How to license Trademark in Vietnam?

1. What is Trademark lisence?

Trademark licenses means the permission by the owner of such trademark for another organization or individual to use the trademark within the scope of his/her use right. Licensing of the trademark must be established in the form of written agreement.

According to Vietnam trademark system, Trademark licenses agreement shall be of the following types:

• Exclusive agreement means an agreement under which, within licensing scope and term, the licensee shall have an exclusive right to use the licensed trademark while the licensor may neither enter into any trademark license agreement with any third party nor, without permission of the licensee, use such trademark;

• Non-exclusive agreement means anagreement under which, within licensing scope and term, the licensor shall still have the rights to use the trademark and to enter into non-exclusive trademark license agreements with others.

• Trademark sub-license agreement means anagreement under which the licensor is a licensee of the right to use a trademark under another agreement.

2. The necessarycontents of trademark license agreement in Vietnam

There is no a standard form of license agreement. However, under Vietanm regulations, the trademark license agreement must include the following necessary contents and provisions:

• Full name and address of the Licensor and the Licensee;
• Bases of the license;
• Type of the agreement;
• Scope of the license (limitations to use; territorial limitations);
• Term of license;
• Price for the license;
• Rights and obligations of the Licensor and the Licensee.

3. Requirements

For the recordal of a license agreement, the following documents is required:

• One executed original Power of Attorney, which should be signed and sealed only by Licensee;

• Two duly executed originals or Tow valid copys of the agreement; of the License Agreement which must be signed and sealed by both Licensor and Licensee. If it has more than one page, both Licensor and Licensee should sign on each page or use company stamp to inter-cross seal over all pages.

The above document NOT required to be notarized or legalized.

4. The validity of trademark license agreement in Vietnam

Trademark license agreement shall be valid as agreed upon by the involved parties but shall be legally effective to a third party upon registration with the National Office of Intellectual Property (NOIP).

Validity of a trademark license agreement shall be terminated ex-officio upon the termination of licensor’s trademark rights.

5. Time frame

The whole duration for recordal of licensing in Vietnam will in straightforward case is 2 months counted from the filing date. However, in practice, this duration can be extended from 3-6 months.

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