The development of the national law on protection of well-known trademarks in Vietnam

In 1995, the Civil Code introduced the term “intellectual property rights” (IPR) and the IPR protection regime towards the standards provided in the TRIPS Agreement. Consequently, the government enacted series of regulations for implementing the Civil Code’s IPR related provisions in the following year. During this period Vietnam applied for the accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) and spent great efforts to revise its national law for the purpose of compliance with the requirements of the WTO/TRIPS. A decade later, such efforts were remarked by the enactment of the Revised Civil Code and the Law on Intellectual Property in 2005, which was a significant contribution to the success of Vietnam in the negotiation for the accession to the WTO.

As for the protection of well-known trademarks, both the Civil Code 1995 and the Civil Code 2005 do not cover any provisions referring to the protection of well-known trademarks. However, the prevailing effect of the international treaties is firmly recognized in these codes. Both codes consist of the provision saying that where an international treaty contains a provision different from that covered by the codes, the provision of the international treaty shall be applicable. To this point, the provisions of the Paris Convention on protection of well-known trademarks could be applicable in Vietnam, even if there was no particular provision on this matter set down in the national legislation. For more on this topic, please click here