Nang Ganh Restaurant was infringed on Facebook’s IP rights?

In the August 2014 issue of the Young Newspapers, Pham & Associates attorney Nguyen Truong An discussed recent developments in the case regarding the sign “Facebook”. 

At the end of 2011, Mrs. Nguyen Thi Thanh Nhan made a career in business, selling food online. She then expanded the business by opening a restaurant and raised the capital through friends on the Facebook. The reason why the restaurant was named "NANG GANH, the First restaurant was built from Facebook" was grateful to those who helped her capital through Facebook. On December 10, 2013, Mrs. Nhan also filed a trademark application with the National Office of Intellectual Property (NOIP).

On August 13, 2014, Facebook's legal representatives sent a cease & desist letter to Mrs. Nhan to warn the acts of infringement for the use of the sign “Facebook”.

Mr. Truong An mentioned that to weight whether the acts of using "the First restaurant was built from Facebook" for the restaurant constituted an intellectual property infringement or not, we should consider the following grounds.

In case “Facebook” has not been protected in Vietnam for restaurant service or related classes, it could not consider that the act constituted an intellectual property infringement action.

In case "Facebook" has been recognized as a well-known trademark by Vietnamese competent authorities, we could confirm that the act constituted an intellectual property infringement action.

In case “Facebook” was considered as a commercial indication, the acts of using "the First restaurant was built from Facebook" as a slogan was liable for an unfair competition act under Article 130 of the Intellectual Property Law.

To view the complete Intellectual Property article, please click here.