Requirements for trademark application in Vietnam

Requisite Information:

1. Full name, address and nationality of the applicant;
2. Description of the trademark: meaning, colors claimed, translation or transliteration of characters into English if the mark contains foreign characters;
3. List of goods/services to be covered by the trademark and if possible, the class(es) of the respective goods/services according to the International Classification (if known);
4. If a priority is claimed: statement of country, application number and filing date of the original foreign application from which the priority is claimed. 

Requisite Documents:

1. Power of Attorney from the applicant (notarization is not required);
2. 15 specimens of the mark (the size of each specimen is not smaller than 15mm x 15mm and not larger than 80mm x 80mm);
3. If the Convention priority is claimed: a certified copy of the priority document(s) and the English translation thereof.

Note:

         A copy of the executed Power of Attorney can be accepted at the time of filing trademark application, but the original one must be submitted within 30 days from the filing date.

Important Notes:

In accordance with the legal regulations on trademark in Vietnam, the following advice for possible reference:

1. List of goods/services – Must be clear to specify the goods and services. Vietnam has long adopted the International Classification of Goods and Services even though it has not yet acceded to the Nice Agreement. As of 1 October 2017, the NOIP has acceded to the 11^thedition of International Classification for Goods and Services.
2. A trademark application can cover more than 01 class. The priority right belongs to the person who first files application for trademark registration, it is advised to file application for trademark registration as soon as possible.
3. The time limit from the filing to granting date is 12 months, of which 01 monthis for formality examination, 02 monthsare for data preparation for publication of the application and 09 months are for substantive examination and publication of trademark application;
4. The protection title of a trademark is a Trademark Registration Certificate, which is effective from the granting date;
5. The validity term of a Trademark Registration Certificate is 10 yearsfrom the regular filing date and can then be renewed indefinitely for consecutive periods of 10 years;
6. A Trademark Registration Certificate can be suspended by a request made by any third party if it is not used in five successive years without any proper reason.
7. Since the fee for filing trademark application depends on the number of goods/services in a class, all the generic terms are not accepted for registration. The applicant, therefore, is required to clarify all the generic terms (if any) in the list of goods/services.
8. To assist clients, during the examination of the trademark application, we do not charge fees for sending Notification of Formality Examination, Notification of Substantive Examination as well as translating those Notifications from Vietnamese into English.