On 1 March 2013, the National Office of Intellectual Property of Vietnam (“NOIP”) issued Decision No. 316/QD-SHTT on granting the Registration Certificate No. 00035 for the Geographical Indication (“GI”) “Meo Vac” for the well-known mint honey. The Department of Science and Technology of Ha Giang Province, Vietnam has been assigned to be the management body of such a GI.

Meo Vac mint honey is one of the most famous specialty of Vietnam and only available in the ecological zone of high stone mountains of Ha Giang province, which consists of four districts of Dong Van, Quan Ba, Yen Minh and Meo Vac. This is the region that has been recognized by UNESCO as the Dong Van Plateau- Global Geology Park.

The mint honey is made from the wild mints growing in the plateau at the height between 1,000-1,600m and manually centrifuged from local Apris ceranna bee hives. It has a distinctive flavor and aroma with percentage of mint pollen varying from 0.338 - 0.381% with colors ranging from red-yellow to lemon-yellow. The mint honey is a traditional product of the Mong ethnic who are inhabitants of the region.

The protection of the GI “Meo Vac” is an effort to safeguard and strongly promote an invaluable specialty of Vietnam in both domestic and overseas markets.

Having considered the capacity of Japan Patent Office (JPO), the National Office of Intellectual Property of Viet Nam officially recognizes JPO as one of the International Searching (ISA) and Preliminary Examination Authorities (IPEA) for international patent applications originating from Viet Nam under the PCT system as from 01 July 2012. Hence, since the above date, Vietnamese applicants have one more option to select the international searching and preliminary examination authority for their PCT applications, apart from national IP offices of Russia, Sweden, Republic of Korea, Austria and the European Patent Office.

Please refer to the attached notification of the NOIP on the said issue for further details.

 

In celebration of the 43rd anniversary of the World Intellectual Property Day ( 26 April 1970 - 26 April 2013), the National Office of Intellectual Property of Vietnam (“NOIP”) is to hold a Week of Intellectual Property entitled “Intellectual Property and its Contribution to Socioeconomic Development”. Scheduled to be held in April and May 2013, the Week of Intellectual Property will focus on the following activities:
1.    Holding a Press Conference on 5 April 2013;
2.    Arranging Help-desks on “Support and Assistance for Acquisition of Intellectual Property Rights” at the Headquarter of the NOIP in Hanoi and their Branch Offices in Danang and HoChiMinh cities during the period from 22 to 26 April 2013;
3.    Launching the Gameshow “IP Challenge 2013 – Top Brand Names” for students in Hanoi during the period from 16 March 2013 to 5 May 2013;
4.    Organizing the Competition and Conference on “Students’ Research on Intellectual Property” on 20 April 2013.
All these events are taken place under the NOIP’s hosting with participation of a number of relevant authorites and universities, such as the Foreign Trade University and University on Humanity and Social Science, as coordinators, as well as corporate and individual Intellectual Property Right holders and students from universities and colleges located in Hanoi.

The Memorandum of Cooperation (MOC) between the National Office of Intellectual Property of Viet Nam (NOIP) and the Japan Patent Office (JPO) was concluded on 13 February 2012, under which, the JPO assists NOIP to improve the effectiveness of the Vietnamese intellectual property system, thus facilitating trade and investment between Vietnam and Japan.

Cooperative activities within the framework of the MOC focus on the following areas, namely: (i) consolidating IP policies, (ii) supporting the examination process, (iii) strengthening the automation of IP administration system, (iv) enhancing public awareness of IP and (v) training human resources. The areas of cooperation are considerably comprehensive, being established upon NOIP’s practical needs and JPO’s strength.

Japan is one of top foreign direct investors to Viet Nam. By May 2011, the number of direct investment projects in force from Japan to Viet Nam stands at 1,532, with total registered capital of USD 21.2 billion, ranked the 4th out of 92 nations and territories which are operating investment projects in Viet Nam. The JPO is also among the most modern national intellectual property offices in the world. The protection and exploitation of IP are being implemented effectively in Japan. Therefore, the conclusion of bilateral MOC between NOIP and JPO shows a positive signal and brings about essential impacts on the development of the IP system of Viet Nam in particular and trade and investment between the two countries in general.

In the field of intellectual property, on the first days of the establishment and development of the national IP system, Viet Nam received valuable support by the Japanese Government in constructing an automation system for IP administration, utilizing IP information and training human resources, which are key elements for the development of the IP system of each country. The signing of the MOC between the two Offices makes a new progress in the cooperative relation between the two countries in this area.

The historic flood recently occurring in Thailand was the most severe natural disaster in the past 50 years in this country which has seriously affected multi-faceted aspects of the socio – economic life of Thai people in general and Thai applicants of industrial property rights in particular. In order to share hardship and the force majeure resulted from the said flood with applicants, on 29 December 2011, the Director General of the National Office of Intellectual Property of Viet Nam issued the Notification No.8332/TB-SHTT on applying legal regulations on bail-out measures for suffered Thai applicants.

The full text of the Notification can be downloaded here.