On 30 September 2019, during WIPO General Assembly’s 59th session in Geneva, Switzerland, on the behalf of the Government of Vietnam, Vietnam’s Minister of Science and Technology, Mr. Chu Ngoc Anh presented its Vietnam’s instrument to join the Geneva Act (1999) of the Hague Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Industrial Designs to the WIPO Director General, Mr. Francis Gurry.
Vietnam will become the 61st contracting party of the 1999 Act, coming into effect in Vietnam from 30 December 2019, and the 71st contracting party of the Hague Union. As a result, Vietnam is now a member of all three international registration systems, in addition to PCT system for patent, and Madrid system for trade mark. Through Hague System, the applicants are allowed to seek their industrial design protection internationally with numerous advantages compared with the National Route by simply One Office for Filing, One language, One Currency, One International Registration, One Renewal.
With accession of the Geneva Act (1999), it is hope that Vietnam’s regulations on industrial design especially regarding formality requirements which are more strict than other countries will be more flexible. The accession of Vietnam to the Geneva Act (1999) will encourage national designers and domestic businesses to easier approach overseas markets, promote innovation and creativity as well as attract more foreign investors for national economy in general.
For more details, please contact us at PatentsVietnam@rouse.com.
This article was first published in World Trademark Review in October 2019.