THE MINISTRY OF SCIENCE    
AND TECHNOLOGY  
 SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF VIET NAM  
Independence - Freedom - Happiness  
No: 16/2016/TT -BKHCN            Ha Noi, June 30, 2016  
  
CIRCULAR  
on amendment and supplement of some articles of Circular No. 01/2007/TT -
BKHCN d ated February 14, 2008 guiding the implementation of the Government 
Decree No. 103/2006/ ND -CP of September 22, 2006 detailing and guiding the 
implementation of a number of articles  on industrial property  of the Intellectual 
Property  Laws , which have been amended and supplemented by Circular No. 
13/2010/TT -BKHCN dated July 30, 2010, Circular No. 18/2011/TT -BKHCN dated 
July 22, 2011 and Circular No. 05/2013/TT -BKHCN dated February 20, 2013.  
Pursuant to the Intellectual Property  Law dated November 29, 2005 an d the Law 
on amendment and supplement of some articles of the Intellectual Property Law 
dated June 19, 2009;  
Pursuant to the Law on Complaints dated November 11, 2011;  
Pursuant to  Government Decree No. 103/2006/ND -CP of September 22, 2006 
detailing and gu iding the implementation of a number of articles  on industrial 
property  of the Intellectual Property  Law and Government Decree No. 
122/2010/ND -CP dated December 31, 2010 amending and supplementing some 
articles of Government Decree No. 103/2006/ND -CP;  
Pursuant to Government Decree No. 20/ 2013/ND -CP of February 16, 2013 
defining the functions, tasks, powers and organizational structure of the Ministry of 
Science and Technology;  
At the proposal of Director Generals of the National Office of Intellectual Pro perty 
and Department of Legislation;  
 The Minister of Science and Technology issues the Circular on amendment and 
supplement of some articles of Circular No. 01/2007/TT -BKHCN dated February 
14, 2008 guiding the implementation of Government Decree No. 103/2 006/ ND -CP 
of September 22, 2006 detailing and guiding the implementation of a number of 
articles  on industrial property  of the Intellectual Property  Law, which have been 
amended and supplemented by Circular No. 13/2010/TT -BKHCN dated July 30, 
2010, Circul ar No. 18/2011/TT -BKHCN dated July 22, 2011 and Circular No. 
05/2013/TT -BKHCN dated February 20, 2013.  
Article 1. To amend and supplement some articles of Circular No. 2 
 
 01/2007/TT -BKHCN dated February 14, 2008 guiding the implementation 
of the Government De cree No. 103/2006/ ND -CP of September 22, 2006 
detailing and guding the implementation of a number of articles of Law on 
Intellectual Property about industrial properly, which have been amended 
and suplemented by Circular No. 13/2010/TT -BKHCN dated July 30 , 2010, 
Circular No. 18/2011/TT -BKHCN dated July 22, 2011 and Circular No. 
05/2013/TT -BKHCN dated February 20, 2013 as follows:  
1. To amend and supplement Point 1 as follows:  
a) To amend and supplement Point 1.1 as follows:  
“1.1 Industrial property rights arise or are established on the grounds as specified 
in Clause 3, Article 6 of the Law on Intellectual Property, Clauses 1, 2, 3 and 4, 
Article 6 of Government  Decree No. 103/2006/ND -CP of September 22, 2006 
detailing and guiding the implementation of a nu mber of articles of the 
Intellectual Property Law about industrial property (hereinafter referred to as 
“Decree No. 103/2006/ND -CP”) and specific provisions of this Point .”. 
b) To amend and supplement Point 1.4 as follows:  
“1.4 Industrial property rights t o international  trademarks registered under the 
Madrid Agreement and the Madrid Protocol (hereinafter referred to as “the 
internationally registered trademarks”) shall be established under decisions on 
acceptance for protection of registered international trademarks issued by the 
National Office of Intellectual Property (NOIP) together with a copy of the 
Trademark Gazette of the trademarks published by WIPO International Bureau, 
or Certificates of International trademark registrations issued by NOIP upon th e 
request of trademark owners. These decisions and certificates are as valid as 
protection titles granted to persons registering trademarks in Viet Nam.”.  
2. To amend and supplement Point 2 as follows : 
“2. Owners of industrial property applications  
2.1 Own ers of industrial property applications (hereinafter referred to as 
“application owners”) are organizations or individuals who file applications for 
registration of inventions, layout designs, industrial designs, trademarks or 
geographical indications. As soon as the protection titles for inventions, layout 
designs, industrial designs or trademarks are granted, the application owners are 
recognized as protection title holders. As soon as the protection titles for 
geographical indications are granted, the ap plication owners are recognized as 
the geographical indication registrants.  3 
 
 2.2 Application owners must satisfy the criteria for the right to industrial 
property registration as provided for in Articles 86, 87 and 88 of the Intellectual 
Property Law and A rticles 7, 8 and 9 of Decree No. 103/2006/NĐ -CP. If they 
fail to meet th ese criteria, the industrial property registration shall be considered 
invalid.”.  
3. To supplement Point 3.4 as follows:  
“3.4 It shall be considered as invalid if the authorization is made to 
organizations or individu als who are not entitled  to represent or to various  
organizations and individuals at the same time, including organizations or 
individuals not  entitled  to represent.”.  
4. To amend and supplement Point 4 as follows:  
“4. Authorized representation in carrying  out industrial property registration 
procedures  
4.1 The authorized representation and the carrying out the procedures for 
industrial property registration by authorized representatives (hereinafter 
referred to as “authorization”) must follow the provision s on authorization in 
Part III of the Civil Code and the provisions of this Circular.  
Application owners may change their authorized representatives (the change of 
authorization). The change of authorization terminates the authorized relations 
between the authorizers and the authorized representatives, and this termin ation 
shall be made in a writing  by the authorizers.  
An authorized representative may sub -authorize to other parties, as long as they 
get the written consent of the authorizer. The sub -authoriz ation arise the sub -
authorized relations between the authorized representative and third parties that 
co-exists with authorized relations between the authorizers and the authorized 
representatives.  
The re -authorization may be made multiply, provided that b oth of authorized 
and re -authorized parties must be legal organizations and agents.  
4.2 The authorization shall be established in writing (the power of attorney or 
contract of authorization) with the following principal contents:  
a) Names (full names) and  full addresses of the authorizer and the authorized 
party;  
b) Name (full name) and full address of the party undertaking to act as a 
surrogate authorization or sub -authorized parties (if any);  4 
 
 c) Scope of authorization and authorized volume  of works ; 
d) A uthorization duration (a power of attorney without a specified time -limit 
shall only cease to be valid when the authorizer declares the termination of its 
authorization);  
dd) Signing date of the power of attorney;  
e) Signature(s), full names, titles and s eals (if any) of a lawful representative of 
the authorizer and the party undertaking to act as a surrogate authorization or 
sub-authorized party (in case of surrogate authorization or sub -authorization).  
4.3 The date on which the power of attorney takes l egal effect in communication 
with NOIP is determined as:  
a) The date on which NOIP receives the valid power of attorney;  
b) The date on which NOIP receives the valid surrogate authorization or sub -
authorization;  
c) The date on which NOIP receives a requ est for changes of the authorization 
scope, early  termination of authorization, change of the address of the 
authorized party.  
d) The power of attorney may be filed later than filing date of an application, but 
not exceed one month as of the filing date; except for complaints , the said time -
limit shall be 10 working days.  
Before the date on which the application is validly accepted, NOIP shall 
communicate with the person claiming to be the representative of the applicant 
(as referred to in the request) in  order to carry out the formal examination to 
conclusion whether or not the application is valid, including the legitimacy  of 
the representative.  
4.4 Any communication made by authorized parties under the authorized scope 
and duration shall be understood a s on behalf of the application owners, arising 
rights and obligations of application owners. In case of substitution of 
authorization or re -authorization, the substitute party or its re -authorized 
representative shall continue the representation with all m atters arising from the 
authorization made in t he previous communications with NOIP.  
NOIP shall, at any time during the processing of  handling  applications, only 
communicate with the latest authorized party or the latest re -authorized party for 
each partic ular work  or pr ocedure , if the applicant s authorize  two or more 
representatives to perform different tasks or different stages.  5 
 
 4.5 If the scope of authorization stated in the power of attorney covers several 
independent procedures and the original power o f attorney has been submitted to 
NOIP, the authorized party, when pursuing subsequent procedures, submit a 
copy of the power of attorney, indicating the application serial number 
containing the original power of attorney.”.  
5. To amend and supplement Point  5.1 as follows:  
“5.1 Application owners and their representatives shall ensure the faith of 
information and documents submitted to NOIP in the course of industrial 
property registration according to the following regulations:  
a) All documents must be cer tified by the application owners or their 
representatives with their signatures and seals (if any). If the certification of a 
notary public or competent agency (ies) is required  by laws , such certification 
must be made accordingly;  
b) All Vietnamese trans lations from foreign languages must be guaranteed by 
application owners or their representatives that the translations are made from 
the original documents.  
c) If application owners are represented by industrial property representative 
organizations, the representative persons of of such organization who sign on 
communication documents must be legal industrial property agents.”.  
6. To amend and supplement Point 6 as follows:  
“6. Handling the opinion of the third party before issuing decisions on the grant 
of protection titles  
6.1 As of the date on which industrial property applications are published on the 
Industrial Property Official Gazette to the date prior to issuance of decisions on 
granting protection titles, any organization or individual may submit  to NOIP 
their written opinion on matters of rights of registration, priority rights, 
protection criteria and others that relate to the industrial property applications 
pursuant to the provisions of Article 112 of the Intellectual Property Law. 
Opponents o f granting protection titles must pay charges for handling their 
oppositions to registration of industrial property as provided. The written 
opinion of third parties must be regarded as a source for reference in the course 
of processing industrial property  applications.  
6.2 When the opinion of the third party is considered as grounded, NOIP shall 
notify such opinion to applicant s and set a time limit of one month from the 
notification date for them to respond in writing. After receiving the applicant’s 6 
 
 response, NOIP shall notify it to the third party, if necessary and set a time limit 
of one month from the notification date for them to have opinion in writing on 
that response. After those provided time limit, NOIP shall handle opinions of the 
applicant and  the third parties based on proofs, arguments furnished, and 
documents in the applications. The third party shall be notified of the result of 
substantive examination of those applications.  
6.3 When the opinion of t he third party is considered groundless,  NOIP is not 
required to notif y that opinion to the applicants  but shall notify the third party of 
its refusal to consider his opinion, with clear reasons.  
6.4 If the opinion of the third party is related to the rights of registration, when 
finding it imp ossible to determine whether or not such opinion are grounded, 
NOIP shall notify such to the third party so that the latter may file a petition with 
a court following the provisions of civil procedures. Within one month as of the 
date NOIP issues the notic e, if the third party fails to submit to NOIP a copy of 
the notification of admitting the case by the court, the opinion of the third party 
is considered as withdrawn and NOIP continues process the application without 
opinion of the third party. If NOIP re ceives a copy of the notification of 
admitting the case by the court from the third party within the above time limit, 
it shall suspend the application processing until final results of dispute 
settlement by the court are obtained. After the final results of dispute settlement 
by the court are obtained, the application processing shall be resumed in 
accordance with those results.  
6.5 When necessary and upon the request of both parties, NOIP shall organize 
hearings  between the third party and the applicant to further clarify matters 
challenged by opponents .  
6.6 The time -limit for the applicant to respond to oppositions submitted by the 
third party shall not be counted into the time -limit for NOIP to carry out relevant 
procedures according to regulations.”.  
7. To amend and supplement Point 7 as follows:  
a) To amend and supplement Point 7.1.a (ii)  as follows  
 “(ii) Documents, specimens and information disclosing the industrial property 
subject matters sought to be registered;  
Particularly: For an invention a pplication, a description of an invention; for an 
industrial design application, a set of photos or drawings and a description of the 
industrial design; for a trademark application, the trademark specimen and list of 7 
 
 goods and services bearing the trademar k (must be attached to the request); for a 
geographical indication application, the name of product bearing the 
geographical indication (must be attached to the request) and the description of 
distinctive characteristics and quality of products bearing the  geographical 
indication and a map of the geographical area subject to the geographical 
indication;”.  
b) To amend and supplement Point 7.1.b (iv) as follows  
 “(iv) A written paper of the People's Committee  of Provinces on centrally run 
cities permitting t he use of a place name or other signs indicating the 
geographical origin of local specialties for registration of trademark under the 
provisions of Point 37.7.a of this Circular (if the registering trademark is a 
collective trademark, or a certification tr ademark that contains a place name or 
other indication of the geographical origin of the local specialty).”.  
c) To amend and supplement Point 7.2.b (iii) as follows:  
“(iii) All documents in applications must be presented vertically (only drawings, 
diagrams  and tables may be presented horizontally) on one side of A4 size paper 
(210 mm x 297 mm), the geographic map can be printed on A3 size paper (420 
mm x 297 mm), with margins of 20 mm each, at least font size at least 13, 
except for supporting documents tho se is not intended to be used for 
applications initially;”.  
 d) To amend and supplement Point 7.2.b (vii) as follows:  
“(vii) Terms used in applications must be consistent and common (other than 
dialects, uncommon  words, coined words). Symbols, measurement units, 
electronic fonts and spelling rules used in applications must be compliant with 
Vietnamese standards;”.  
đ) To amend and supplement Point 7.2.d as follows:  
“d) The request and other documents of applications must contain adequate 
required and consistent information; the Vietnamese translations of the 
applications’ documents must be true to the original docume nts; the power of 
attorney must cover the contents as specified in Point 4.2 of this Circular.”.  
e) To amend and supplement Point 7.2.e as follows:  
“e) The subject matters contained in applications must be strictly classified 
according to the international  classification as prescribed at Points 23.5, 33.4 
and 37.4.e of this Circular. If applicants do not classify by themselves or classify 
it incorrectly, NOIP shall do so and applicants shall pay fees for that as 8 
 
 regulated.”.   
g) To amend and supplement Poi nt 7.3.c as follows:  
 “c) Documents evidencing the grounds for enjoying the priority rights: 
Certification by the receiving office of copies of the initial application(s), except 
international patent applications filed under the Patent Cooperation Treaty - 
PCT; list of goods and services in initial trademark applications; document of 
transfer of the priority rights, if applicants enjoy that rights from other 
persons).”.  
8. To amend and supplement Point 8 as follows:  
“8. Industrial property registration fees  and charges  
8.1 Applicants and persons used industrial property services shall pay 
fees/charges according to the Ministry of Finance’s regulations and other service 
charges as provided for.  
8.2 Collection of fees and charges  
a) When receiving applicatio ns or requests for any procedures subject to fees, 
charges, NOIP shall ask applicants for paying those fees and charges as 
prescribed (by issuing invoices).  
b) When collecting fees and charges, NOIP shall issue 02 original fees, charges 
receipts as the evi dences of fees and charges payment, clearly indicating the fee 
or charge amounts which have been paid, of wh ich one shall be returned to 
applicant s, one shall be attached to the application for formality examination, 
and provide applicant s with bill as reg ulated by the Ministry of Finance.  
c) Where the payments of fees, charges is made through the postal service or 
directly transferred to NOIP’s bank account, applicants shall submit a copy of 
the charge/fee receipts together with applications or the submit ted documents.  
d) If fees, charges are not yet fully paid according to regulations, NOIP shall 
issue a notice to applicant s.  
8.3 Refund of paid fees and charges  
a) Except provided for in Point 8.3.b below, paid fees and charges for each 
procedures in the  course of processing applications shall not be refunded if the 
timing for those procedures have been started. Filing fees shall not be refunded.  
(b) The paid fees and charges shall only be refunded upon requests of applicants 
if NOIP has not collected in accordance with regulated provisions (wrong 
collection, over collection, ect.),  9 
 
 c) In case of acceptance of requests for fee and charge refund, NOIP shall issue 
refund notices to applicants, clearly stating the refunded amounts and the 
method of refund.  
c) In case of rejection of requests for fee and charge refund, NOIP shall notify 
such to applicants, clearly stating the reasons for rejection.”.  
9. To amend and supplement Point 9 as follows:  
“9. Time limits  
9.1 Time limits specified in the Intellectual Property Law, Decree No. 
103/2006/NĐ -CP and this Circular shall be counted according to the provisions 
of the Civil Code.  
9.2 Time limits for applicants and related parties to submit, modify or 
supplement documents or give their opinions may be extended on ce for a period 
of time equal to the time limit set in the notification made by NOIP,  provided 
that they must submit  a written request for extension before the expiry date of 
the set time limits and pay prescribed fees, charges.  
9.3 If the set time limits  are expired ( including the extended period as referred to 
in this Point), applicants fail to submit, modify or supplement documents or give 
their opinions, NOIP shall grant decisions on refusal to related procedures, 
respectively, and applicants have no r ights to submit, modify or supplement 
documents or give their oppinions, except cases provided for in Point 9.4 below.  
9.4 The time limits shall be exclusive of the duration of force majeure events or 
objective obstacles by which organizations or individua ls fail to perform their 
rights and obligations within the provided time limits if they make requests and 
have sufficient evidences to prove those circumstances. If the requests are  
accepted, NOIP shall issue decisions or notices on withdrawing the decisi ons or 
notifications which have been issued on the grounds that those organizations or 
individuals fail to exercise its rights and obligations within  the time limits and to 
restore the application process to the status before expiry of the time limit.  
9.5 Force Majeure is an unforeseeable event (such as natural disasters, war, etc.) 
and cannot be overcome despite applicants have taken necessary measures in 
their capacities.  
Objective obstacles are obstacles caused by objective circumstances (e.g. 
sickness, business trips, ect.) that make persons having rights and obligations 
impossible to know about their legitimate rights or interests are being infringed 
upon, or are unable to exercise their rights and obligations.  10 
 
 9.6 Applicants may request NOIP to carry o ut procedures before the set time 
limits in writing and shall pay prescribed service charges if accepted. If not 
accept ing requests, NOIP shall notify applicants and clearly state the reasons.”.  
10. To amend and supplement Point 11 as follows:  
“11. General  procedures  
All types of industrial property applications shall be processed by NOIP in the 
following order: receipt of applications; formal examination; publication of 
valid applications; substantive examination (except for layout design that are not 
subject to substantive examination); grant or refusal to grant protection titles; 
registration and publication of decisions on granting protection titles. For 
international trademark applications designating Viet Nam, the processing 
procedures shall be specif ied at the Point 41.6 of this Circular.”.  
11. To amend and supplement Point 12.1 as follows:  
12.1 Applications may be filed with NOIP or to receiving offices established by 
NOIP. Applications may also be sent by post to the mentioned -above receiving 
office s. Filed applications and documents shall not be returned (except the 
originals which are used to verify their copies).”.  
12. To amend and supplement Point 13 as follows:  
a) To amend and supplement Point 13.2.b as follows:  
“b) The request contains insuffic ient information of the author (for invention, 
industrial design or layout design registration applications), applicant s, their 
representative; lack of the signature and/or seal (if any) of applicant s or their 
representative;”  
 b) To supplement Point 13.2. h as follows:  
“h) An application filed in contravention of the provisions on security control of 
an invention before filing to abroad under Clause 2, Article 23b of Decree No. 
103/2006/ND -CP, even it is  filed directly to the International Bureau.”.  
 c) To  amend and supplement Point 13.3 as follows:  
 “13.3 Errors in the application at the stage of formality examination  
An applicat ion shall be considered as erroneous  in the followings:  
a) An application fails to satisfy formality requirements as specified a t Point 7.2 
of this Circular (insufficient numbers of copies of any required documents; 
failing to satisfy the uniformity requirement; failing to satisfy the format 
requirements; failing to indicate the type of trademark sought to be registered, 11 
 
 lacking of  the trademark description; lacking of classification of inventions, 
industrial designs, goods/services bearing trademarks, or  inaccurate 
classification; lacking of translations  of documents proving  priority rights, when 
necessary; information of the appl icant in documents is inconsistent or erased or 
improperly certified);  
b) Fees, charges for filing, publication, examination, searching for examination 
have not yet been fully paid, except for substantive examination charges in case 
there is no request fo r substantive examination;  
c) There is no power of attorney or the p ower of attorney is invalid (if 
applications are filed through representatives).  
d) To amend and supplement Point 13.5.c as follows:  
“c) The determination of the priority dates according  to claims for priority rights 
based on initial application(s) filed in Viet Nam shall be followed the principles 
as specified in Article 91 of the Intellectual Property Law and provisions of 
Points b, c and e, Clause 1, Article 10 of Decree No. 103/2006/N Đ-CP.”.  
đ) To amend and supplement Point 13.6 as follows:  
“13.6 Notifications of results of formality examination, decisions on acceptance 
of the valid applications  
a) If applications fall  into one of the cases specified at Point 13.2 of this Circular 
or containing errors specified at Point 13.3 of this Circular, NOIP shall 
communicate applicants the results of formality examination, indicating its 
intended rejection of applications due to such errors. Those notices must clearly 
indicate the name and addre ss of applicants; names of the industrial property 
representative organizations (if applications are filed through that 
organizations); names of the subject matters contained in applications; filing 
dates and the serial numbers of applications; errors and reasons for which 
applications are rejected, and set a time limit of two months from the notice date 
for applicants to have opinions or correct errors.  
With regard to  documents evidencing grounds for the priority rights, applicants 
are permitted to submit those documents in a time limit of three months from the 
filing dates of applications.  
b) For valid applications, NOIP issues decisions on acceptance of valid 
applications, clearly stating the names and addresses of the applicants, the 
names of the authori zed representatives (if any) and information on the subject 
matter contained in the applications, the filing dates and the priority dates, and 12 
 
 communicate to the applicants. In case a claim for priority right is not accepted,  
the application is still valid ly accepted  except the application contains other 
errors affecting its validity and the reason for non -acceptance of the priority 
right must be clearly stated in the decision.”.  
e) To amend and supplement Point 13.7 as follows:  
“13.7 Rejection of applicati ons  
If applicants who have been sent notices by NOIP of results of formality 
examination with its intended rejection of the applications due to errors 
specified in Point 13.6.a of this Circular fails to correct errors or unsatisfactorily 
corrects errors o r makes no opposition or makes unreasonable oppositions to the 
intended rejection within the set time limits, NOIP shall issue decisions on 
rejection of the applications and send it to the applicants.”.  
13. To amend and supplement Point 14 as follows:  
a) To amend and supplement Point 14.1 as follows:  
“14.1 All information regarding validly accepted applications shall be published 
by NOIP in the Industrial Property Official Gazette. Applicants shall pay fees or 
charges for such publication.”.  
b) To amend an d supplement Point 14.3 as follows:  
“14.3 Contents of publication of applications  
a) Information related to valid accepted applications, including divisional 
applications which is published in the Industrial Property Official Gazette, shall 
include: Inform ation related to valid formality of applications as stated in 
decisions on acceptance of valid applications; full names and nationality of 
inventors, authors of industrial designs and integrated circuits; information 
related to the valid applications (tran sfer of applications, division of 
applications, serial numbers of parent applications, etc.); invention abstracts 
accompanied with drawings (if any); sets of photos or drawings of industrial 
designs; specimens of trademarks and lists of goods and services;  summaries of 
particular characteristics and names of products bearing geographical 
indications.  
b) Amendments , supplements and changes related to the information mentioned 
at Point a above shall also be published in the Industrial Property Official 
Gazet te.”. 
c) To amend and supplement Point 14.4 as follows:  13 
 
 14.4 Access to published information on valid applications  
Anyone may access detailed information on the nature of subject matters 
contained in applications published in the Industrial Property Offic ial Gazette or 
request NOIP to supply such information, subject to payments for such supplied 
information according to regulations.”.  
14. To amend and supplement Point 15 as follows:  
a) To amend and supplement Point 15.2.a as follows:  
“15.2 Reference of pr ior search results  
a) In the course of substantive examination of invention/industrial design 
applications having claims for priority rights, NOIP may use the results of 
information search and refer to examination results of those applications filed 
overse as.”. 
b) To amend and supplement Point 15.3 as follows:  
“15.3 Correction of errors, explanation of the contents of applications, supply of 
information.  
a) Where an application is erroneous  or not adequately disclosed the nature of 
the subject matter, NOIP sends the applicant a notices, clearly indicating the 
errors or requests the applicant for further justifying the contents of the 
application, supplying information in order to fully disclose of the nature of 
subject matter contained in the application and  set a time limit of three months 
as of the notification date for applicants to correct error s or deficiencies.  
b) All amendments or supplements to erroneous documents of applications shall 
be made by applicants themselves. NOIP only makes those amendments  or 
supplements when requested by applicants in writing. Applicants shall pay 
prescribed fees/charges for the examination of those amendments and 
supplementations. A request for amendment or supplementation of the 
application shall be enclosed with relevan t documents of applications and 
regarded as official documents of applications.”.  
c) To amend and supplement Point 15.7 as follows:  
“15.7 Works  to complete the substantive examination  
a) Notification of results of substantive examination  
On the date of ex piry of the time limit for substantive examination of the 
application specified at Point 15.8 of this Circular at the latest, NOIP shall send 
to the applicant one of the following notices:  14 
 
 (i) If the subject matter contained in an application fails to sat isfy the protection 
conditions, NOIP shall issue a notice on the results of substantive examination, 
indicating its intended refusal to grant a protection title, the reason(s) for refusal, 
possibly guiding the change of the protection scope (volume) and se tting a time 
limit of three months from the notice date for the applicant to give opinion;  
 (ii) If the subject matter contained in an application satisfies the protection 
conditions but still contains errors, NOIP shall issue a notice on the results of 
substantive examination, clearly indicating its intended refusal to grant a 
protection title, errors in the application and setting a time limit of three months 
from the notice date for the applicant to justify or correct errors;  
 (iii) If the subject matter  contained in an application satisfies the protection 
conditions or the applicant satisfactorily corrects errors or makes reasonable 
justifications within the time limit specified at Points l5.7.a (i) and (ii) above, 
NOIP shall issue a notice on the result s of substantive examination, in which:  
- If applications fall  into the cases specified at Point 15.6.đ of this Circular: 
Indicating its intended grant of the protection title and setting a time limit of 
three month from the notice date for the applicant t o pay fees for granting 
protection title, fees for publication of decisions of granting the protection title, 
fees for registration and the maintenance fees and fees for use of the protection 
title for the first years validity of the invention patent;  
- In case trademarks contains elements which must be excluded from protection: 
Indicating intended refusal of granting the protection title, concurrently stating 
the intentions and reasons for non -protection of such elements and  setting a 
time limit of three months from the notice date for the applicant to have his 
opinion.  
- If applications  do not fall  into the cases prescribed at Point 15.6.d of this 
Circular: Stating the further handling of applications in compliance with the 
provisions of Point 15.6.e of t his Circular.  
b) Upon the expiry of the time limit specified at Points 1 5.7.a (i) and (ii) above, 
if the applicant fails to correct errors or unsatisfactorily corrects errors, makes 
no opposition or an unreasonable opposition, within 15 days after the exp iry of 
the above time limit, NOIP shall issue the decision on refusal to grant the 
protection title.  
If the applicant finds out or provides new facts (which have not been considered 
in the examination process) that may affect the examination results, NOIP  shall, 15 
 
 at the request of the applicant, consider the revocation of the decision on refusal 
to grant the protection title and restore the examination process.  
c) If the applicant fails to pay fees for granting the protection title, fees for 
publication of the decision on granting the protection title, fees for registration 
of decision for granting the protection title within the time limit specified at 
Point 15.7.a (iii), within 15 working days after the expiry of the corresponding 
time limit, NOIP shall is sue decision on refusal for granting the protection title. 
For an invention application particularly, if within the time limit prescribed at 
Point 15.7.a (iii) above, the applicant has fully paid fees for granting the 
protection title, fees for publication  the decision to grant the protection title, fees 
for registration of decision on granting a protection title, but fails to pay the 
maintenance fee and fees for the use of protection title for the first year of 
invention or utility solution patents, such p rotection title shall be granted, but be 
terminated its validity immediately upon issuance.”.  
d) To amend and supplement Point 15.8.b as follows:  
b) If NOIP issues notices under Point 15.7.a (i) and (ii) of this Circular, the time 
limit for the applicant r esponding the notice shall not be counted into the time 
limit for the substantive examination. This interval time is understood as:  
(i) The period from the notice date to the date on which the applicant responds 
to the notice; or  
(ii) The time limit set ou t in the notice (including extension as prescribed), ì the 
applicant fails to respond to the notice.  
15. To amend and supplement Point 16 as follows:  
“16. Re -examination of applications  
16.1 Re -examination of an application challenged by an opposition afte r the 
issuance of a notice on intended grant/intended refusal to grant the protection 
title.  
a) The re -examination of an application according to the provisions of Clause 4, 
Article 117 of the Intellectual Property Law shall be carried out in the cases 
provided for in subparagraph (i) and shall meet the conditions set out in 
subparagraph (ii) and subparagraph (iii) below:  
(i) A written opinion is submitted by the applicant to NOIP during the period 
from the notice date on intended grant/intended refusal to  grant the protection 
title to the date prior to the issuance of a decision on grant/an official notice on 
refusal to grant the relevant protection title; or have a written opinion from a 16 
 
 third party opposing the intention to grant the protection title tog ether with the 
plausible reasons for having been unable to make opposition earlier;  
(ii) Opinion mentioned at Point 16.1.a(i) above are well -grounded and supported 
by proofs or references to reliable information sources;  
(iii) Arguments, evidences to provi ng opinions mentioned at Point 16.1.a (i) 
above must be different from those previously furnished (if any), or those 
arguments and evidences is not different but not yet answered by NOIP 
according to the provisions of Point 6.2 of this Circular.  
b) The tim e limit for re -examination of an application is defined in Clause 3, 
Article 119 of the Intellectual Property Law as follows:  
(i) For inventions, not exceeding 12 months;  
(ii) For trademarks, not exceeding 6 months;  
(iii) For industrial designs, not exceed ing 4 months and 20 days;  
(iv) For geographical indications, not exceeding 4 months.  
For complicated cases involving many details that need to be verified or need 
expert opinions, the time limit for re -examination may be prolonged, but must 
not exceed the time limit for the first examination as provided for in Clause 2 
Article 119 of the Law on Intellectual Property.  
c) Contents and procedures for re -examination shall comply with provisions of 
Points 15.6 and 15.7 of this Circular.  
d) The re -examination of the application shall be made only once for the 
applicant and for each third person.  
16.2 The re -examination of an application upon the request of the protection title 
holder for narrowing of the protection scope.  
If the protection title holder requests f or narrowing of the scope of the industrial 
property rights protection according to the provisions of Clause 3, Article 97 of 
the Intellectual Property Law, NOIP shall re -examine that application according 
to the contents and procedures specified at Points  15.6 and 15.7 of this Circular, 
as provided that the requester pays the prescribed fees, charges for examination 
of requests for narrowing of the protection scope and other fees, charges as 
prescribed.”.  
16. To amend and supplement Point 17 as follows:  
“17. Amendment/supplementation/division/conversion/transfer/ownership 
change/withdrawal of applications   
17.1 Amendment and supplementation  of applications  17 
 
 a) Before NOIP issues the decision on refusal to grant the protection title or a 
decision on the gran t of the protection title, the applicant may amend or 
supplement  documents of the application on his/her own initiative or upon the 
request of NOIP.  
The applicant for amendment of or supplement to an application shall have to 
pay fees for amendment of or s upplement to the application as prescribed, 
except for cases specified at Point h below. Where the amendment or 
supplementation subject to publication according to the provisions at Point 
14.3.b of this Circular, the applicant shall have to pay fees for pu blication of 
those amendment of or supplement to the application as prescribed. If request 
for correction of errors due to the fault of NOIP, the applicant shall not pay the 
above fees.  
b) For the request for amendment or supplementation of the following 
documents, the applicant shall submit amended or supplemented versions of 
those documents enclosed with a detailed written explanation of the contents 
amended or added in comparison to the initially submitted documents:  
(i) Description, abstract for the inv ention application;  
(ii) A set of 04 photos or drawings, description of integrated circuit, for the 
integrated circuit application;  
(iii) A set of 04 photos or 04 drawings, description of design, for the industrial 
design;  
(iv) A set of 05 trademark specim en, list of goods and services bearing the 
trademark, for a trademark application;  
(v) Description of distinctive characteristics, quality and reputation of products, 
the map of the geographical area corresponding to the geographical indication, 
for a geog raphical indication application.  
c) The amendment and supplementation of an application must not expand the 
protection scope (volume) beyond the contents which have been disclosed in the 
description of invention applications, the set of photos/drawings and  description 
for industrial design applications, in the specimen and list of goods and services 
for trademark applications, and must not change the nature of the subject matter 
contained in the application. If the amendment expands the protection scope 
(volume) or changes the nature of the subject matter sought to the protection, it 
shall not be accepted, the applicant shall file a new application and all related 
procedures are restarted from the beginning.  
d) The applicant may request correction of errors in the names, addresses of the 
applicant, and names and nationality of inventors and authors of integrated 18 
 
 circuits and industrial designs.  
đ) All requests for amendment and supplementation must be made in writing 
according to Form 01 -SĐĐ attached to the Appendix B of this Circular. A 
request may be made for amendment of the same contents relating to many 
applications, provided that the reques ter pays the fees for examination of 
amended contents in those applications.  
e) If the applicant amends or supplements the documents contained in 
applications on his/her own initiative after NOIP issues the decision on 
acceptance of valid application, the amendments or supplements shall be made 
according to the provisions of Points 13.2, 13.3 and 13.6 of this Circular. 
Amended and supplemented contents shall be published in the Industrial 
Property Official Gazette according to the provisions of Point 14 of this Circular 
and applicant shall pay fees for such publication as prescribed.  
g) A request for amendment of an application filed after NOIP notifies its 
intention to grant the protection title in following cases, the appliation shall be 
re-examined:  
(i) A mendment of the information relating to the nature of the subject matter 
contained in the application: Description of the invention; description, set of 
photos/drawings of the industrial design; trademark specimen and lists of 
goods/services bearing the tr ademark, regulations on the use of collective 
trademarks, regulations on the use of certification trademarks; description of the 
distinctive characteristics, quality and reputation of the product bearing the 
geographical indication or geographical area cor responding to the geographical 
indication;  
(ii) Change of trademark owner.  
h) The amendment, supplementation of an application, including change of the 
authorized party, which is made by the applicant on his/her own initiative or at 
the request of NOIP, mu st be made in writing, clearly specifying the amended 
and supplemented contents, and enclosed with the fee receipt for such an 
amendment and supplementation. Documents containing amendments and 
supplements to applications must comply with the relevant prov isions of Points 
7, 10 and 13 of this Circular.  
17.2 Division of applications  
a) Before NOIP issues a decision refusing to accept the application, the decision 
on grant or refusal to grant the protection title, the applicant may divide, on 
his/her own ini tiative or upon the request of NOIP, his/her application (division 
of one or several technical solutions from an invention application, one or 
several industrial designs from an industrial design application, one or several 19 
 
 components of a trademark or par t of the list of goods and services in a 
trademark application to one or several new applications, referred to as 
divisional applications).  
b) A divisional application must be given a new serial number and enjoys the 
filing date or priority date(s) of the  parent application (if any), and shall be 
published according to the provisions of Point 14 of this Circular after the 
issuance of the decision on acceptance of valid application.  
c) For each divisional application, the applicant shall pay a filing fee an d other 
fees/charges for procedures carried out independently from the parent 
application (in addition to the procedures that have been conducted in the 
original application without having to re -do in the divisional application), but is 
exempted from fees for claims for priority rights (except for case of divisional of 
the industrial design application due to lack of uniformity). Divisional 
applications are subject to formality examination and shall be further processed 
according to the provided procedures that have not yet completed in their parent 
applications. Divisional applications shall be re -published and applicants shall 
pay a publication fee if the division is made after NOIP issues decision on 
acceptance of valid applications for parent application s. 
d) Parent application (after being divided) shall continue to be processed in 
accordance with the amendment procedures. After carrying out procedures for 
amending the patent application, NOIP shall issue a notice accepting the 
amendment of the applicati on, then publish the amended contents if the parent 
application has been accepted as the valid application by a NOIP’s decision and 
the applicant must pay fees for examination of the application’s amendment.  
17.3 Conversion of applications  
a) Before NOIP i ssues a decision on its refusal to acceptance of valid 
application, decision on grant or refusal to grant a protection title, a applicant 
may convert his application for an invention patent into a utility solution patent 
or vice versa according to the prov isions of Point đ, Clause 1, Article 115 of the 
Intellectual Property Law, provided that the applicant pays a prescribed fees for 
application conversion.  
b) After receiving the valid request for application conversion, NOIP shall 
continue carrying out the procedures for processing the converted application 
according to relevant provisions, but shall not carry out again the procedures 
already completed for the application before the conversion request is made.  
17.4 Request for recording the change of owner  
a) Before NOIP issues a decision on refusal to acceptance of valid application, 
decision on grant or refusal to grant a protection title, the applicant may request 20 
 
 NOIP for recording the change of the applicant onwer based on an application 
transfer, inher itance, succession  or decision of a competent agency.  
b) Transfer of applications  
(i) Documents for transfer of industrial property applications (originals or copies 
certified by the public notary or a competent agency) must contain the following 
principal  contents:  
- Name and address of the transferor and the transferee;  
- The serial number of the transferred application or information sufficient to 
identify the application;  
(ii) The request for recording the application transfer shall be made according to  
Form 02 -CGĐ as stipulated in Annex B of this Circular. The applicant may 
make one transfer request for multiple applications of the same applicant, 
provided that fees for examination of the application transfer shall be made in 
accordance with the corresp onding number of applications;  
(iii) If a request for the transfer of a trademark application is filed after a notice 
of intended to grant a protection by NOIP, the trademark application shall be re -
examined and published transferred contents. The applican t shall pay fees for 
examination and publication of application as prescribed.  
 c) Change of the owner due to inheritance, succession  or decision of the 
competent authority  
(i) The applicant may request the change of the owner of industrial property 
applic ations on the basis of inheritance, succession  or inheritance of the assets 
upon consolidation, merger, division, separation of legal persons, joint ventures 
or associates or establishment of a new legal entity of the same owner, change of 
business mode or  under the decision of a court or other competent authority;  
(ii) The procedures provided for at Point 17.4.c (i) above shall be carried out in 
line with the procedures for application amendment as provided for at Point 17.1 
of this Circular.  
17.5 Withdraw al of application  
a) The withdrawal of the application must be made by the applicant or by his 
representative who is authorized in writing. For an application filed through a 
representative, the power of attorney must specify the authorization of 
withdrawi ng the application or is enclosed by a letter indicating the serial 
number of the application to be withdrawn.  
b) Within two months after receiving the request, NOIP shall:  
(i) Issue a notice of withdrawal in the case of the request for withdrawal meeting 21 
 
 requirements of clause 17.5(a) of this Circular, terminate the processing of the 
application and record the withdrawal of the application. The withdrawn 
industrial property application cannot be restored, but may be used as a basis for 
requesting the prior ity right as stipulated in Clause 3, Article 116 of the 
Intellectual Property Law; or  
(ii) Issue a notice of refusal to accept the withdrawal as a result of a withdrawal 
request that does not meet the requirements of clause 17.5 (a) above.  
17. To amend an d supplement Point 18 as follows:  
a) To amend and supplement Point 18.2.a as follows:  
“a) Within 15 days after applicants pay fully and on time the prescribed fees and 
charges, NOIP shall carry out the procedures for granting protection titles 
according to  the provisions of Article 118 of the Intellectual Property Law.’.  
b) To amend and supplement Point 18.3 as follows:  
“18.3 Grant of protection title duplicates and re -grant of protection titles/ 
protection title duplicates  
a) Where the industrial property rights are under co -ownership, the protection 
title is only granted to the first person mentioned to in the list of co -applicants. 
Other co -holders may request NOIP to issue duplicates of the protection title but 
shall pay a fee therefor . 
b) Where protecti on titles/duplicates of protection titles are lost or damaged, 
torn, stained or faded so that it can not be used, loosed so that it can not be 
sealed, the owners of industrial property rights who has been granted the 
protection title/ duplicates of the pro tection title may request NOIP to re -issue 
the protection title/duplicates of the protection title, subject to the payment of a 
duplicate charges.  
c) Request for the duplicate of a protection title, the re -issuance of a protection 
title/duplicates of a pro tection title  
The request for the duplicate of a protection title, the re -issuance of the 
protection title or duplicate of the protection title must be made in writing, 
unless it is made in the request for registration of the industrial property’s 
subject matter. The dossier must consist of one set of the following documents:  
(i) Request for the duplicate of a protection title, the re -issuance of the 
protection title shall be made according to Form No. 03 -PBVB/GCN in 
Appendix C to this Circular.  
(ii) 02 tra demark specimens, 02 sets of photos or drawings of the industrial 
design which is identical with the trademark specimen, a set of photos or 22 
 
 drawings of the industrial design in the original protection title;  
(iii) Power of Attorney (if the request is filed  through a representative);  
(iv) Copies of payment receipt of fees/charges (if the payment is made via postal 
services or transfer to NOIP's bank account).  
d) Handling of requests for grant of the duplicate or renewal of a protection title  
(i) Within one m onth after receiving the requests, NOIP shall examine the request 
for granting the duplicate of a protection title, re -granting the protection title/ 
duplicate of a protection title. If that request meets the above requirements, NOIP 
shall issue a decision  on for granting the duplicate of the protection title or re -
granting the protection title/duplicate of the protection title and record it in the 
respective sections in the National Register of Industrial Property;  
(ii) The duplicate of the protection titl e must contain all information of the 
original protection title, with the indication of “duplicated version”. The re -
granted protection title/duplicate of the protection title must contain all 
information of their original ones, with the indication of “re -granted version”;  
(iii) If the request for granting the duplicate of the protection title or re -granting 
the protection title/duplicate of the protection title fails to meet the requirements 
specified at Point 18.3.c above, NOIP shall issue a notice and se t a time limit of 
02 months from the date of the notice for correction and opinion by requester. If 
at the expiry of the above time limit, the requester fails to correct the errors or 
correct the errors unsatisfactory or has no opposition or has opposition  of NOIP’s 
notice, but unjustified, NOIP shall issue a decision the refusal to grant the 
duplicate of the protection title or re -granting the protection title/duplicate of a 
protection title, clearly stating the reasons .”. 
18. To amend and supplement Point  19 as follows:  
a) To amend and supplement Point 19.1.b as follows:  
“b) The National Registers specified at Point 19.1.a (i), (ii), (iii), (iv), (v) and (vi) 
above contains respective sections of each types of industrial property protection 
title, and each  section must consist of:  
(i) Information of the protection title: serial number, granting date; title the 
protected subject matter, scope/volume of protection and duration of validity; 
name and address of the protection title holder/the registrant of the geographical 
indication, name and address of the author of the invention, layout design or 
industrial design;  
(ii) Information on the application filed for the protection title (serial number, 
filing date, priority date, name of the industrial property re presentatives, if any);  23 
 
 (iii) All information on the amendment of the protection title, the validity status of 
the protection title (maintenance, renewal, termination and invalidation of 
validity); transfer of ownership and rights to use of industrial prop erty subject 
matters; serial number, granting date and changes of industrial property 
representatives, if any.”.  
b) To amend and supplement Point 19.1.d (iii) as follows:  
 “(iii) Information on changes of the list of industrial property representatives 
(new grant, re -grant, withdrawal of certificates of industrial property 
representative practices, etc.).”.  
c) To amend and supplement Point 19.1.e as follows:  
“e) The National Registers shall be established by NOIP and archived in the 
printed, electronic or o ther forms. Any person may do searching on the electronic 
National Registers, if any or request NOIP to issue copies or extracts from the 
National Registers, and shall pay a fee for those copy copies or extracts.”.  
d) To amend and supplement Point 19.2 as follows:  
“a) All decisions on granting protection titles, decisions on protection of 
international trademark applications shall be published by NOIP in the Industrial 
Property Official Gazette within two months from the date of decisions, after 
applicants  pay the prescribed fees for publication.  
b) Information published according to the provisions of Point 19.2.a above 
includes those written in the decisions, such as: abstract of invention; set of 
photos or drawings of industrial design; specimens and list  of goods and services 
bearing the trademark; geographical indication and the products bearing the 
geographical indication.”.  
19. To amend and supplement Point 20 as follows:  
a) To amend and supplement Point 20.1 as follows:  
“20.1 Amendment of information on the protection title and narrowing of the 
protection scope  
a) Request for amendment of information on protection titles,  change of holders 
of protection titles  
The owner of the protection title or a person who is authorized by the State to 
register a ge ographical indication as stipulated in Article 88 of the Intellectual 
Property Law may request NOIP to record the change of information on the 
protection title in the following cases:  
 (i) Change in the name and address of the protection title holder; name , 
nationality of the author of the invention, industrial design or layout design; 24 
 
 change of the representative of the protection title owner;  
(ii) Change of the protection title holder (transfer of ownership by inheritance, 
succession, merger, division, sp litting, consolidation, joint venture, association, 
establishment of new legal persons of the same owner, a change of business 
mode, a decision of a court or competent authority);  
(iii) Amendment of the description of the distinctive characteristics, quali ty and 
reputation of products bearing the geographical indication, geographical area 
corresponding to the geographical indication, regulations on the use of collective 
trademarks, regulations on the use of certification trademarks.  
The person requesting fo r recording the changes of information on the protection 
title shall pay the examination fees the request for the amendments of protection 
titles, registration fees and fees for publication of decisions on recording the 
amendments of protection titles.  
The person requesting for recording the change of industrial property 
representatives shall submit the lawful power of attorney from protection title 
holders and pay fees for recording the change of the industrial property 
representatives as prescribed.  
b) A request for narrowing of the protection scope  
A protection title holder is entitled to file a request NOIP for narrowing of the 
protection scope according to the provisions of Clause 3, Article 97 of the 
Intellectual Property Law in the following cases:  
(i) Request for amendment of minor details without any substantial change in the 
trademark specimen contained in the Certificate of trademark registration;  
(ii) Request for exclusion of one or several goods or services or groups of goods 
or services from the list of goods or services specified in the Certificate of 
trademark registration without any change in the trademark specimen;  
(iii) Request for exclusion of one or several independent or dependent claims 
under in the (requested) protection scope recor ded in the invention or utility 
solution patent;  
(iv) Request for exclusion of one or several industrial design variations, one or 
several products from the set of products contained in the industrial design 
patents.  
Requesters for narrowing the protection  scope shall pay an examination fees for 
narrow of the protection scope, the registration fees and the fees for publication of 
decisions on amendment of the protection title.  
c) Application for the amendment of protection titles  25 
 
 Depending on contents which  need to be amended or supplemented as defined at 
Points 20.l.a, 20.l.b above and Point b, Clause 1, Article 97 of the Intellectual 
Property Law, a application must comprise a set of the following:  
(i) A request for amendment of the protection title made i n the form of 01 -SĐVB 
in the Annex C of this Circular, clearly stating the request for recordal of change 
in the name, address of the protection title holders; name and nationality of the 
author of the protection titles for the invention/utility solution or in dustrial design; 
change the representatives of the protection title owners; change the onwers of the 
protection title; request the amendment of the description of the distincetive 
characteristics, quality and reputation of the products bearing the geograph ical 
indication, map of the geographical area corresponding to the geographical 
indication, regulations on the use of the collective trademarks, regulations on the 
use the certification trademarks; or narrow of the protection scope.  
(iii) Documents certif ying the change of the name, address (the originals or copies 
certified by the public notary or competent agencies); decisions on the change in 
name, address; business registration certificate that records the change in name, 
address; other legal documents  evidencing for the change in name, address 
(certified by the public notary or competent agencies) – if the requested 
amendments relate to the change in name, address;  
(iv) Documents evidencing the transfer of ownership according to the provisions 
at Point  20.l.a (ii) above, if the request for change in the protection title holder 
(documents evidencing the inheritance, succession, merger, separation, joint 
venture, association, establishment of new legal entity of the same owner, change 
in business operatio n or under decisions of court or competent agencies);  
 (v) Detailed explanation of amended contents;  
(vi) 05 specimens of the amended trademark (if request for amendment of the 
trademark’s details); 05 set of photos or drawings of the industrial design (if  the 
request for amendment of the industrial design); 02 copies of descriptions of the 
distinctive characteristic, quality and reputation of the product bearing the 
geographical indication or amended map of the geographical area corresponding 
to the geogra phical indication (if request for amendment of the geographical 
indication); 02 copies of amended regulations on the use of collective trademark 
or certification trademark (if request for amendment of collective trademark or 
certification trademark);  
(vii) Power of attorney (if the request is made through the representative);  
(viii) Copies of receipt of paid fees/charges (in case of payment is made via the 
postal service or transferred to NOIP's bank account).  
A request for the amendment of the protection t itle may ask for amendment of 26 
 
 several protection titles if the same amendment is made, provided that the 
applicants shall pay the amendment fees for each protection titles as prescribed.  
d) Handling of requests for amendment of protection titles  
(i) Within  two month after receiving an application, NOIP shall examine  the 
request for the amendment of the protection title as provided for in points 20.1.a 
(i) and 20.1.a (ii) of this Circular. If the request is valid, NOIP shall issue a 
decision on amendment of  the protection title, register and make it published in 
the Industrial Property Official Gazette. If the request is error or invalid, the 
NO1P shall send to the requester a notice informing its intended refusal to accept 
the amendment, clearly stating the  reason for the refusal and setting a time limit 
of two months as of notice date for correction of errors or for opposition. Within 
the set time limit, if the requester fails to correct errors or unsatisfactorily corrects 
errors, makes no opposition or an unreasonable opposition, NOIP shall issue a 
decision on rejection of the request for the amendment of protection titles.  
For requests for amendments of protection titles as prescribed at Point 20.1.a (iii) 
and Point 20.1.b, the procedures for re -examinatio n of such applications shall be 
conducted according to the contents and procedures specified at Point 15.6 and 
Point 15.7 of this Circular. The time limit for re - examination shall not be counted 
into the time limit for examination of the request for amend ments of protection 
titles.”.  
b) To amend and supplement Point 20.2.b as follows:  
“b) The protection title holder shall pay fees for examination of the request for 
amendments of protection titles according to the provisions of Clause 1, Article 
97 of the I ntellectual Property Law, if the error is caused due to their fault. If the 
error is caused due to NOIP’s fault, the fees shall not be paid by the protection 
title holder.”.  
20.3 Maintenance of validity of invention protection titles  
To have the validity o f his/her invention protection title maintained, the protection 
title holder shall pay a validity maintenance fee within six months before the 
expiration of the validity term. The payment of the validity maintenance fee may 
be delayed for no more than six months after the expiration of the current validity 
term but the protection title holder shall pay the maintenance fee plus 10% for 
each month of delayed payment.  
c) To amend and supplement Point 20.3 as follows:  
“20.3 Maintenance of validity of invention/ utility solution protection titles  
a) To have the validity of his/her invention protection title maintained, the 
protection title holder shall submit a request made in Form 02 -GH/DTVB, a valid 27 
 
 power of attorney (if the request is filed through a representa tive) and the fees for 
examination of validity maintenance, fees for validity maintenance and fees for 
use of the protection title, registration fees and fee for publication of validity 
maintenance of the protection title within 06 months up to the expiry of the 
validity term. The procedure for validity maintenance may be conducted later 
than the said time limit, but not exceed six months from the expiration date, and 
the protection title holder shall pay an additional amount of 10% of maintenance 
fees for each belated month.  
b) NOIP shall examine the request for validity maintenance within one month 
from the date of receipt of the request and the fees/charges payment and stipulated 
in Point 20.3.a above. If the request is valid, NOIP shall record it in the National 
Register of Inventions, issue a notice on the validity maintenance of the protection 
title, and publish it in the Industrial Property Gazette.  
If the request is error or invalid, NOIP shall issue a notice of that and fix a time 
limit of two months  from the notice date for the requester to correct the errors or 
make oppositions. If the requester fails to correct the errors or unsatisfactorily 
correct the errors or make no opposition or make unsatisfactory the oppositions 
within the said time limit, NOIP issues the decision on refusal of the validity 
maintain of protection titles.”.  
d) To amend and supplement Point 20.4 as follows:  
 “20.4 Extension of the validity of protection titles  
a) The validity of invention patents, utility solution patents and certificates of 
registered layout designs shall not be extended.  
The validity of industrial design patents may be extended twice, for a period of 
five years each. Where a protected industrial design has several variations, the 
patent may be extended for a ll or some of the variations, in which there must be a 
basic variation.  
The validity of a certificate of registered trademark may be extended many times, 
for a period of ten years each, for all or part of the list of goods and services.  
b) To have the vali dity of industrial design patents or Certificates of trademark 
registration extended, within 06 months before the expiration date of the validity 
of the patents or certificates, the patent or certificate holders shall file an 
application for extension to N OIP and pay fees for examination of application for 
extension, fees for extension of protection titles, fees for registration and fees for 
publication of decision on extension of protection titles.  
The application for validity extension may be filed latter  than the above -
mentioned time limit, but not exceed 06 months after the expiration of validity of 28 
 
 the protection titles, and the protection title holder shall pay an extension fee plus 
10% for each month of delayed filing.  
c) Applications for validity ext ension  
An application for extension of validity of the protection title consists of the 
following:  
(i) Request for validity extension of the protection title, made in Form 02 -
GH/DTVB in Annex C of this Circular;  
(ii) Original protection titles (if the exte nsion is requested to be recorded in the 
protection title);  
(iii) Power of attorney (if the application is filed through a representative);  
(iv) Receipts of the prescribed fees (if payment is made through the postal 
services or transferred to NOIP’s bank a ccount).  
d) Handling of applications for validity extension  
NOIP shall examine the application for validity extension within one month as of 
filing date. If the application is valid, NOIP shall issue a decision on the validity 
extension, recording it in p rotection titles, registering and publishing it in the 
Industrial Property Official Gazette within 02 months.  
After the procedure for extension has been completed, if the protection title holder 
requests NOIP to record the decision on the extension of vali dity in the protection 
title, the protection title holder shall carry out the procedures for amendment of 
the protection title and payment of fees, charges as prescribed.  
NOIP shall issue a notice on its intended refusal to extend the validity, clearly 
stating the reason and setting a time limit of two month from the of notice date for 
the applicant to correct errors or make oppositions if the application for validity 
extension falls into one of the following cases:  
(i) It is invalid or filed in contravent ion of the prescribed procedures;  
(ii) The applicant is not the protection title holder.  
If within the set time limit, the applicant fails to correct errors or unsatisfactorily 
corrects errors, makes no opposition or unreasonable oppositions, NOIP shall 
issue a decision on its refusal to extend the validity.”.  
20. To amend and supplement Point 21 as follows:  
“21. Termination, invalidation of protection titles  
21.1 Requests for termination, invalidation of protection titles  
Organizations and individuals requ esting for termination or invalidation of 
protection titles as provided for in Clause 4, Article 95 and Clause 3, Article 96 of 29 
 
 the Intellectual Property Law shall have to pay fees for the request, charges for 
examination of request for termination or inva lidation of protection titles, fees for 
registration and publication of decision on termination or invalidation of 
protection titles.  
Requests for the termination or invalidation of protection titles shall be handled 
according to the provisions of Articles  95 and 96 of the Intellectual Property Law 
and this Point.  
For requests for invalidation of protection titles, NOIP shall re -examine the 
corresponding applications according to the contents á prescribed at Points  15.6 
and 15.7 of this Circular.  
21.2 Appli cations for termination or invalidation of protection titles  
a) An application may request for termination or invalidation of one or more than 
one protection titles by invoking the same reasons, provided that the applicant 
shall pay prescribed fees for ea ch protection title.  
b) An application for termination or invalidation of the protection title must 
comprises the followings:  
(i) The request for termination or invalidation of the protection title, made 
according to 04 -CDHB in Annex C of this Circular;  
(ii) Proofs (if any);  
(iii) Power of attorney (if the request is filed through a representative);  
(iv) A written justification of the request (clearly stating the serial number of the 
protection title, reasons, legal grounds, contents requested for terminati on or 
invalidation of a part of or entire the protection title) and relevant documents as 
specified at Points 7.2, 22.2 and 22.3 of this Circular;  
(v) Receipts of the prescribed fees and charges (except the fees is paid through 
postal services or transfer to NOIP’s bank account).  
21.3 Handling of requests for termination or invalidation of protection titles  
a) If a request for termination or invalidation of the protection title is made by a 
third party, NOIP shall notify in writing the third party’s opinion  to the protection 
title holder within one month as of date of receiving the request, and setting a time 
limit of two months from the notice date for the protection title holder to respond. 
NOIP may hold a face -to-face meeting between the third party and t he protection 
title holder for their view exchange.  
b) Have considered the opinions of the parties, NOIP shall issue the decision on 
termination or invalidation of part of or the entire protection title or notify its 
refusal to terminate or invalidate the protection title according to the provisions of 30 
 
 Clause 4, Article 95 and Clause 4, Article 96 of the Intellectual Property Law.  
The time limit for issuing decisions and notices provided for at this Point is 03 
months from the expiry of the two -month time l imit specified in Point 21.3.a if 
the protection title holder makes no opinion, or from receiving date the protection 
title holder’s opinion. This time limit may be prolonged for a maximum of 03 
months if the opinions of the applicants for termination or i nvalidation of the 
protection title and the third party is different.  
Where the protection title holder declares to waive his/her industrial property 
rights under the provisions of Clause 3, Article 95 of the Intellectual Property 
Law, the above -said time limit shall be 10 working days from the date of 
receiving the request.  
The time for carrying out other relevant procedures, which are necessary to 
handle the request for termination or invalidation of the protection, title shall not 
be included in the abov e-said time limit.  
c) If dis agreeing with NOIP’s decision or notice on handling of the request for 
termination or invalidation of the protection title, the applicant or an involved 
party may lodge an appeal about that decision or the relevant notice in ac cordance 
with the procedures specified at Point 22 of this Circular.  
d) A decision on termination or invalidation of the protection title shall be 
published in the Industrial Property Official Gazette and recorded in the National 
Register of Industrial Pr operty within two months from the decision date.  
21.4 Termination or invalidation of international registrations of trademarks  
a) For an application for termination or invalidation of an international 
registration of trademark under the Madrid Agreement or  the Madrid Protocol of 
a third party, NOIP shall notify the request for termination or invalidation to the 
trademark holder through the International Bureau, setting a time limit of three 
months from the notification date for the trademark holder to respo nd.  
b) The decision on termination or invalidation of an international registration of 
trademark shall be sent to the international Bureau for carrying out relevant 
procedures under the Madrid Agreement or the Madrid Protocol and published in 
the Industri al Property Official Gazette.  
c) Other relevant provisions on the handling of applications for termination or 
invalidation of international registrations of trademarks shall be the same as those 
for registrations of trademarks filed in the national format. ”.  
21. Changes and amendments to Point 22 as follows:  
“ 22. Complaints  and settlement  of complaints  with regard to  procedures  for 31 
 
 establishment  of industrial  property  rights  
22.1. Persons  entitled  to complain,  objects  of a complaint , time limit for 
complaint  and persons responsible for settling  complaints  
a) Persons  entitled  to complain  as defined  in Clause  1, Article  14 of Decree 
No. 103/2006/ND -CP are applicants and entities, individuals having rights 
and benefits directly linked with offici al notifications  or decisions  of NOIP  
provided for in the below paragraph b, who allege that the official 
notifications or decisions are illegal or nullify or impair their legitimate 
rights and benefits . 
b) Decisions and official notifications that can be com plained as defined in 
Clause 1 Article 14 of Decree No. 103/2006/NĐ -CP are decisions and 
official notifications of NOIP on each procedures in the handling process of 
industrial property application corresponding to provisions under this 
Circular, including  the following decisions, official notifications:  
(i) Notifications on refusal of admission of applications (Point 12.2.b);  
(ii) Decision of accepting valid applications (Point 13.6.b);  
(iii) Decision on refusal of admission of applications (Point 13.7);  
(iv) Notifications on accepting or refusing requests for correcting/amending 
applications, transferring applications/replacing applicants/withdrawing 
applications (Point 17);  
(v) Decisions on refusal of granting protection titles (Point 15.7.b and Point 
15.7.c); decisions on grating protection titles (Point 18.2.a), except for the 
case where the corresponding protection titles may be invalidated as defined 
under Article 96 of the Intellectual Property Law and Point 21 of this 
Circular;  
(vi) Decisions of refu sal international trademark registration (Point 41.6.g); 
decisions of accepting international trademark registration (Point  41.6.b, 
41.6.đ and 41.6.e), except for the case where the corresponding international 32 
 
 registration can be invalidated as defined under Article 96 of the Intellectual 
Property Law and Point 21 of this Circular;  
(vii) Decisions of issuing duplications of pr otection titles, decisions on re -
issuing protection titles (Point 18.3.d (i)); decisions of refusal of issuing 
duplication of protection titles, decisions of refusal of re -issuing protection 
titles (Point 18.3.d (iii));  
(viii) Notifications on maintaining the protection titles, decisions of refusing 
the maintenance of protection titles (Point 20.3.b);  
(ix) Decisions of renewal of protection titles, decisions of refusal of 
renewing protection titles (Point 20.4.d);  
(x) Decisions of correcting protection ti tles, decisions of refusing requests 
for correcting protection titles (Point 20.1.d (i));  
(xi) Decisions of cancellation/invalidation a part of/whole protection titles , 
notifications on refusing request for cancellation/invalidation of protection 
titles (P oint 21.3.b);  
(xii) Decisions, notification on the handling of requests for cancellation and 
invalidation of international registration ( Point  21.4.b);  
(xiii) Other decisions and official notifications of administrative decision 
nature.  
Notifications that are of information nature, requesting fulfillment of 
applications will not be considered as administrative decisions and not be 
the object of complaints, i.e. notifications on examination results, 
notifications on irregularities, request on correcting, ame nding documents, 
intention of refusal, notifications on provisional refusal of international 
trademark registration.  
c) Objects of decisions, notifications being complained that will be 
examined are industrial property applications as it is at the time of issuing 
such decisions/notifications. The following contents of complaints are out of 33 
 
 the scope of complaint settlement, therefore are not admitted in the 
complaint settlement process:  
(i) Requests for change, amendment to industrial property applications 
which are the object of decisions, notifications being complained;  
(ii) New facts not been submitted by industrial property applicants in the 
examination process that may change decisions, notifications being 
complained;  
(iii) New facts in complaint applic ations which are out of the scope of 
search and examination responsibility of NOIP in the process of 
examination of industrial property applications where complainants are not 
applicants of industrial property applications which are the objects of 
decision s, notifications being complained. In this case, complainants can 
request NOIP to conduct the additional examination of new facts and pay 
prescribed additional fee.  
The afore -mentioned cases that meet the criteria under Point 9.3 and Point 
9.4 of this Circ ular can be addressed in accordance with procedures thereof.  
d) Decisions, notifications will be considered illegal in the following cases:  
(i) Decisions, notifications were issued in the wrong formats, procedures 
and authority;  
(ii) Decisions, notificatio ns that have judgement, decision not corresponding 
with facts, evidence or applying appropriate legal provisions;  
(iii) Decisions, notifications were issued on the basis of examination or 
assessment results that did not recourse to appropriate legal provi sions.  
đ) Complaints should be made within the time limit provided for in 
paragraph 4, Article 14 of Decree No. 103/2006/NĐ -CP. In case, persons 
entitled to complaint, cannot take action in the said time limit due to 
subjective obstacles or force majeure p rovided for in Point 9.5 of this 
Circular, the time period of that they encounter such subjective obstacle or 34 
 
 force majeure will not be calculated with the condition that complainants 
have reasonable evidence to prove the situation.  
e) The person having au thority to settle the first instance complaint is the 
Director General of the National Office of Intellectual Property. The person 
having authority to settle the second instance complaint is the Minister of 
Science and Technology (hereinafter referred as „ complaint settlers“).  
22.2 Complaints  
a) Each complaint should mention one or two or more complained 
decision(s) or notice(s) if that have the same complained content and for the 
same complaining reason, provided that the complainant pays the prescribed fe e 
for service of handling industrial property complaint (if any), inlcuding fee for 
complaint examination, fee for searching information for each complained 
decision or notice as specified at law.  
b) A complaint comprises the following documents:  
(i) Writt en declaration for complaining made according to the Model 
Form 05 -KN at Appendix C of this Circular;  
(ii) Written explanation of the complaint (according to the provisions of 
Point 22.2.2c) and proofs supporting the complaining reason (according to the 
provisions of Point 22.2.2d);   
(iii) Copy of NOIP’s complained decision or notice  and a copy of 
application for registration of industrial property right that is the object of the 
complained decision or notice (in case of the second -time complaint); or 
docum ents guiding on the above -mentioned documents;  
(iv) Copy of the decision on settlement of the first -time complaint (for a 
second -time complaint);  
(v) Power of attorney (if the application is filed through a representative); 
For the second -time complaint, a  copy of the power of attorney under the case as 
specified at Point 4.5 of this Circular shall be certified by NOIP;  
(vi) A copy of receipts of the prescribed fees and charges ( if the fees, 
charges are paid by post or directly paid to the account of NOIP) .  
c) Written explanation of the complaint must clearly state : 
(i) Complained object: the complained decision or notice (clarly stating 
decision or notice numbers and dates of issuance);  
(ii) Reason for complaining: provision that is violated (title of th e legal 
document, provision number) and lawful rights and benefits that are violated;  
(iii) Content of the complaint: clearly stating and explaining in detail 
(evidences accompanied (if any)) on elements of the complained decision or 
notice that are in con travention of the legal provisions as specified at Point 35 
 
 22.1.d of this Circular;  
(iv) Request of the complainant: amending, partially or wholly 
invalidating the complained decision or notice;  
(v) List of accompanied evidences (if any).  
d) Proofs include d ocuments (evidence) or objects (exhibits) to prove or 
clarify the complaining reason. A proof must satisfy the following requirements:  
(i) It may be a document in a foreign language enclosed with its 
Vietnamese translation if the complaint -settler requests ; 
(ii) If it is a document made and signed by an individual or organization 
that has no lawful seal or a foreign individual or organization, the signature of 
that individual or organization must be certified by a notary public or a 
competent agency at law;  
(iii) If it is an information carrier (printed matter, video tape, etc.), the 
origin and date of distribution or publication of that carrier, or the origin or the 
date of publication of information stored in that carrier shall be clearly indicated 
on a ca se-by-case basis;  
(iv) An exhibit must be accompanied with a written description of its 
features that are directly related to the complained contents.  
22.3 Responsibilities of complainants  
A complainant shall ensure the truthfulness of supplied information  and 
proofs and are liable for consequences of the supply of untruthful information 
and proofs. 22.4 Withdrawal of complaints  
a) At any time, a complainant may notify in writing the withdrawal of 
his/her complaint. If the withdrawal of a complaint is made a s authorized by the 
complainant, the mandated withdrawal must be clearly stated in the power of 
attorney.  
b) A withdrawn application shall be considered as having not been filed. 
The written complaint shall not be returned and the paid amounts of fee for 
complaint handling service shall not be refunded to the complainant, except that 
the complaint is withdrawn prior to the date of issuance of the notice on 
acceptance of or refusal on the complaint.  
c) Issuing a decision on cancellation on complaint settling  by the 
complaint -settler if it falls into one of the following cases:  
(i) The complainant withdraws the complaint;  
(ii) The complaint -settler has twice sent notices of setting up a dilogue or 
request for clearly certifying complained contents but fails to  get any responses 
from the complainant.  
22.5 Acceptance of complaints  
a) Within ten days after receiving a complaint, the complaint -settler shall : 
(i) Issuing the notice on refusal of the complaint, if it falls into one of the 36 
 
 following cases as specifie d at Point 22.5.b, in which the reason for refusal is 
clearly stated; or  
(ii) Issuing the notice on acceptance of the complaint if it fails to fall into 
one of the following cases as specified at Point 25.5.b, in which the date of 
acceptance is indicated a nd fees for searching and/or examination to handle 
complained contents relevant to the complaint (if any) are determined and the 
time limit of one month for the complainant to pay fees is set.  
b) A complaint shall not be accepted if it falls into one of th e following 
cases  (i) The compalined object is not the official decision or notice according to 
Point 22.1.b of this Circular;  
(ii) The complained decision or notice is indirectly related to legal rights. 
benefits of the complainant;  
(iii) The submission of the complaint fails to follow the provisions on 
representation service;  
(iv) The complaint lacks of the complainant’s signature and seal (if any) 
or finger prints;  
(v) The complaint is submitted prior to or subsequent to the fixed time 
limit according t o Point 9.4 of this Circular;     
(vi) The decision on second -time complaint handling is issued;  
(vii) The complaint has been accepted by the Court or solved by court 
judgement, decision, except for the court’s decision on cancellation on handling 
adminis trative case;  
(viii) The compliant continues complaining after the 30 day time limit 
from the date of the decision on cancellation on handling the complaint 
according to the provisions of Article 10 and Clause 8, Article 11 of the Law on 
Complaints;  
(ix) T he complaint fails to indicate elements of the complained decision 
or notice that are in contravention of the law and only contains requests for 
amending, supplementing the application that is the object of the decision or 
notice.  
In case of requests for a mending, supplementing the applicaiton satisfy 
conditions as specified at provisions of Point 9.3 and 9.4 of this Circular, the 
requests can be handled according to procedures as specified at these provisions.  
 22.6 Time limit for complaint handling  
a) Tim e limit for complaint handling is set according to the provisions of 
Articles 28 and 37 of the Laws on Complaints.  
b) The following time periods are excluded from the time limit for 
complaint handling:  
(i) Time period for the complainant to amend, suppleme nt the complaint 
dossier;  37 
 
 (ii) Time period for the parties to give responses to the complain -settler 
according to the provisions of Points 22.7 and 22.10.b of this Circular;  
(iii) Time period for searching information, re -examining and other 
necessary serv ices for complaint handling but not exceeding time limit for re -
examining according to Clause 3, Article 119 of the Intellectual property law.  
22.7 Related parties  
a) For an accepted complaint, the person competent to settle complaints 
shall notify in writ ing the complained contents to persons with directly related 
rights and obligations (herein referred to as “related parties”), setting a time 
limit of two month from the date of notification for those parties to give their 
opinions.  
b) Related parties may supply information or proofs supporting their 
arguments within the time limit specified at Point 22.7.a above, and the persons 
competent to settle complaints shall consider those information or proofs while 
settling the complaint.  
c) The complaint -settler notify in writing opinions of related parties and 
set the two month time limit from the date of issuance of the notice for the 
complainant to give comments on the related parties’ opinons.  
d) If necessary, the complain -settler continues requesting for rela ted 
parties’ comments following the above procedures and time limits.  
Upon the expiration of the above time limit, if the related party gives no 
opinions, the complaint shall be settled based on the other related party’s 
opinion.  
22.8 Independent consultan t, Advisory council  
a) Depending on the complexity of the complaint, the complaint settler 
may consult the independent consultant and the Advisory council (including the 
chairman and members).  
An independent consultant, the Advisory council takes the role in 
advising the complaint settler on technical and legal issues related to the 
complaint and solutions of settlement.  
Independent consultants, chairman and members of the Advisory council 
are persons who have appropriate qualifications, selected from the l ist of 
industrial property consultants and other sources (in case none of consultants in 
that list is found suitable).  
The list of industrial property consultants is made and published in the 
Industrial Property Official Gazette by NOIP, in coordination wi th the 
Inspectorate of the Ministry of Science and Technology.  
b) The Advisory Council is organized and operated under the following 
principles:  
(i) The Advisory Council is founded pursuant to the decision of the 38 
 
 complaint settler;  
(ii) The Advisory Counc il follows the working principles of meetings, 
discussing collectively and voting by majority;  
(iii) The parties to the complaint, parties who have relevant rights and 
obligations may be invited to attend meetings of the Advisory Council to clarify 
the ci rcumstances of the complaint.  
c) The following persons shall not be allowed to participate in the 
Advisory Council and join the complaint as an independent consultant:  
(i) The complainee (the person who has issued the complained decision or 
notice);  
(ii) T he person who has conducted the examination of the application for 
industrial property right registration relevant to the complained decision or 
notice;  
(iii) The person who has right and interest directly related to the 
complaint;  
(iv) The person who has participated in the first -time settlement of the 
complaint (the Advisory Council  for the second -time settlement of complaints)  
(v) The person who may not be objective in the complaint, if there are 
grounds to determine.  
The persons mentioned at Points 22. 8.c (i), (ii), (iii) and (iv) shall have 
responsibility to justify, explain and provide information related to works that 
they have done as specified at the contents of the complaint.  
d) Opinions of independent consultants, the chairman and members of the 
Advisory Council and the working results of the Advisory Council must be 
made in written form.  
22.9 Setting -up dialogue  
a) The complaint settler sets up the dialogue according to Article 30 of the 
Law on Complaints  
b) Independent consultants, members of th e Advisory Council (if any) 
may be invited to participate in the dialogue.  
22.10 Decisions on complaint settlement  
a) Based on the result of the review of complained decision or notice, the 
complaint settler shall issue a decision on complaint settlement.  
b) Before issuing a decision on complaint settlement, the complaint settler 
shall notify the complainant or related parties of the other party’s arguments and 
proofs used in the settlement of the complaint, and the conclusion on the 
contents of the complai nt and set 01 -month period from the date of notice for the 
complainant and related parties to give opinions.  
c) A decision on complaint settlement must contain the contents specified 
at Clause 2, Article 31 (for the first -time complaint) or at Clause 2, Ar ticle 40 39 
 
 (for the second -time complaint) of the Law on Complaints.  
d) For complaint applications as specified at Point 22.1.c of this Circular, 
the complaint settler shall issue a decision including the following contents:  
 (i) Preserving or demanding to p reserve the complained decision, notice;  
(ii) Setting a 01 -month period from the date of the decision for the 
complainant to submit a request for additional examination of new 
circumstances in the complaint as specified at Point 22.1.c (iii) of this Circul ar; 
(iii) Calling the complainant’s attention to the right to file an application 
for invalidation of the protection title and the right to initiate an administrative 
lawsuit at law.  
NOIP shall conduct an additional examination of new circumstances as 
specified at Point 22.10.d (ii) according to procedures of reconducting the 
examination of applications for registration of industrial property rights upon the 
opinions of a third party. The additional examination procedures and time limit 
shall comply with Po ints 6.2, 6.3, 6.4, 6.5 and Point 16 of this Circular. Based 
on the result of the examination, NOIP shall issue a decision to preserve, amend 
or replace the relevant decision and notice.  
22.11 A decision on complaint settlement shall be published on the 
website of the complaint -settling agency within 15 days and in the Industrial 
Property Official Gazette within two months from the date of its issuance . 
22.12 Validity of complained decision, notice and decision on complaint 
settlement  
a) A complained decisi on, notice shall be still valid during the period of 
complaint settlement, except where that decision, notice is temporarily 
suspended under a written decision of the complaint settler as specified at 
Article 35 of the Law on Complaints.  
b) NOIP has respon sibility to implement immediately a valid decision on 
complaint settlement:  
(i) A decision on the first-time complaint settlement of the Director 
General of NOIP shall take effect from the  30th day after its signing if there is 
no second -time complaint; i n case of remote and inaccessible areas, the time 
limit may be longer but must not exceed 45 days ; 
 (ii) A decision on the second -time complaint settlement of the Minister of 
Science and Technology  shall take effect from the 30th day after its signing; in 
case of remote and inaccessible areas, the time limit may be longer but must not 
exceed 45 days ; 
 c) The Inspectorate of the Ministry of Science and Technology has 
responsibility to notify NOIP on acceptance the second -time complaint within 
10 days from it s receipt. In this case, decision on the first -time complaint 
settlement of the Director General of NOIP is invalid. The complained decision, 40 
 
 notice shall still be valid until the decision on second -time complaint settlement 
takes effect.  
d) The second -time complainant has responsibility to immediately notify 
NOIP on submission of that complaint.  
22.13  Complaint and complaint settlement against other administrative 
decisions on industrial property field  
The complaint and complaint settlement againts other a dministrative 
decisions on industrial property field (including decisions related to industrial 
property representative, industrial property assessment, industrial property right 
transfer...) shall be carried out according to the Law on Complaints and foll owed 
the same regulations on complaint and complaint settlement of this Circular.  
22.14 Measures to limit the occurrence of complaints  
a) NOIP shall apply the same regulations as specified at Point 22.8 of this 
Circular into procedures of processing applic ations for termination and 
invalidation of protection titles.  
b) If detecting signs of law violation, NOIP has responsibility to examine, 
review issued decisions, notices to promptly correct, repair, avoid any arising 
complaint.  
With  decision s, notices being the subject of the complaint, the change of 
contents and validity  shall be made  only when the decision on the complaint 
settlement takes  effect . 
c) In the course of settling complaints, the complaint settler shall encourage and 
facilitate  the parties t o settle dispute  under the law .”. 
22. To amend, supplement Point 23 as follows:  
a) To amend, supplement Point 23.5 as follows  
“23.5 Requirements for declaration  
The applicant shall submit 02 copies of a written declaration made 
according to Model Form 01 -SC specified at the Appendix A of this Circular. In 
the section “International patent classification” of the declaration, the applicant 
must state the classification criteria of technical solutions sought to be protected 
according to the latest Internationa l Patent Classification (under the Strasbourg 
Agreement) published by NOIP in the Industrial Property Official Gazette (full 
classification, including section, class, subclass, group (main group or 
subgroup)). If the applicant fails to classify or incorrec tly classifies, NOIP shall 
conduct the classification and the applicant shall pay a prescribed classification 
fee.”.  
b) To amend, supplement Point 23.6 as follows:  
“23.6 Requirements for invention description  
The applicant shall submit two copies of an inv ention description. An 
invention description must consist of the sections of  invention description and 
the invention protection coverage . The description may include a drawing (if 41 
 
 necessary) to illustrate the invention.  
a) The description section must comp letely disclose the nature of the 
technical solution sought to be protected. It must contain sufficient information 
based on which any person with average skill in the art can deduce the solution; 
clarify the novelty, inventive steps and susceptibility of industrial application of 
the technical solution (if the protection title applied for is an invention patent); 
clarify the novelty and susceptibility of industrial application of the technical 
solution (if the protection title applied for is a utility solu tion patent).  
Person with average skill in the art means a person who has ordinary 
technical practice skills and is acquainted with publicly available general 
knowledge in the art.  
b) The description section must consist of contents  stated  in the following  
order : 
(i) Title of the invention : which briefly expresses the object or objects 
sought to be protected  (hereinafter collectively referred to as the object) ; the title 
of the invention must be brief , correct  and must not be of promoting or 
advertising nat ure; 
(ii) Field of utilization of  the invention: The field in which the object is 
utilized or to which the object is relevant . If the invention  is utilized  in or related 
to several fields, all these fields must be stated. These fields must comply with 
the patent classification;  
(iii) Prior art of the invention : The prior art in the field of utilization of the 
invention at the time of filing (known similar objects, if any ). That in case there 
is no information of the prior art of the invention must be clearl y stated ; 
(iv) Purpose of the invention: To clearly state the purpose which the 
invention is sought to achieve or the task (issue) which to be solved by the 
invention (for example, to resolve the disadvantages, limitations of the technical 
solution indicat ed in the section Prior art of the invention). The purpose or task 
of the invention must be presented objectively, specifically and must not be of a 
promoting or advertising nature  
(v) Technical nature of the invention: the nature of the object sought to b e 
protected, clearly stating:  
- Technical issue to be solved (the purpose of the invention);  
- Technical signs (charateristics) which feature the object sought to be 
protected mean signs (characteristics) featuring solutions to achieve the purpose 
of the i nvention (named as basic technical signs) as well as those considered 
novel compared to those of known similar technical solutions clearly indicated;  
- Benefits (effects) expected to be achieved  in comparison with the prior 
art (if any). This section may b e described as a separate section, as defined at 
Point 23.6.b (ix) below:  42 
 
  (vi) Brief description of accompanied drawings (if any);  
(vii) Detailed description of invention realization variations: detailed 
description of one or several invention realization  variations so that any person 
with average skill in the art can deduce the invention;  
(viii) Example s of invention realization (if any): indicating o ne or several 
invention  realization variations . If the invention is characterized by quantitative 
signs , the specific value of the sign  must be indicated , if it is not quantifiable, 
the identified state of the sign must be indicated . In addition, specific results 
related to function and purpose that the related  object allows to achieve  must be 
indicated ; 
(ix) Possible benefits  (effects)  (if any and if not stated in the technical 
nature of the invention): may be expressed in terms of improving productivity, 
quality, accuracy or effectiveness ; saving energy consumption, raw materials; 
simplify ing or facilitat ing in handling, operati ng, managing or using; solving  
environmental pollution ... If the benefits ( effects ) that can be achieved invoke  
the statistical results from the experimental  data, the applicant must provide  
those necessary experimental conditions and methods.  
c) The invention protection coverage (hereinafter referred to as “the 
protection coverage ” or “protection claim ”) 
The protection coverage (claim) shall be used to determine the scope of 
industrial property rights to inventions. The protection cove rage (claim) must be 
presented briefly and clearly in conformity with the description and drawings, 
clearly indicating  signs of novelty of the object sought to be protected 
(hereinafter referred to as “the object ”), and comply with the following 
regulation s: 
(i) The protection coverage (claim) must be adequately demonstrated by 
the description, including prerequisite and sufficient substantial technical signs 
to identify the object, achieve the set objective and distinguish the object from a 
known object.  
(ii) Technical signs within the protection coverage (claim) must be clear, 
precise and recognizable in the art ; terms used in the protection coverage (claim) 
must be clear and consistent with terms used in the description;  
(iii) The protection coverage (cla im) should not invoke the description 
and drawings, except for invocation to parts that cannot be accurately described 
with words, such as nucleotide sequences and amino acid sequences, diffraction 
charts, workflow diagrams, etc. ; 
(iv) If the application c ontains drawings illustrating the protection claim, 
signs shown in the protection coverage (claim) may be accompanied with 
indication numbers put in brackets. Those indication numbers are not considered 
confining the protection coverage (claim).  43 
 
 (v) The pr otection coverage (claim) should (is not required to) be 
expressed in two sections: “Restriction” and “Distinction.” The section 
“Restriction” covers the title of the object and signs of the object that are 
identical to those of the latest known object and  is connected to the section 
“Distinction” by the phrase “distinguishable by” or “characterized by” or 
equivalent expressions. The section “Distinction” covers signs that distinguish 
the object from the latest known object and are combined with signs of th e 
section “Restriction” to constitute the object sought to be protected.  
(vi) The protection coverage (claim) may include one or more than one 
points. A multi -point protection coverage (claim) may be used to present an 
object sought to be protected, with t he first point (called independent point) and 
subsequent point(s) used to concretize the independent point (called dependent 
point(s)); or to present a group of objects sought to be protected, with several 
independent points, each presenting an object soug ht to be protected in the 
group. Such an independent point may have dependent point(s) . Each claimed 
point shall only mention one object sought to be protected and be presented in 
one sentence;  
(vii) Points of the protection coverage (claim) must be numbe red with 
Arabic numerals, followed by a dot.  
(viii) A multi -point protection coverage (claim) used to present a group of 
objects must satisfy the following requirements: Independent points presenting 
different objects must not invoke other points of the pr otection coverage (claim), 
unless the invocation helps avoid total repetition of the content of another point; 
dependent points must immediately follow the independent point on which they 
are dependent. ”. 
c) To amend, supplement Point 23.7 as follows:  
“23.7 Requirements for invention abstracts  
The applicant shall submit 02 copies of an invention abstract. An invention 
abstract is used to concisely describe (with no more than 150 words) the invention 
sought to pbe protected. The abstract must disclose princi pal details of the nature of the 
technical solution only for the informatory purpose. The abstract may contain typical 
drawings or formulas. All typical drawings, formulas (if any) shall only be clearly 
presented in a half of A4 -sized page.”.  
d) To amend, supplement Point 23.8.a as follows:  
“a) Apart from the general requirements for an invention description 
specified at Point 23.6 of this Circular, for an application for registration of an 
invention concerning genetic sequences or part of genetic sequences , the 
description section must contain a list of genetic sequences presented according 
to standard WIPO ST.25 section 2 (ii) (the standard of presentation of a list of 
nucleotide sequences and amino acid sequences in an invention registration 
application).  The list of genetic sequences must be presented as a separate 44 
 
 section and located at the bottom of the description.”.  
đ) To amend, supplement Point 23.9.d as follows:  
“d) The deposit of samples of biological materials and certification 
documents for international patent applications shall comply with the provisions 
of the Regulations on implementing the Patent Cooperation  Treaty (PCT). ”. 
23. To amend, supplement Point 25 as follows:  
a) To amend, supplement Point 25.1.a (ii) and (iii) as follows:  
 “(ii) Time limit for filing a request for substantive examination of an 
invention registration application:  
- For a request for granting a patent  for an invention : 42 months from the 
filing date or from the priority date if the application is entitled to the priority 
right;  
- For a request for granting a patent  for a utility solution : 36 months from 
the filing date or from the pri ority date if the application is entitled to the 
priority right.  
In case of force majeure or objective obstacles, the time limit for filing  the 
above -mentioned request for substantive examination may be prolonged 
according to Point 9.4 of this Circular, b ut not exceed ing 6 months.  
(iii) A requester for substantive examination of an invention registration 
application shall pay the prescribed search fee and substantive examination fee; 
if a request for substantive examination is filed later than the time lim it as 
specified at Point 25.1.a (ii) of this Circular, the requester shall additionally pay 
a prolongation charge as prescribed; if the above -mentioned fees and charge are 
not paid, the request for substantive examination filed shall be considered 
invalid and NOIP will not conduct the substantive examination of the 
application.”.  
b) To amend, supplement Point 25.3.a as follows : 
“25.3 Assessment of compatibility of the object stated in the application 
with the type of invention /utility solution  protection ti tle 
a) The object stated in an invention registration application shall be 
considered incompatible with the type of invention/utility solution protection 
title applied for by the applicant (invention patent/utility solution patent) if it is 
not a technical  solution, particularly not a product or a process. The method of 
identifying technical solutions is specifeied at Point 25.3.b below.”.  
c) To amend, supplement Point 25.3.b (i) as follows : 
“b) A technical solution an object to be protected as an invention  - is a 
collection of prerequisite and sufficient information on technical methods and/or 
technical devices (applying law of nature) to solve a given task (problem).  
A technical solution may take one of the following forms:  
(i) A product in the form of a t angible object, for example: tool, machine, 45 
 
 equipment, part, electric circuit, etc. which is presented by a collection of 
information identifying a man -made product, characterized by technical signs 
(features) of its configuration, and functions (is utiliz ed) as a device to meet a 
certain human need; or a product in the form of a material (elements, 
compounds and mixtures), for example: material, component, food, 
pharmaceutical, etc. which is presented by a collection of information 
identifying a man -made p roduct, characterized by signs (features) of its 
presence, ratios and state of its elements, and functions (is utilized) as a device 
to meet a certain human need; or a product in the form of a biological material, 
for example: gene, genetically modified pl ant/animal, etc. which is presented by 
a collection of information on a product containing genetic information modified 
by human manipulations and capable of self -regeneration;”.  
d) To amend, supplement Point 25.4.a (ii) as follows:  
“(ii) The creation, pro duction, utilization, exploitation or realization of the 
above solution shall be repeated with the same result identically to the result 
stated in the invention description.”.  
đ) To amend, supplement Point 25.4.b (iv) as follows:  
“(iv) Instructions on the object can only be realized in a limited number of 
times (unrepeatable);  
e) To amend, supplement Point 25.5.a (ii) as follows:  
“(ii) Invention registration applications or inve ntion protection titles 
published by other organizations or countries within 25 years up to the filing 
date or the date of priority of the application currently under examination (if that 
application enjoys priority) are stored in the patent database of NO IP and other 
information sources defined by NOIP, with the scope of search specified at 
Point 25.5.a (i).  
When necessary and possible, the search may be extended to the national 
scientific & technological database.  
g)  To amend, supplement Point 25.5.d (i ) as follows:  
(i) Substantial signs of the technical solution may be its characteristics in 
terms of physical structure (detail, cluster of details, linkage…) or the 
composition of the substance (components (presence, proportion), state of 
elements, etc.) which constitute, together with other substantial signs, a 
prerequisite and sufficient combination to determine the nature (content) of the 
object.  
The above -mentioned substantial signs may be presented in forms of 
technical function of an element in the p roduct composition or structure (called 
functional sign), provided that this presentation is clear enough for an expert 
with average skill in the art could easily understand the technical means or 
manners to perform that function in normal conditions witho ut any innovation. 46 
 
 The function, utility of the object sought to be protected is not a substantial 
technical sign, but may be the purpose or result achieved of that object;”;  
h) To add Point 25.5.đ as follows : 
“đ) To not be considered as loss of novelty in respect of patents which 
have already been published in the exceptions specified at Clause 3 Article 60 of 
the Intellectual Property Law, the applicant must submit documents rel ated to 
publication to prove eligibility for exemption. The above -mentioned documents 
must be submitted together with the application or supplemented according to 
regulations on amendment and supplementation of applications.”.  
i) To amend Point 25.7.d as f ollows:  
“d) Among cases stated at Point 25.7.b, i f there are several  applications 
for registration having the same earliest  filing date or date  of priority, the 
invention/utility solution protection title may only be granted for only one 
application among those applications as agreed upon by all applicants , if no 
agreement is reached, all applications shall be re jected.”.  
24. To amend, supplement Point 26 as follows : 
“26. Decision on grant, registration and publication of invention patents, 
utility solution  patents.  
The issuance of decisions on grant, registration, publication of decision on 
grant of invention patents or utility solution patents shall comply with the 
general procedures specified at Points 18 and, 19 of this Circular.”.  
25. To amend, suppleme nt Point 27 as follows:  
a) To amend, supplement Point 27.1.e as follows:  
“e) Identify objects sought to be protected: if objects sought to be 
protected in applications are classified as national secrets, next steps shall not be 
performed and paid fees shal l be refunded to applicants, except for the 
preliminary formality examination fee;”.  
b) To amend, supplement Point 27.2 as follows : 
“27.2. Languages  
International applications originating in Vietnam and filed to NOIP must 
be in English. An application shal l be made in three copies.  
For applications with insufficient copies, NOIP shall make additional 
copies and the applicant shall pay the copying service fee.”.  
c) To amend, supplement Point 27.3 as follows:  
“27.3 International search offices and internation al preliminary 
examination offices  
For international applications originating in Vietnam, competent 
international search offices and international preliminary examination offices are 
national or international patent offices, industrial property or intellec tual 
property offices of Australia, Austria, the Russian Federation, Sweden, the 47 
 
 Republic of Korea, Singapore and the European Patent Office, etc. that are 
certified by the International Bureau”.  
d) To amend, supplement Point 27.4 as follows:  
“27.4 Interna tional applications designating Vietnam  
If an international application designates Vietnam, NOIP is the designated 
office. In this case, in order to enter the national phase, the applicant shall 
submit, within 31 months from the filing date or the date of priority  (if it is 
entitled to the right of priority),  to NOIP  the followings : 
a) Two copies of w ritten requests for invention registration, made 
according to Model Form 01 specified at the Appendix A of this Circular ; 
b) Copy of the international applicat ion (if the applicant requests the entry 
into the national phase before the date of publication of the international 
publication);  
c) One copy of the Vietnamese translation of  the international application  
description  and abstract ( the published copy or in itially filed original applicatio n 
in case  the application has not yet been published, and modified copy and 
explanation of modified contents  in case  the international application has been 
modified under  Article 19 of the Treaty);  
d) Copy of receipt of fee s, charges (if the fees, charges are paid by post or 
directly paid to the account of NOIP);  
 đ) Power of attorney (if filing the application through a representative). 
The applicant may submit the power of attorney with the time limit specified at 
Point 27.7.a of this Circular and the time limit for supplementing the power of 
attorney shall not be  included in the time limit for application examination.”.  
đ) To amend Point 27.5 as follows : 
“27.5 International applications designating  Vietnam  
If an international application designates  Vietnam, NOIP is the designated  
office. The designation  of Vietnam  shall be  made within 22 months from the date 
of priority,  or 03 months from the date of sending the international search report 
to the applicant or carrying out the publication according to Article 17.2(a) of the 
Treaty or giving the official written opin ion according to Rule 43bis of the 
Regulations on implementing under the Treaty, whichever is later.  In order to 
enter the national phase, the applicant shall submit, within 31 months from the  
filing date or the  date of priority  (if it is entitled to the r ight of priority) , to NOIP 
the following documents:  
a) 02 copies of w ritten request for  invention registration, made according 
to Model Form 01 specified at the Appendix A of this Circular ; 
b) 01 copy of the Vietnamese translation of  the international applica tion 
description  and abstract ( the published copy or initially filed original 
application, if the application has not yet been published, and modified copy and 48 
 
 explanation of modified contents, if the international application has been 
modified under  Artic le 19 and/or Article 34.2(b) of the Treaty);  
c) 01 copy of the Vietnamese translation of annexes to the international 
preliminary examination report ( in case of  request for substantive examination);  
d) Copy of receipt of fees, charges (if the fees, charge s are paid by post or 
directly paid to the account of NOIP);  
 đ) Power of attorney (if filing the application through a representative). 
The applicant may submit the power of attorney with the time limit specified at 
Point 27.7.a of this Circular and the time limit for supplementing the power of 
attorney shall not be  included in the time limit for application examination.”  
e) To amend, supplement Point 27.6 as follows : 
“27.6 Claims for priority  
To enjoy the right of priority, the applicant shall reaffirm it in the written 
request, pay the fee for the examination of th e priority claim and submit, upon the 
NOIP’s request, Vietnamese translations of documents already submitted to the 
International Bureau and other necessary documents as specified at Rule 17.1(a) 
of the Regulation on implementing the Treaty.  
For PCT appli cations, the handling of claims for priority shall comply with 
the Treaty and the Regulation on implementing the Treaty.”.  
26. To amend, supplement Point 30.3 as follows  
“30.3 Refusal to accept applications  
If an applicant, after receiving a NOIP notice on  the results of formality 
examination which indicates errors and states the NOIP’s intended refusal to 
accept the application according to the provisions of Point 13.6.a of this Circular, 
fails to correct errors or unsatisfactorily corrects errors or makes  no opposition or 
an unreasonable opposition within the set time limit, NOIP shall send the 
applicant the decision on refusal to accept the layout design registration 
application.”.  
27. To amend, supplement Point 32.1 as follows : 
“32. Decisions on grant, r egistration and publication of the decision on 
grant of the certificate of registered layout designs  
32.1 Notification of intention to grant the certificate of registered layout 
design  
If no opposition is made by a third party to the registration of a lay out 
design within three months from the date the layout design is published on  the 
Industrial Property Official Gazette, or though an opposition is made, it is later 
proved by handling results as unreasonable, NOIP shall notify its intention to 
grant the certificate of registered layout design for the object stated in the 
application and set the time limit as three months from the date of notification 
for the applicant to pay fees for publication, registration and charge for grant of 49 
 
 a protection title .”. 
28. To amend, supplement Point 33 as follows : 
a) To amend, supplement Point 33.2 as follows : 
“33.2 Industrial design registration applications must ensure uniformity 
according to the provisions of Clauses 1 and 3, Article 101 of the Intellectual 
Property L aw and provisions of this Point.   
a) An industrial design registration application is considered uniform if : 
(i) It requests for protection of one industrial design of a product ; or 
(ii) It request protection of industrial designs of more than one product in 
a set of products, of which each product has its own industrial design; or  
(iii) It requests protection of an industrial design of a product 
accompanied with one or several variations of that industrial design. The first 
variation must be the basic vari ation.  
All variations of an industrial design are not substantially distinguishable 
from the basic variation and from one another . 
b) Product which means object, tool, equipment, product, device or a part 
to be assembled or component of that product is man ufactured by an industrial 
or manual method, has detailed features and functions and is independently 
circulated .”. 
b) To amend, supplement Point 33.3 as follows : 
“33.3 Request for supplying information   
a) When there is a ground (information, proof) to do ubt over the 
truthfulness of information in an industrial design registration application,  
NOIP may request the applicant to submit within two months documents 
certifying such information, especially documents certifying the lawful right of 
registration i n case the applicant enjoys the right to file from another person 
(certificate of inheritance right, certificate or written agreement on assignment 
of the right to file, contract on  job assignment or labor contract, etc.). b) NOIP 
may request the applicant  to submit within two months documents certifying the 
lawful ownership or the lawful right to use trade indications (marks, 
geographical indications, or trade names), other persons’ protected industrial 
designs, if it has a ground to doubt that the industr ial design stated in the 
application contains those objects.  
c) If no information is supplied by the applicant, or though information is 
supplied, it fails to satisfy requirements stated at Point 33.3.a and 33.3.b, the 
application is considered invalid or rejected .”.  
c) To amend, supplement Point 33.5 as follows : 
“33.5 Requirements for industrial design description  
An applicant shall submit one copy of the industrial design description 
that contains the following contents : 50 
 
 a) Name of the industrial design,  which is the name of the product imbued 
with the industrial design, expressed briefly in common words and phrases, not 
of advertising nature, does not contain symbols, annotations and trade 
indications ; 
b) Field, in which the industrial design is used, is  a specific field in which 
the product imbued with the industrial design is used, clearly states the purpose 
of using the product, function, utility of that product ; 
c) The most similar industrial design: To clearly state whether there is a 
similar industr ial design, and in case there is a similar industrial design, to 
clearly state an industrial design which is least different from the industrial 
design of the same product stated in the application and widely known prior to 
the filing date or the date of p riority (if the application contains a claim for 
priority), indicating the information source from which  the  most similar 
industrial design is publicly disclosed ; 
d) List of photos or drawings, which enumerates photos, three -
dimensional drawings, shadows , cross -sections, etc., of the  industrial design 
one after another according to the ordinal numbers of those photos or drawings; ; 
đ) The section of description of the industrial design must satisfy the 
provisions of Clause 2, Article 103 of the Intellectu al Property Law, and is 
clearly stated as follows : 
(i) It fully discloses the nature of the industrial design sought to be 
protected, adequately showing design features presenting the nature of the 
industrial design as well as new design features that are distinguishable from the 
most similar industrial design defined at Point 33.5.c and consistent with those 
shown in the set of photos or drawings;  
(ii) Design features of the industrial design sought to be protected must be 
presented one after another in th e following order: Configuration features, line 
features, correlation between configuration and/or line features, color features (if 
any);  
(iii) For a product that have different usages (for example: a product with 
cover or foldable), its industrial design  must be described in different states;  
(iv) If the industrial design consists of many variations, the basic variation  
must be stated in the application and the remaining variations must be numbered 
in order; additionally, distinctive characteristics of t he basic variation in 
comparison with those of remaining variations must be clearly indicated ; 
(v) If an industrial design is the design of a set of products, the design of 
each product in the set must be described.  
e) Coverage of protection (or claim for protection) of the industrial design: 
Fully enumerating prerequisite and sufficient design features to identify the nature 
of the industrial design sought to be protected and the scope of industrial property 51 
 
 rights to the industrial design, shown on photos  or drawings stated in the 
application, and including new and distinctive design features in comparison with 
known similar industrial designs. ”. 
d) To amend, supplement Point 33.6 as follows : 
“33.6 Requirements for sets of photos or drawings of industrial designs  
An applicant shall submit four sets of photos or four sets of drawings of 
an industrial design, presenting objects sought to be protected uniformly and 
precisely, printed or placed on unframed A4 -sized papers. Sets of photos or 
drawings must fully present design features of the industrial design sought to be 
protected, based on which any person with average knowledge in the art can 
identify that industrial design, and follow the following guidance : 
a) Photos or drawings must be clear and well define d; the industrial 
design must be presented with unbroken lines; the background of a photo or 
drawing must be monochrome and contrast with the colour of the industrial 
design; a photo or drawing must show only the product imbued with the 
industrial design s ought to be protected (not accompanied with another product), 
except for cases specified at Point 33.6.g and 33.6.h, not including indications of 
technical drawings or indications explaining the industrial design, except for 
brief indications necessarily t o indicate cross -sections, magnified pictures, 
opening and closing states.  
b) Photos or drawings must show the industrial design on the same scale. 
The size of the industrial design shown in photos or drawings must neither be 
smaller than 90 mm x 120 mm no r larger than 190 mm x 277 mm.  
c) Photos and drawings must show the industrial design viewed in the 
same direction and be numbered in the following order: three -dimensional 
picture of the industrial design, front, rear, right -side, left - side, top -down and  
down -top shadows of the industrial design; shown shadows must be 
frontispieces.   
d) Photos or shadows similarly or symmetrically to available ones, photos 
of the bottom surface of  large -sized and large -weighted product, photos or 
shadows of the surface w ith too low flatness of the industrial design are 
unnecessary to be shown in the application, provided that they are clearly stated 
in the list of photos, drawings of the description . 
đ) For the industrial design of an product expandably on flat surface (f or 
example, box, package), shadows of the industrial design may be replaced with 
photos or drawings of the industrial design in an expanded state.  
e) Depending on the complexity of an industrial design, more photos or 
three -dimensional drawings from other angles, cross -sections or magnified 
pictures of parts, pictures of knocked down components or parts of the product, 
photos or drawings illustrating the position for fitting or use of such part on the 52 
 
 complete product may be required to clearly show the nat ure and design features 
of the industrial design (not to establish the industrial property rights for the  
industrial design of those parts).  
g) For the industrial design of the product assembled or constituted from 
different parts, photos or drawings of e ach part may be supplied with the only 
view to illustrating, but establishing the industrial property rights for the 
industrial design of those parts.  
h) Photos or drawings must show the industrial design at the same 
selected state of usage; photos or draw ings showing other states of usages may 
be supplied to present the nature of the industrial design  
i) For the application with several variations, the basic variation must be 
firstly presented. Each variation of the industrial design must be fully presente d 
by an adequate set of photos or drawings according to the provisions of this 
Point.  
k) For a set of products, there must be three - dimensional pictures of the 
whole set and a set of photos or drawings of each product in the set according to 
the provision s of this Point .”. 
đ) To amend, supplement Point 33.7 as follows : 
“33.7 Design features of industrial designs  
a) Design features of an industrial design are elements presented in the 
form of lines, configurations, colors, position or size correlation, whic h 
constitute, in combination with other features (signs), a gathering prerequisite  
and sufficient for the formation of that industrial design.  
b) Substantial design features are design features that are easily 
perceived/remembered, prerequisite and suffici ent to determine the nature of the 
industrial design and distinguish the industrial design from another industrial 
designs imbuing with the products of the same type.  
The products of the same type are products having the same or similar 
purpose and functio n of utilization. Finished products and parts used for 
assembling or constituting a complete product are products of different types.  
c) The following elements are not considered as substantial design 
features of an industrial design:  
(i) Configurations a nd lines dictated by the technical functions of the 
product (for example: the flat shape of data -recording disks is dictated by the 
relative motion between disks and reading heads...);  
(ii) Elements whose presence in the combination of signs gives no 
aesth etic impression (impression of the shape of the product remains unchanged 
with or without those elements; for example, if a change in a familiar 
configuration or line is not impressive enough to be noticed, the changed 
configuration or line will therefore be perceived as the old one);  53 
 
 (iii) Materials used for manufacture of the product;  
(iv) Signs affixed or stuck on the product merely for the purpose of 
informing or guiding the origin, features, composition, utility, usage, etc. of the 
product, for example , words in a goods label (like producer, commercial 
indication, origin, barcode, etc.), trademark, geographical indication, etc.;  
(v) Size of the product, except for change of size of patterns of a fabric 
sample or similar materials.  
(vi) Other elements th at fail to satisfy conditions stated at Point 33.7.b of 
this Circular.”.  
29. To amend, supplement Point 35 as follows : 
a) To amend, supplement Point 35.1 as follows : 
“35.1 Assessment of similarity of industrial designs : 
a) Two industrial designs are consid ered identical when they are used for 
a product of same type and have the same gathering of substantial and 
insubstantial design features;  
b) Two industrial designs are considered not significantly  different when 
they are used for a product of same type an d have the same gathering of 
substantial design features;  
c) Two industrial designs are considered similar when they are used for a 
product of same type and have at least one identical or not significantly  different  
substantial design feature;  
d) Two indus trial designs among  similar industrial designs are considered 
most similar when the number of their identical of not significantly different 
design features is larger than that of all other similar industrial designs;  
đ) Two industrial designs are consider ed significantly different when they 
are used for a product of different or same type, but have at least one different 
substantial design feature.”.  
b) To amend, supplement Point 35.3 as follows:  
“35.3 Assessment of compatibility of objects stated in appli cations and 
the type of industrial design protection title  
An object stated in an application shall be considered incompatible with 
the type of industrial design protection title when:  
a) The subject is not the appearance of a product. The appearance is 
design features (shapes, lines, colors or combination of these elements) which 
are visible in the process of using the product  ( exploitation of a product’s utility 
by ordinary methods and by any user, exluding ít maintenance, preservation or 
repair);   
b) The subject stated in the application is:  
(i) A product’s appearance dictated by its mandatory  technical 
characteristics;  54 
 
 (ii) A civil or industrial construction work’s appearance except for the 
appearance of modules or separate units which are independentl y used or 
assembled to constitute a construction work such as shops, kiosks, mobile 
homes or similar products.”.  
c) To amend, supplement Point 35.7 as follows:  
“35.7 Assessment of novelty of industrial designs according to the Article 
65 of Intellectual P roperty Law  
a) Method of assessment of novelty of industrial designs  
To assess the novelty of an industrial design stated in a application, it is 
necessary to compare the gathering of substantial design features of that 
industrial design with that of each reference industrial design found through the 
information search.  
b) Conclusion on novelty of industrial designs  
The industrial design  stated in an application shall be considered novel if:   
(i) No reference industrial design found in the mandatory minimum  
information source; or  
(ii) Though a reference industrial design is found in the mandatory 
minimum information source but the industrial design stated in the application is 
considered significantly different with reference industrial designs; or  
(iii) The reference industrial design is the industrial design stated in the 
application which is pusblished/disclosed in the cases specified at Clause 3 and 
4 Article 65 of Intellectual Property Law.”.  
d) To amend, supplement Point 35.8.a as follows:  
“a) Method of  assessment of creativity of industrial designs  
To assess the creativity of an industrial design stated in an application, it 
is necessary to compare the gathering of substantial design features of that 
industrial design with that of reference industrial d esigns found through the 
information search.”.  
đ) To amend, supplement Point 35.9 as follows:  
“35.9 Inspection of the first -to-file rule for industrial designs   
For industrial design applications considered satisfying conditions of 
protection, before issu ing the notice on intended issuance of i ndustrial design 
patent according to Point 15.7.a (iii) of this Circular, NOIP shall conduct the 
inspection  according the following regulations  to ensure the first -to-file rule 
according to Clause 1 and 3 Article 90 of Intellectual Property Law :    
a) To inspect the first -to-file rule, it is necessary to search information 
from mandatory source specified at Point 35.4.b (iv) of this Circular.  
b) The information search is to find out industrial design applications of 
products of same type which are similar or not significantly different , or to find 
out industrial design applications of products having part(s) whose industrial 55 
 
 design is identical or not significantly different with registered industrial 
designs, and to i dentify the application having the earliest filing date or date of 
priority.  
c) If there are several applications in the cases specified at Point 35.9.b, 
the industrial design patent shall be only granted to the valid application having 
the earliest filing  date or date of priority among those applications satisfying 
conditions for grant of industrial design patents.  
d) Trong s ố các đ ơn thu ộc tr ường hợp n êu tại điểm 35.9.b trên đây đăng 
ký cho s ản phẩm c ùng lo ại, nếu có nhiều đ ơn cùng có ngày n ộp đơn ho ặc ng ày 
ưu tiên s ớm nhất th ì Bằng độc quyền kiểu dáng công nghiệp chỉ có thể đ ược cấp 
cho m ột đơn duy nh ất trong số các đ ơn đó theo tho ả thuận của tất cả những 
người nộp đ ơn; n ếu không thỏa thuận đ ược th ì tất cả các đ ơn đó đ ều bị từ chối 
cấp văn bằng bảo hộ .”. Among the applications in the cases specified at Point 
35.9.b  which register for a product of same type, if there are several applications 
having the same filing date or date of priority, the industrial design patent shall 
be granted for only one applicati on among those applications as agreed by all 
applicants; if no agreement is reached, all the applications shall be refused to 
grant industrial design patent.  
30. To amend, supplement Point 36 as follows : 
“36. Decisions on grant, registration  and publicati on of  decision  on grant 
of industrial design patents  
Procedures for issuance of decisions on grant, registration and publication 
of decision on grant of industrial design patent shall comply with the general 
procedures as specified at Points 18 and 19 of t his Circular .”. 
31. To amend, supplement Point 37 as follows : 
a) To amend, supplement the first paragraph of Point 37.3 as follows:   
“37.3 If there is a ground (information, evidence) to doubt about the 
truthfulness of information supplied in the applicati on, NOIP may request the 
applicant to submit within one month documents to certify such information, 
probably as follows :” 
b) To add Point 37.3 as follows:  
“g) Other appropriate documents to clarify the truthfulness of information 
supplied in the applicati on”. 
c)  To amend, supplement Point 37.4.b (iii) as follows : 
“(iii) If the applicant fails to clearly indicate a substantial mark or a 
substantial goods or service, all marks and all goods or services related to the 
mark stated in his/her application shall  be considered independent from one 
another. The assessment of distinctiveness of the mark stated in the application 
shall  comply with general provisions on assessment of distinctiveness as 
specified at  Point 39 of this Circular. ”. 56 
 
 d) To amend, supplement Point  37.4.c  as follows : 
“c) For a certification mark, the applicant shall briefly describe in the 
written declaration characteristics of goods  or services certified by the mark 
(charateristics on origin, raw materials, materials, method of production, met hod 
of providing service, quality, accuracy, safety or other characteristics of goods  
or services bearing the mark).”.  
đ) To add Point  37.5a as follows : 
“37.5a Organizations which  have the right to register collective marks 
according to  Clause  3 Article 87  of Intellectual Property Law.  
a) Collective organization lawfully established under Clause  3 Article 87 
of Intellectual Property Law is an organization which  has at least 02 members is 
established according to  applicable laws. Members of that organization  have 
independent production,  business activities, and their own goods, services.  
b) The following organizations shall be considered as collective 
organizations according to  Point a:  
 (i) Cooperativ e alliance;  cooperatives under  Law of Cooperatives, if the 
Chart er clearly states that members have independent production, business 
activities;  
(ii) Group of companies under  Law of Enterprises;  
(iii) Associations under laws on associations, if the Charter clearly states 
that members have independent production, busine ss activities ; 
(iv) Other organizations that satisfy  the conditions as specified  at Point 
37.5a.a of this Circular .”. 
e) To add Point 37.5b as follows :  
“37.5b Organizations that have the right to register certification marks 
according to Clause 4 Article 87 of Intellectual Property Law  
a) Organizations which have function of controlling and certifying the 
characteristi cs (quality, origin,…) of goods or  services bearing the mark are 
organizations which carry out or assign, hire, authorize…other organizations to 
carry out the above -mentioned controlling and certifying activities in 
compliance with functions under laws , or are recognized at the business 
registration certificate, charter, decision on establishment, decision on task 
assignment… of those organizatio ns. 
b) If doubting on the function of controlling, certifying of organizations 
which register certification marks, NOIP has the right to request organizations to 
submit evidence .”.  
g) To add Point 37.6.h as follows : 
“h) List of me mbers using the collectiv e mark .”. 
h) To amend, supplement Point 37.7.a as follows : 
“a) Written p ermission of using place name or other signs indicating 57 
 
 geographical origin of a local product to register collective mark, certification 
mark  bearing that sign  shall be issued by the following competent authorities : 
(i) People’s committee of province/municipality  where the  geographical 
area corresponds  to place or other signs indicating geographical origin of local 
product (if the geographical area belongs to a locality);  
 (ii) All Peo ple’s committee of province/municipality where the 
geographical area corresponds to place or other signs indicating geographical 
origin of local product ( if the geographical area belongs to several localities) .”. 
32. To amend, supplement Point  39.12.a  (i) as follows : 
“(i) It is identical or similar to the name or emblem of a nation or territory 
(national flag, national emblem, name of the nation or a locality) or confusingly 
similar to the name or emblem of a nation or territory, causing a mislead that 
good s or services bearing the sign originate from that nation or territory ;”. 
33. To amend, supplement Point 40 as follows : 
“40. Decision on grant, registration and publication of decision on grant 
of certificate o f registered marks  
Procedures for issuance of  decision on grant, registration and publication 
of decision on grant of certificate o f registered marks shall comply with the 
general procedures as specified at Points 18 and 19 of this Circular .”. 
34. To amend, supplement Point  41 as follows : 
a) To amend , supplement Point  41.6 as follows : 
“41.6 Processing of international mark registration applications 
designating Vietnam  
a) After receiving a notice of the International Bureau on a n international 
mark registration application designating Vietnam, NOIP sha ll conduct the 
substantive examination of the application according to the procedures 
applicable to national  applicat ions. Within 12 months after the International 
Bureau issues the notice, NOIP shall make a conclusion on protectability of the 
mark.  
b) For a mark  which satisfies conditions of protection  under Vietnamese 
law, NOIP shall carry out the following procedures:  
(i) Before the expiry of the period of 12 months  mentioned at the Point a, 
NOIP shall issue a decision on protection of internationally re gistered mark, 
record it in the national register of marks (Part “internationally registered mark”) 
and send the International Bureau a notice of protection of internationally 
registered mark in Vietnam under Model Form 4 of the International Bureau; 
and 
(ii) NOIP p ublishes the decision in the Industrial Property Official Gazette 
within 02 months from the date of its issuance.  
The protection coverage (volume) shall be certified according to the 58 
 
 content of the request of the mark international registration a pplication recorded 
by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and certified by NOIP.  
c) For a mark  which has a part or whole of goods or  services that do not 
satisfy  the conditions of protection or whose the international registration still 
contains errors  (for example, regulation on using  collective marks, certification 
marks, photos or drawings representing  the three -dimensional trademark 
perspective ...  are missing ), before the expiry of the period  of 12 month s 
mentioned at  Point 4 1.6.a, NOI P shall issue  a notice  of temporary refusal 
according to Model Form 3 of the International Bureau, which clearly mentions  
contents and reasons for refusal; and send it to the International Bureau.  
d) Within 3 months from the date that NOIP sends the notice  of temporary 
refusa l with a part of whole of goods or  services , the applicant has the right to  
correct  errors  or to make opposition to  NOIP’s temporary refusal.  
Correcting  errors  or making opposition  to temporary refusal is carried out 
in compliance with procedures for national applications, including the mode of  
filing  applications . 
đ) In case that  the NOIP intends to refuse a part or whole of list of goods 
or services (mentioned in the notice of temporary refusal), if within 3  month 
period as stated  at Point d, the applicant corrects errors  successfully and/or 
makes a reasonable opposition to  that temporary refusal, NOIP shall carry out 
the following procedures:  
 (i) NOIP shall issue  a decision on protection of internationally registered 
mark with the pro tection coverage (volume) corresponding to goods, services 
that satisfies  the c onditions of protection; record  it in the national Register of 
marks (Part “internationa lly registered mark”); and send  the International 
Bureau a notice of protection of intern ationally registered mark in Vietnam 
according to Model Form 5 of the International Bureau;  
(ii) NOIP shall publish the decision in the Industrial Property Official 
Gazette within 02 months from the date of its issuance.  
e) In case that NOIP intends to  refuse a part of list of goods or  services 
(mentioned in the notice of temporary refusal), if within 3 month period as 
mentioned at Point d, the applicant fails to  correct errors or unsatisfactorily 
corrects errors  or makes no opposition or makes unreasonabl e opposition to  that 
temporary refusal, NOIP shall apply the same procedures as specified  at Point 
41.6.đ with only goods, services that satisfy  the conditions of protection (goods, 
services that are not mentioned in the temporary refusal).  
g) In case that  NOIP intends to refuse the whole list of goods, services 
(mentioned in the notice of temporary refusal), if within 3 month period as 
mentioned at Point d, the applicant fails to correct errors or unsatisfactorily 
corrects errors or makes no opposition or makes unreasonable opposition to that 59 
 
 temporary refusal , NOIP shall issue a decision on refusal of protection of 
internationally registered mark and sends the International Bureau a notice 
confirming  the total refusal according to Model Form 6 of the Inter national 
Bureau.  
h) The procedures for making and settling oppositions  to decision s 
mentioned at Points 41.6.đ, e and gshall be carried out in compliance with 
procedures as for national applications specified at  Point 22 of this Circular if 
there is a grou nd that the decision is issued in contravention of applicable laws 
related to  the contents  of decision  and procedures of issuance of decision. The 
results of settlement shall be noticed by NOIP to the International Bureau and to 
the applicant.  
i) From the date that the international trademark registration comes into 
force in Viet Nam, as per request of the trademark owner, NOIP shall issue a 
certificate of internationally registered trademark in Vietnam, provided that the 
applicant has paid prescribed fees and charges .”.  
b) To amend, supplement Point 41.8 as follows : 
“41.8 Mark registration applications converted due to invalidation of mark 
international registrations    
a) If a mark international registration in Vietnam of a mark owner who is 
a national of a nation contracting only to the Madrid Protocol is invalidated 
under Article 9quinquies of the Madrid Protocol, such person has the right to  file a 
converted mark registration application to NOIP for registration of protection of 
the very mark for part of  or the whole list of goods and services recorded in the 
invalidated mark international registration.  
The applicant shall pay prescribed fees, charges as for national trademark 
applications. For mark registration application  converted from a n international  
registration protected in Viet Nam, the applicant shall not pay the publication 
fee. 
b) A converted mark registration application shall be accepted  as 
validated  if it satisfies the following conditions :  
(i) It is filed within 03 months from the date of i nvalidation of the relevant 
mark international registration ; 
(ii) Goods , services stated in the converted mark registration application 
are on the list of goods and services stated in a relevant  mark international 
registration ; 
(iii) The application shall be made according to Model Form 07-ĐKCĐ  as 
regulated in regulated in Appendix C of this Circular (in which the list of goods, 
services in Vietnamese shall conform to the list of goods, services in the relevant 
international registration);  
(iv) The application shall satisfy all other condi tions on formality of a 60 
 
 mark registration  application under Vietnamese laws ; 
(v)  The applicant shall fully pay the prescribed fees and charges.  
c) A converted mark registration application is recognized to bear the 
filing date or the date of priority of t he relevant mark international registration 
application (if the mark international registration application enjoys the right of 
priority under  international  treaties),  except where there are grounds for refusal.  
d) NOIP shall conduct formality examination with converted mark 
registration application according to conditions  of conversion  mentioned at 
Point 41.8.b . 
For elements on formality which have been accepted by the International 
Bureau in the relevant international registration, NOIP shall not re-condu ct 
examination , except where there are errors  in the application (for example, 
regulation on using the collective mark, regulation on using the certification 
mark, photos or drawings representing the three -dimensional trademark 
perspective ...  are missing ). NOIP shall issue a decision on refusal of application 
if the application does not satisfy conditions mentioned at Point 41.8.b.  
đ) For mark registration application  converted from an international 
registration protected in Viet Nam, NOIP shall not re -conduct substantive 
examination. If the application satisfies conditions mentioned at Point b, NOIP 
shall issue a decision on grant of protection title, record it in the national 
Register of marks, publish the decision in the Industrial Property Official 
Gaze tte. 
 e) For a validated converted mark  registratio n application which is other 
than the case mentioned at Point 41.8.đ, NOIP shall conduct procedures of 
acceptance, publication, substantive examination and further procedures as for 
national applications. ”. 
35. To amend, supplement Point 42 as follows:  
a) To amend, supplement Point 42.3 as follows:  
“42.3. Documents evidencing the ownership and reputation of a mark may 
include information on the scope, scale, level and continuity of the use of the 
mark, including an explanation of origin, history and time of  continuous use of 
the mark; number of nations in which the mark has been registered or 
recognized as a well -known mark; list of goods and services bearing the mark; 
the territorial area in which the mark is circulated, turnover from products sold 
or servi ces provided; quantity of goods and services bearing the mark 
manufactured or sold; property value of the mark, price of assignment or 
licensing of the mark and value of investment capital contributed in the form of 
the mark; investment in and expenses for  advertising and marketing of the mark, 
including those for participation in national and international exhibitions; 
infringements, disputes and decisions or rulings of the court or competent 61 
 
 agencies; surveyed number of consumers knowing the mark through sale, 
purchase, use, advertisement and marketing; rating and evaluation of reputation 
of the mark by national or international organizations or the mass media; prizes 
and medals awarded to the mark; results of examinations held by intellectual 
property assessment competent  organizations. ”. 
b) To amend, supplement Point 42.4 as follows:  
“42.4 If the recognition of a well -known mark causes a decision on 
handling infringement  of that well -known mark  according to Point d Clause 1 
Article 129 of Intellectual Pro perty Law or a decision on refusal of protection of 
other well -known mark according to Point i Clause 2 Article 29 of Intellectual 
Property Law,  that well -known mark shall be recorded in the list of well -known 
marks kept at the NOIP  for purpose of referen ce in the intellectual propert y 
rightestablish ment  and protecti on.”. 
36. To amend, supplement Point 43.4 as follows : 
a) To add Point 43.4.a (v) as follows : 
“(v) Information on self-testing mechanism of nature/quality of product .”. 
b) To amend, supplement Point 43.4.b as follows : 
“b) The description of the nature/  quality/  reputation of the product must 
be accompanied  with documents proving that information on the nature/  quality/  
reputation are grounded and true (results of examination, research, survey, 
etc.).”. 
37. To add P oint 45.3.d as follows : 
“d) Criteria(s) to identify  place names, other signs indicating geographical 
origin of product are applied accordi ng to the P oint 37.8 of this Circular .”. 
38. To amend, supplement P oint 46 as follows : 
“46. Decisio n on grant, registration and publication of  decision on grant 
of certificates of registered geographical indications  
Procedures for issuance of decisions on grant, registration and publication 
of decision on grant of certificates of registered geographical  indications shall 
comply with the general provisions of Points 18 and 19 of this Circular .”. 
39. To amend, supplement P oint 47 as follows : 
a) To add P oint 47.1.h as follows : 
“h) A dossier for registration of a contract on transfer of collective mark, 
certification mark, shall comprise, besides the above -mentioned documents, the 
following s: 
(i) Regulation on using collective mark, regulation on using certification 
mark of the licensee according to the Article 105 of Intellectual Property Law;  
(ii) Documents  proving the right to register certification mark, collective 
mark of licensee according to Clause 3 and Clause 4 A rticle 87 Intellectual 
Property Law.  62 
 
 In this case, NOIP re -examine the right to register marks and the 
regulation on using marks. The applica nt must pay examination fee besides the 
prescribed fees, charges for dossier of registration of a contract on transfer of 
industrial property rights.”.  
b) To amend, supplement P oint 47.2.b  as follows : 
“b) 02 copies of the contract (02 originals or 02 copie s accompanied with 
the original for reference, except  for the valid copies); if the contract is made in 
a language other than Vietnamese, it must be enclosed with its Vietnamese 
translation; if the contract consists of many pages, each page must be appende d 
with the parties’ signatures for certification or every two adjoining pages must 
be appended with a seal on their inner edges;”.  
40. To amend, supplement Point 48 as follows : 
a) To amend, supplement Point 48.1 as follows : 
“48.1 If a dossier for registrat ion of a contract on transfer of industrial 
property rights contains no error stated  at Point 48.3 of this Circular, NOIP shall 
carry out the following activities:   
a) NOIP shall issue a decision on recognizing the transfer of industrial 
property rights (f or a contract on transfer of industrial property rights) and 
decision on grant of certificate of registration of the contract on licensing of an 
industrial property object (for a contract on licensing of an industrial property 
object);  
b) For a contract on  transfe r of industrial property rights , NOIP shall  
record in the protection title the new owner; in case of partial transfer of the list 
of goods and services bearing the protected mark, NOIP shall  grant a new 
certificate of registered mark to the transfe ree and confine the list of goods/ 
services in the original protection title for the transferred part;  
c) For a contract on licensing o f an industrial property object : NOIP shall 
grant a certificate of registration of the contract on licensing of an indus trial 
property object to the dossier -filing person; to append the registration seal on 02 
originals or copies of the contract, of which one shall be handed to the dossier -
filing person and the other kept by NOIP ; 
d) To record the assignment of industrial p roperty rights in the national 
Register of assignment of industrial property rights;  
đ) To publish the decision on recognizing the assignment of industrial 
property rights and the decision on grant of a certificate of registration of the 
contract on assign ment of industrial property rights in the Industrial Property 
Official Gazette within 02 months from the date of signing the decision. ”. 
b) To amend, supplement point  48.2 as follows : 
“48.2 If a dossier for registration of a contract on assignment of indus trial 
property rights contains errors defined at Point 48.3 of this Circular, NOIP shall 63 
 
 carry out the following procedures:  
a) Issuing  a notice on its intended refusal of registration of the contract, 
clearly stating errors of the dossier and setting a period of 02 month s from the 
date of signing of the notice for the dossier -filing person to correct the errors and 
make an opposition to the intended refusal of registration of the contract;  
b) Issuing a decision  on its refusal of registration of the contrac t if the 
dossier -filing person fails to correct or unsatisfactorily corrects the errors, makes 
no opposition or an unreasonable opposition to the intended refusal of 
registration of the contract within the set period .”.  
 41. To amend, supplement Point 49 as follows:  
a) To amend, supplement  Point 49.2.b as follows : 
“b) A dossier requesting extension of a contract must be filed within one 
month before the expiration of the contract term stated in the certificate of 
registration of the contract on licensing o f an industrial property object.”.  
b) To amend, supplement  Point 49.3.b as follows : 
“b) If the dossier contains errors, NOIP shall issue a notice on its intended 
refusal of record ing the modification of contents, extension or termination of 
validity of the  contract on licensing of an industrial property object, clearly 
stating the dossier’s errors and setting a period  of 02 months from the date of 
issuance of the notice on its intended refusal for the dossier -filing person to 
correct the errors or make an o pposition to the intended refusal of registration of 
the contract.  
If the dossier -filing person fails to correct or unsatisfactorily corrects the 
errors, makes no opposition or an unreasonable opposition to the intended 
refusal of registration of the contr act within the set period, NOIP shall issue  a 
decision on its refusal of recording  the modification of contents, extension or 
termination of validity of the contract on licensing of an industrial property 
object.”.  
 42. To amend, supplement point  55 as fo llows : 
“55. Renewal of practice certificates  
NOIP shall carry out procedures for renewal of industrial property 
representation service practice certificates upon written requests made  by an 
industrial property representative  according Model F orm 02-CLCC sp ecified at 
Appendix E of this Circular  in case  there are changes of information in the 
practice certficate or the practice certificate  is lost or irreparably damaged (torn, 
stained or faded).  
Procedures for renewal of practice certificates shall be carried  out as for 
grant of practice certificates specified at Point 53.3 of this Circular. ”. 
43. To amend, supplement Point 56 as follows : 
a) To amend, supplement Point 56.1 as follows : 64 
 
 “56.1 Organization s, individual s who satisfy all requirements to conduct  
business, practice of industrial property representation service may request 
NOIP to record in the national Register of industrial property representation 
according to Clause  1 Article 156 Intellectual Property Law and  must  pay 
prescribed fees and charges.”.  
b) To amend, supplement Point 56.2.d as follows : 
“d) Copy of receipt of fees, charges (if the payment is made by post or 
directly to the account of NOIP).”  
c) To amend, supplement Point 56.3.c as follows:  
 “c) Copy of receipt of fees, charges (if the payme nt is made by post or 
directly to the account of NOIP) .”. 
44. To amend, supplement Point 57 as follows : 
a) To amend, supplement Point 57.1 as follows : 
“57.1 An industrial property representation service organization has the 
right and the obligation to requ est NOIP to record changes related to information 
which ha s been already recorded in the the national Register of industrial 
property representation as regulated at this point and must pay prescribed fees, 
charges.”.  
b) To amend, supplement Point 57.2.d as follows : 
“d) Copy of receipt of fees, charges (if the payment is made by post or 
directly to the account of NOIP) .”.  
45. To amend, supplement point  59 as follows : 
a) To amend, supplement the first paragraph of Point 59 as follows:  
“59. Examination o n industrial property representation  profession  
The examination o n industrial property representation  profession  
(hereinafter referred to as “the examination ”) according to the provisions of 
Article 28 of the Decree No. 103/2006/NĐ -CP shall be conducted according to 
the follo wing specific provisions:”.  
b) To amend, supplement Point 59.2.b  (iii) as follows : 
“(iii) Documents proving that the dossier -filing person has been trained in 
industrial property law or is experie nced in this activity according to Point d 
Clause 2 Article 155 Intellectual Property Law (the originals or the copies 
accompanied with the original for reference, except for the valid copies):  
- Copies of certificates of graduation from training courses o n industrial 
property law recognized by the Ministry of Science and Technology ; or 
 - Graduation or postgraduate dissertation on industrial property and 
certificate of the training establishment where the dossier - filing person has 
made the dissertation; o r 
- Copy of employment decision, labour contract or other documents with 
written certification of a competent agency proving that the dossier -filing person 65 
 
 has been personally engaged for five or more consecutive years in the 
examination of industrial prop erty registration applications at a national or 
international industrial property office ; 
- Copy of employment decision, labour contract or other documents with 
written certification of a competent agency proving that the dossier -filing person 
has been per sonally engaged for five or more consecutive years in industrial 
property law -related activities, including inspection, examination, procuracy, 
adjudication, legal affairs, consultancy on industrial property law , state 
management  on intellectual property ; or scientific research (with title of 
researcher) or lecturing of industrial property); ” 
c) To add point  59.2.b (vi) as follows : 
“(vi) If the document is made in a language other than Vietnamese, it 
must be enclosed with its Vietnamese translation as per r equest from  NOIP ”. 
46. To amend, supplement Point  61 as follows :  
“61. Access to and exploitation of information in the national database  on 
industrial property    
All organizations and individuals have the right to access to and exploit 
information in the national database on industrial property by 02 ways:  
a) Self-searching  for information in the database at  public access points 
set by  NOIP or in the internet.  
b) Using  the service of searching, providing information, documentation 
via the website  of NOIP and must pay the prescribed fees.”.  
47. To amend, supplement point  62 as follows : 
“62. Service of searching and providing industrial property information & 
documentation via website  
62.1 When requesting NOIP to search and provide industrial property 
inform ation & documentation, a  requester shall make a search request slip 
(according to Model Form 01 -YCTCSC, 02 -YCTCKD and 03 -YCTCNH 
defined at Appendix F of this Circular), clearly stating the search purpose and 
scope (field, type of data carrier, search time,  country or reg ion subject to the 
search, etc .), or folder information to define requested documentation and must 
pay prescribed fee s. 
62.2 Within one month from the date of receiving a search request slip, 
NOIP shall reply to the requester  according to th e following regulations:  
a) For a valid search request (with a valid search request slip defined at 
Point 62.1 of this Circular and a receipt of the search charge), NOIP shall send a 
search report and/or documentation to the requester . 
b) For an invalid se arch request (with an invalid search request slip, 
unclear search purpose and scope, no payment of the search charge), NOIP shall 
notify its refusal to fulfill the search request clearly stating the reasons for 66 
 
 refusal.  
62.3 A search report contains only i nformation found and indications to 
origins of such information. If no information is found in requested sources 
above, the search report must also state that.  
A search report must not contain comments or assessments of found 
information.  
62.4 A search rep ort must clearly state the full name of the person 
conducting the search and responsible for the search results.  
62.5 The service of providing documentation via website is made under 
contract between NOIP  and the state management agencies and public servic e 
delivery  units on industrial property and on scientific and technological 
information. ”. 
48. To add Point  63.3 as follows : 
“63.3 NOIP is responsible for collecting statistics on the information 
contained in the national database on industrial property fo r the task of state 
management of industrial property in provinces and municipalities. (at least 
every 6 months). "  
49. To amend, supplement point  65 as follows : 
“65. Regulation on carrying out of industrial property procedures  
NOIP is responsible for issu ing a regulation on carrying out of industrial 
property procedures in compliance with the  Decree No. 103/2006/NĐ -CP and 
this Circular.”.  
Article  2.  
1. To d elete  paragraph  2 Point 13.2.g , 15.4, 15.5,  17.3.c ,  18.2.c , 27.4.b , 
27.5.b , 60.2.c and 60.2.d.  
2. To replace phrase “Decree on industrial property ” with phrase  “Decree 
No. 103/2006/NĐ -CP” at Points  2.2, 9.1, 13. 5.c. 22.1 , 59 and 65. 
3. To replace phrase  “notice ” with phrase  “decision ” at Points  13.6. b, 
14.3, 15.7.b, 15.7.c, 17.1.a, 17.2.b, 17.2.c, 17.3.a, 18.3.d  (iii), 20.4.d  (ii), and 
48.2.b.  
4. To replace phrase  “patent for invention ” with phrase  “patent  for 
invention /utility solution ” at Points  2.1, 20.1.c (i), 20.3  and 25.3. 
 
Article  3. Implementation provisions  
This Circular takes effect on  January 15, 2018./. 
 
 Filed.  
 PP. The Minister  
The Deputy Minister  
 
(signed)  
 67 
 
 Phạm Công Tạc