,925 organisations and individuals were dealt with.
Competent authorities also decided to initiate 135 criminal cases, while People’s Courts at various levels accepted 32 cases and adjudicated 14 cases involving 17 defendants.
Notably, enforcement against infringements in the digital environment has also been stepped up. Authorities have blocked access to 2,373 infringing websites and online information pages, including sites providing pirated films and books, illegally broadcasting sports events, and selling goods showing signs of infringing industrial property rights.
To raise public and business awareness while improving the effectiveness of preventing and dealing with infringements, the ministry will continue working with other ministries, sectors and localities to strengthen intellectual property protection and enforcement on a regular, continuous and sustained basis, with no prohibited areas or exceptions.
The ministry will also step up the development, standardisation and sharing of enforcement data, gradually establishing a shared database covering cases, infringers, goods and methods of infringement. This will support risk analysis, early warnings and the identification of priority areas for inspection./.
