IP/N/1/VNM/O/11  
 
16 October 2013  
(13-5672)  Page: 1/8  
Council for Trade-Related Aspects 
of Intellectual Property Rights  Original: English/anglais/inglés  
 
NOTIFICATION OF OTHER INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAWS AND REGULATIONS  
UNDER ARTICLE 63.2 OF THE TRIPS AGREEMENT 
VIET NAM 
This document reproduces the text1 of the unofficial translation of Circular No. 18/2011/TT-BKHCN 
amending and supplementing some provisions of Circular No. 01/ 2007/TT-BKHCN of February 14, 2007, 
as amended and supplemented by Circular No . 13/2010/TT-BKHCN of July 31, 2010 and Circular 
No. 01/2008/TT-BKHCN of February 25, 2008, am ended and supplemented by Circular 
No. 04/2009/TT-BKHCN of March 27, 2009, as noti fied by Viet Nam on 14 August 2013 under 
Article 63.2 of the Agreement (s ee document IP/N/1/VNM/5). 
 
Conseil des aspects des droits de propriété 
intellectuelle qui touchent au commerce 
AUTRES LOIS ET RÉGLEMENTATIONS CONSACRÉES À LA  
PROPRIÉTÉ INTELLECTUELLE NOTIFIÉES AU TITRE 
DE L'ARTICLE 63:2 DE L'ACCORD 
VIET NAM 
Le présent document contient le texte1 de la traduction non officielle de la Circulaire 
n° 18/2011/TT-BKHCN modifiant et complétant certaines dispositions  de la Circulaire 
n° 01/2007/TT-BKHCN du 14 février 2007, modifi ée et complétée pa r la Circulaire 
n° 13/2010/TT-BKHCN du 31 juillet 2010, et de la Circulaire n° 01/2008/TT-BK HCN du 25 février 2008, 
modifiée et complétée par la Circulaire n° 04/2009/ TT-BKHCN du 27 mars 2009, notifié par le Viet Nam 
le 14 août 2013 au titre de l'article 63:2 de l'Accord (voir le document IP/N/1/VNM/5). 
 
Consejo de los Aspectos de los Derechos de Propiedad 
Intelectual relacionados con el Comercio 
OTRAS LEYES Y REGLAMENTOS DEDICADOS A LA PROPIEDAD 
INTELECTUAL NOTIFICADOS EN VIRTUD DEL PÁRRAFO 2 
DEL ARTÍCULO 63 DEL ACUERDO 
VIET NAM 
En el presente documento se reproduce el texto1 de la traducción no oficial de la Circular 
Nº 18/2011/TT-BKHCN que modifica y complement a algunas disposiciones de la Circular 
Nº 01/2007/TT-BKHCN, de 14 de febrero de 2007, mo dificada y complementada por la Circular 
Nº 13/2010/TT-BKHCN, de 31 de julio de 2010, y la Circular Nº 01/2008/TT-BKHCN, de 25 de febrero 
de 2008, modificada y complementada por la Circ ular Nº 04/2009/TT-BKHCN, de 27 de marzo de 2009, 
notificado por Viet Nam el 14 de agosto de 2013 en virt ud de lo dispuesto en el párrafo 2 del artículo 63 
del Acuerdo (véase el documento IP/N/1/VNM/5). 
                                               
1 In English only./En anglais seulement./En inglés solamente. IP/N/1/VNM/O/11 
 
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MINISTRY OF SCIENCE AND 
TECHNOLOGY 
 
No. 18/2011/TT-BKHCN THE REPUBLIC SOCIALIST OF VIETNAM 
Independence – Freedom – Happiness  
 
Hanoi, 22 July 2011 
 
CIRCULAR 
 
Amending and supplementing some provisio ns of Circular No. 01/2007/TT-BKHCN of 
February 14, 2007, as amended and supplemented by Circular No. 13/2010/TT-BKHCN 
of July 31, 2010 and Circular No. 01/2008/TT-BKHCN of February 25, 2008, amended 
and supplemented by Circular No. 04/2009/TT-BKHCN of March 27, 2009 
 
_______________ 
 
 
Pursuant to the Government's Decree No. 28/2008/ND-CP of March 14, 2008, regulating 
the Functions, Tasks, Powers and Organizational Structure of the Ministry of Science and 
Technology; 
 Pursuant to the November 29, 2005 Law on Intellectual Property, amended and 
supplemented by Law No. 36/2009/QH12 of June 19, 2009 (hereinafter referred to as "Intellectual 
Property Law"); 
 
Pursuant to the Government's Resolution No. 67/NQ-CP of December, 24, 2010, on the 
simplification of administrative procedures under the Ministry of Science and Technology's management; 
 
The Minister of Science and Technology am ends and supplements some provisions of 
No. 01/2007/TT-BKHCN of February 14, 2007 on guid ing the implementation of the Government's 
Decree No. 103/2006/ND-CP of  September 22, 2006, as amended and supplemented by Circular 
No. 13/2010/TT-BKHCN (hereinafter called "Cir cular No. 01/2007/TT-BKHCN amended in 2010") 
and Circular No. 01/2008/TT-BKHCN on guiding the grant and withdrawal of industrial property 
assessor card and eligibility certificate for industrial property assessment organizations, amended 
and supplemented by Circular No. 04/2009/TT-BKH CN of March 27, 2009 (hereinafter called 
"Circular No. 01/2008/TT-BKHCN amended in 2009"), as follows:  
 
Article 1. Amend and supplement some items of Circular No. 01/2007/TT-BKHCN 
amended in 2010 as follows: 
 1. Amend, supplement Item 7.2.e as follows: 
 
"e. The object(s) contained in the application must be accurately grouped and classified 
according to the regulations. If the applicant fails to group and classify by him/her or the grouping 
and classifying are not appropriate, the NOIP will  conducts this work and the applicant must pay 
charges for grouping and classifying se rvice according to the regulations." 
 
2. Amend, supplement Item 7.3.c, as follows: 
  "c) Documents evidencing grounds for enjoying the priority right (certificated by the 
receiving office of copies of the original application(s), except PCT applications); the list of goods 
and services in the original mark registration; docu ment on the transfer of the priority right if the 
applicant benefits that right from others". 
 
3. Amend, supplement Item 20.3, as follows: 
 "20.3 Maintenance of validity of patent protection titles 
 
a. To have the validity of his/her patent protection title maintained, a patent holder shall 
pay a maintenance fee within six (06) months before the expiration of the validity term. The payment of the maintenance fee may be delayed for no more than six months after the expiration IP/N/1/VNM/O/11 
 
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  of the current validity term but the patent holder shall pay the maintenance fee plus 10% for each 
month of delayed payment. 
 b. NOIP shall consider the request for validity maintenance within ten working days as of 
the receiving day of the request and fee. If the request is valid, the NOIP shall record in the 
National Patent Register. 
 
If the request is invalid or insufficient, NOIP shall issue a notice that gives the patent 
holder 01 month as from the signing date of the notice to make amendments or oppositions. Within the set time limit, if the patent holder fa ils to amend/ oppose or the amendment/opposition 
is not appropriate, NOIP shall issue the notification of refusal of validity maintenance".   
 
4. Amending, supplementing Point 20.4.a, as follows:  
"a) the validity of invention patents, utility solution patents and Certificates of layout 
designs shall not be extended.  
 
The validity of industrial design patents may be extended at most twice for a period of five 
years each. In the case that the industrial design is granted with options, the industrial design protection title may be extended for all or some of the options, including the basic option.  
 
The validity of a Certificate of trademark registration may be extended unlimitedly, for a 
period of ten years each". 
 
5. Amend, supplement Item 33.5.e, as follows: 
 "e. The description of industrial designs sh all meet requirements as provided for at 
Clause 2, Article 103, Law on Intellectual Property, and shall be described in details as follows: 
 (i) It fully discloses the nature of industrial designs sought to be protected, that adequately 
shows design features presenting the nature of the industrial design as well as new design features 
that are distinguishable from most similar indust rial designs as defined at Item 33.5.c above and 
consistent with those shown in the set of photos or drawing; 
 
(ii) Design features of the industrial design sought to be protected shall be presented one 
after another in the following order: Configuration and line features, correlation between configuration and/or line features, color features (if any); 
 
(iii) For a product that has different usages (for example: a product with cover or 
foldable), its industrial design must be described in different status; 
 
(iv) If an industrial design consists of many variations, distinctive characteristics of the 
basis variation (the first variation stated in the application) in comparison with those of remaining variations shall be clearly indicated;  
 
(v) If an industrial design is the design of a set of products, the design of each product in 
the set shall be described". 
 
6. Amend, supplement Item 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 each industrial 
design. Sets of photos or drawings shall fully pr esent the design features of industrial designs 
sought to be protected, based on which any person having average knowledge in the art can 
identify that industrial design, and the follow the following guidance:" 
 
7. Amend, supplement Item 37.4.e, as follows: 
 The Section "List of goods and services bearing the trademark" in the written declaration 
must be divided into groups in accordance with the International Classification of Goods and 
Services under the Nice Agreement published by NOIP in its Industrial Property Official Gazette. If IP/N/1/VNM/O/11 
 
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  the applicant fails to divide or the dividing is not appropriate, NOIP will take charge of this and the 
applicant must pay fee for the dividing service according to the regulations. 
 8. Amend, supplement Item 37.5, as follows: 
 
"37.5 Requirements for trademark specimens:  
In addition to the trademark specimen attach ed to the request, the application must be 
enclosed with five trademark specimens satisfying the following requirements:" 
 9. Amend, supplement Item 47.1, as follows: 
 
"47.1 Dossiers for registration of contracts on  assignment of industrial property rights 
comprise one set of documents as follows: 
 
a. Two copies of the Request for the contract re gistration of transfer of industrial property 
rights, made in accordance with the form 01-HDCN attached to the Annex D of this Circular; 
 
b. The contract (the original contract or a notarized copy); if the contract is made in a 
language other than Vietnamese, it must be encl osed with its Vietnamese translation; if the 
contract consists of many pages, each page shall be appended with the parties' signatures or 
appended with a seal on their inner edges; 
 c. The original protection title; 
 
d. The written agreement of co-owners to the tran sfer of industrial property rights, if those 
industrial property rights are under joint ownership; 
 
e. the Power of attorney (if the dossier is filed through a representative)  f. A copy of fee and charge receipts (in case of payment via post or via bank transfer)". 
 
10. Amend, supplement Item 53.2, as follows:  
"53.2 Applications for certificates of industrial property representative practice 
 An application for the certificate of industrial property representative practice shall 
comprise a set of documents, as follows: 
 a. Two copies of the Request for granting  the certificate of industrial property 
representative practice (the certificate of practi ce), made according to a form 01-CCHN attached to 
the Annex E of this Circular; 
 b. A copy of the notice on the pass of an pr ofessional examination for industrial property 
representative organized by NOIP; 
 c. Two 3 cm x 4 cm photos; 
 
d. A copy of the identification card;  e. A copy of fee and charge receipts (if the payment via post or via bank transfer)." 
 
11. Amend, supplement Item 59.2 as follows:  
"59.2 Registration for an examination 
 a. Only persons who fully satisfy requirements  specified at Items a through d, Clause 2, 
Article 155 of Intellectual Property Law are allowed to register for participation in an examination 
according to the provisions of this Item. 
 b. A dossier for registration for examination filed with NOIP shall comprise following 
documents: IP/N/1/VNM/O/11 
 
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(i) Two copies of the Request for participation in an examination, made according to a 
form 05-KTNV attached to the Annex E of this Circular; 
 
(ii) A copy of the university diploma (the orig inal diploma is required to show for 
comparison, unless with a public notary); 
 
(iii) Documents proving that the participant has been trained on industrial property law 
or is experienced in this operation: 
 - C o p i e s  o f  g r a d u a t e  c e r t i f i c a t e s  f r o m  t r a i n i n g  c o u r s e s  o n  i n d u s t r i a l  p r o p e r t y  l a w  
recognized by the Ministry of Science and Technology  (the original diploma is required to show for 
comparison, unless with a public notary); or 
 
- Graduate or post-graduate dissertations on industrial property certified by 
establishments where he/she has made the dissertation; or 
 
- Copies of Recruitment Decisions of employment contracts or other documents certified 
by organizations where that parson has been work ing to prove that she/he personally engaged in 
the examination of industrial property applications at a national or international industrial property office for five or more consecutive years or in industrial property law-related activities as defined 
at Point d, Clause 1, Article 155 of the Intellectual Property Law (including inspection, 
examination, procuracy, adjudication, legal affairs, consultancy on industrial property law; scientific research with title of industrial property researchers or lecturers (the original diploma is 
required to show for comparison, unless with a public notary); 
 
(iv) Two 3 cm x 4 cm photos; 
 
(v) A copy of fee and charge receipts (in case of payment via post or via bank transfer) 
 
12. Amend, supplement Item 59.5 as follows: 
 
"59.5 Organization of examination  
a) An examination shall be organized on every two years basis. 
 
b) Examination papers shall be marked by the Examination Council in accordance with 
the approved answers and score frame. 
 c) Examination results shall be notified by NOIP to examinees. Examinees may request 
NOIP to review examination papers; accordingly, the Examination Council shall review examination 
papers following the regulations by NOIP's Director General. 
 Examination results shall be valid for five years for the granting certificates of industrial 
property representative practice." 
 13. Amend Items "Grouping", "Classifying" in the following request forms: 01-SC, 03-
KDCN and 04-NH at the Appendix A of this Circular, as follows: 
 Supplement a note: "If the applicant fails to grou p, classify or the grouping, classifying are 
not appropriate, the NOIP will conduct this, and the applicant must pay charges for the grouping, 
classifying service in accordance with the regulations." 
 14. Amend Item "Documents specified in application" in the following Request forms: 01-
SC, 02-TKBT, 03-KDCN, 04-NH, 05-CDDL at Appendix A; 01-SDD, 02-CGD, 03-YCTD at Appendix 
B; 01-SDVB, 02-GHVB, 03-PBVB, 04-CDHB, 05-KN, 06-DKQT, 07-DKCD, 08-SDQT at Appendix C; 01-HDCN, 02-HDSD, 03-SDHD, 04-CGBB at Appendix D; 01-CCHN, 02-CLCC, 05-KTNV at 
Appendix E; and 01-YCTCSC, 02-YCTCKD and 03-YCTCNH at Appendix F, as follows: 
 Replace the phase "Fee and charge receipts" by "A copy of fee and charge receipts (in case 
of payment via post or via bank transfer)". 
 IP/N/1/VNM/O/11 
 
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  15. Delete Item "Time limit for renewal"; amen d, supplement Item "Objects requesting for 
renewal" in the Request form  No. 02- GHVB at Appendix C, as follows: 
 "- The industrial design patent – Options requested to be extended:…" 
 
"- The certificate of the trademark registration - Groups or goods, serv ices requested to be 
extended:" 
 
16. Removing Item "Certification of People 's Committee of Commune, Ward, Township for 
the applicant's address" of Application form No. 01-CCHN and 05-KTNV at appendix E. 
 
Article 2. Amend, supplement some provisions of Circular No. 01/2008/TT-
BKHCN amended in 2009, as follows: 
 
1. Amend provisions under Item II.1.b and c, as follows: 
 "b) The subject on industrial property law is compulsory for all assessors. 
 
A person having at least 15 consecutive year s of experience in drafting and guiding 
implementation of legal documents on industrial property; examining industrial property; settling disputes, appeals and inspect on industrial proper ty on state industrial property agencies; doing 
researches and teaching law on industrial property in legitimate education and training 
organizations shall be exempted from examinin g the subject on industrial property law. 
 
c) Subjects on industrial property assessment including assessment of inventions (and 
utility solutions) and semi-conductor integrated circuit layout designs, industrial designs, trademarks and geographical indications (and appellations of origin) and other industrial property 
subject matters shall be included in the test. 
 A person having at least 15 successive years of experience in providing explanation, 
guiding implementation of legal provisions, making regulations, directly involving or carrying out 
substantive examination of inventions (and utility solutions), industrial designs, trademarks and 
geographical indications (and appellations of origin) in national or international industrial property offices shall be exempted from taking the test for corresponding assessment. 
 
A person having at least 15 successive years of experience in directly dealing with 
procedures of establishment and enforcement  of industrial property rights with title of industrial 
property agent shall be exempted from taking the test for corresponding assessment with the field 
that is most related.  
 2. Amend, supplement provisions under Item II.4, as follows: 
 
"4. Registration dossier for examination  
Registration dossier for examination shall consist of following documents: 
 
a) Two registration forms for professional exam ination of industrial property assessment 
as attached in the Annex I of this Circular; 
 b) A copy of the undergraduate or graduate de grees (the original certificates must be 
shown up for checking unless with a public notary); 
 
c) A copy (with public notary) of recruitment decision or employment contract and other 
documents proving experience in this field, if he /she requests for the exemption from examination 
of any subjects as mentioned at Item II.1b,c of this Circular" 
 d) Two 3 cm x 4 cm photos;  
 
e) Copy of fee and charge receipts (in case of  payment via post or via bank transfer). 
 IP/N/1/VNM/O/11 
 
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  3. Amend, supplement provisions under Item II.6.c as follows: 
 "Within two months as of the examination date, the Chairman of the Examination Council 
shall inform results to examinees and grant certificates for industrial property assessment to 
qualified persons as mentioned in the Annex V of this Circular. The certificates shall include 
information of the assessment subjects correspondi ng to the examined subjects and indicate the 
five-year validity period as of grating date (to use for requesting for granting assessor cards)." 
 
4. Amend, supplement provisions under Item II.2, as follows:  "2. A dossier applied for an assessor card shall consist of the following documents: 
 
a) Two request forms for assessor card, made in form attached in the Annex II of this 
Circular; 
 
b) A Copy of the certificate for industrial prop erty assessment issued by the Chairman of 
the Examination Council as stipulated in Item II.6.c of this Circular; 
 
c) A Copy of the Identification Card (ID); 
 d) Two 03 cm x 04 cm photos; 
 
e) Copy of fee and charge receipts (in case of  payment via post or via bank transfer)." 
 
5. Amending, supplementing provisions under Item III.4.c as follows: 
 "c) Provisions under Item III.2 and 3 of this  Circular shall be applied for re-granting 
assessor card, excluding documents specified at Item b, Clause 2 and the time limit for 
examination shall be 15 days as of the date on that the dossier received by NOIP." 
 6. Amend, supplement provisions under Item IV.2 as follows: 
 
"2. Applications for certificates of assessment organizations  
An application for the Certificate for assessment organization shall consist of following 
documents: 
 
a) Two request forms for the Certificate for assessment organization, made in accordance 
with the form attached in the Annex III of this Circular; 
 b) A copy (with public notary) of the Certificate of Business Registration, Certificate of 
Registration for scientific and technological organization, Certificate of lawyer organization 
operation; 
 
c) A copy (with public notary) of recruitment de cision or employment contract between an 
industrial property assessment organization and an assessor who works for that organization; 
 
d) Copy of fee and charge receipts (in case of  payment via post or via bank transfer)" 
 
7. Amend, supplement provisions under Item IV.4.c as follows:  
"c) Provisions under Item IV.2 and 3 of this Circular shall be applied for re-granting 
Certificates for assessment organizations, excluding documents specified at Point b and c, Clause 2, and the time limit for examination of th e dossier shall be 15 days as of the day on that 
applications received by NOIP or Departments of Science and Technology." 
 8. Replace Request forms at Appendix I, II, III  by forms specified at Appendix I, II, III of 
this Circular. 
 IP/N/1/VNM/O/11 
 
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  Article 3. Validity 
 This Circular comes into effect 45 days after the signing date./.   
 
 MINISTER 
 
 
(signed and sealed) 
  
Nguyen Quan 
 
 
 
__________