Design Practices

INFORMATION FOR FILING DESIGN APPLICATION IN VIETNAM

A. Filing documents and information.

Documents:

- A Power of Attorney Form executed by the applicant. Notarization or legalization is not required;

- 07 sets of photographs (or drawings) of the subject design. Each set (for three dimensional subjects) shall be in a sufficient number of views such as Perspective, Top, Bottom, Left, Right, Front, and Rear). Other views like cross-section may be required if necessary. Drawings with broken lines are not allowed;

- Certified copy of priority document (if priority is claimed);

- Copy of Vietnam Certificate of Trademark Registration (if there is any trademark on the design).

Information:

- Name, address of the applicant;

- Name, address and citizenship of the designers;

- A description of the design (preferable);

- Locarno classification of design (optional).

B. Time frame for registration

Under current practice in Vietnam, a design application is subjected to the following stages:

Formality examination: after 1-2 months from the filing date, if the application fulfils the requirements of formality, it will be formality accepted by NOIP;

Publication: within 02 months from the signing date of Decision on Formality Acceptance, the application shall be published on Industrial Property Official Gazette;

Substantive examination: this stage usually takes 08-10 months from the date of publication. In this stage, the application shall be examined as to substance in order to evaluate eligibility for protection in respect of protection requirements. If the application is considered to meet the protection requirement, it will be granted a Certificate of registration;

Granting registration certificate: 1-2 months from the date of payment of registration fees.