How to file a patent in Vietnam

Inventors or Organizations or individuals who have supplied funds and material facilities to inventors in the form of job assignment or hiring have the right to file patent application in Vietnam.

Inventors of inventions mean persons who have personally created such industrial property objects. Where two or more persons have jointly created industrial property objects, they shall be co-authors.

An invention shall be protected by mode of grant of invention patent in Vietnam when it satisfies the following conditions:

– Novelty;
– Inventive step;
– Industrial applicability;

1. Required information and documents

For the purpose of filling the patent application in Vietnam, the following documents will be required:

– Full name and address of applicant(s);
– Full name, address and nationality of inventor(s).
– Original Power of Attorney (POA) from the Applicant(s);
The POA must be signed by the applicant or a duly authorized representative on behalf of the Applicant and no further notarization or legalization is required;
– Copy of the description, drawings and abstract of the patent application in English (in Word format) and/or the amended description, claims (if any);
– Certified document for claiming priority right (if any).
Applications claiming Paris Convention priority must be filed within 12 months from the priority date.

2. Patent Examination Procedure

The patent application will be examined by National Office of Intellectual Property of Viet Nam (NOIP) with Patent Examination Procedure as below:

• Filing the patent application
• Formality examination: Under Vietnam patent law, the above invention application will be examined as to form within one [01] month as from the filing date or date entering the national phase. If the invention application meets the requirements as to form, the NOIP will issue a decision of formality acceptance and then the application will be further processed.
• Publication of the Patent Application: Within 02 months from publication date of 19 months from priority date.
• The Substantive Examination: Substantive Examination does not automatically proceed from filing, and the applicant must request for substantive examination by 42 months from the priority date, or by 36 months if the request is for a utility model, otherwise the application will be considered as withdrawn.
• Notification of the Substantive Examination Results.
• The Decision of Refusal or Request to pay fee.
• Issuing the Patent.

3. Patent Term and Maintenance

Invention patents shall each have a validity starting from the grant date and expiring at the end of 20 years after the filing date. The owner of a Patent for Invention or Patent for Utility Model is required to pay annuity fees in order to maintain its validity.

Should you need more information or require advice on patent in Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar as well as other IP matters, please do not hesitate to contact us via email: info@apta.vn