Application for Patent of Invention/Utility Solution

To file an application for Patent for invention/utility solutions in Vietnam, please provide us with the following information and documents:

• Full name, address and nationality of applicant;
• Full name, address and nationality of inventor(s);
• Title of invention or utility solution;
• If priority right is claimed, information on the name of country, application number and filing date of the original foreign application from which priority right is claimed. A certified copy of the priority documents must be provided to us within 3 months from the application filing date in Vietnam;
• A copy of the Specifications with Claims and Abstract in English. As the Vietnamese translation of the Specification is required at the filing of the application, applicant is strongly advised to provide us with the English version of the Specification as soon as possible for our translation work;
• Drawings, if any;
• As to PCT patent application entering Vietnam National Phase, apart from the above-required documents, the following documents are required: PCT Application (if it enters into Vietnam National Phase prior to PTC Publication Date); PCT Publication; International Preliminary Examination Report (PCT/IPER/409) if any; Notification of Change (PCT/IB/306); International Search Report (PCT/ISA/210);
• Vietnamese translation of PCT Application: Specification, Claims, Abstract, notes of Drawings (published version or first version of application as to unpublished application and amendment and explanation of amendment of application, if PCT application is amended under Article 19 or Article 34(2)(b) of PCT Treaty);
• International filing number and publication number (as to PCT patent application entering into Vietnam National Phase);
• Power of Attorney executed by applicant in favor of bizconsult law LLC in the standard form. A copy of the Power of Attorney can be accepted for application filing, provided however that the original must be submitted within 3 months from the application filing date in Vietnam. MS Word form of Power of Attorney can be downloaded from our website at www.bizconsult-vietnam.com.

Other Information

• Term for a PCT patent application to enter into Vietnam National Phase is 31 months from the priority date.
• Request for substantive examination must be filed within 42 months (as to invention) or 36 months (as to utility solution) from the first priority date.
• Duration of formality examination of application is 1 month from the application filing date. Patent application, which satisfies with requirements by Intellectual Property Law on the application, shall be accepted legitimate with legitimate filing date.
• Duration of substantive examination of an application will be 12 months from publication date of application, if request for substantive examination is filed prior to the publication date or from the filing date of the request for substantive examination if such request is filed after publication date. It should be noted that under the Amended Law on Intellectual Property, effectively 1 January 2010, the duration for substantive examination would not exceed 18 months.
• Patent application shall be published within the 19th month from the priority date or the filing date of the application (if no priority date) or within 2 months from the legitimate filing date of the applicant, whichever date comes later. Patent application, which is requested by applicant to be early published, would be published within 2 months from the date of filing of such request. A PCT patent application shall be published within 2 months from the legitimate filing date of the application after entering into Vietnam National Phase.
• A Patent becomes effective as of the granting date and is valid for 20 years (for invention) or 10 years (for utility solution) from the legitimate filing date of the application.
• Annuity Fee is required to pay to Vietnam NOIP after the Patent is granted.

"First Come First Serve" Doctrine

In case of several applications filed by different applicants for patents for the same invention, Patent will only be granted to application which is legitimate and which has earlier priority date or the earliest filing date among those that satisfy conditions for being granted Patent.

It should be noted that under the Amended Law on Intellectual Property, effectively 1 January 2010, in case of several applications for (a) patents for inventions which are identical with or similar to each others; or (b) patents for several industrial designs which are identical or not significantly differed with each other, patent shall only be granted to any invention or industrial design under its legitimate application which has the earliest priority date or the earliest filing date among those which satisfies conditions for granting Patent. If all of those applications satisfy conditions for granting of patent and all have the same earliest priority date or earliest filing date, Patent would only be granted to one invention that is agreed by all applicants. If no agreement is reached, all applications shall be refused.

Eligibility for an invention to be patented:

Invention is a technical solution, in form of a product or a process, to resolve a specific problem by utilizing laws of nature. Such technical solution would be eligible for protection in form of a Patent of Invention if it meets the following conditions:

• It must show element of novelty;
• It must shown an inventive step;
• It can be of industrial application.

A technical solution would be eligible for protection in form of a Patent of Utility Solution if such technical solution is not common knowledge and meets the following conditions:

• It must show element of novelty;
• It can be of industrial application.

Novelty of inventions

• An invention shall be considered as novel if it is not publicly disclosed by use or means of a written or oral description or any other form, inside or outside the country, before the filing date or the priority date, as applicable, of the invention application.
• An invention shall be considered as not yet publicly disclosed if it is known to only a limited number of persons who are obliged to keep it secret.
• An invention shall not be considered as lacking of novelty if it was published in the following circumstances, provided that the invention registration application is filed within six (6) months from the date of publication:
• It was published by another person without permission of the person having the right to registration as mentioned hereunder;
• It was published in the form of a scientific presentation by the person having the right to registration as mentioned hereunder;
• It was exhibited at a national exhibition of Vietnam or at an official or officially recognized international exhibition by the person having the right to registration as mentioned hereunder.

Inventive step of inventions

An invention shall be considered showing inventive step, based on all technical solutions already disclosed by use or means of a written or oral description or any other form inside or outside the country, prior to the filing date or the priority date, as applicable, of application for patent, such invention shows an inventive step which could not be deduced by person with average knowledge of technical field.

Industrial application of inventions

An invention shall be considered as susceptible of industrial application if it is possible to carry out massive production or manufacture of the product or repeated application of the process that is the subject matter of the invention and achieve stable results.

Right to file application for patent of invention:

The following organizations and individuals shall have the right to registration of invention:

• Author who has created the invention by his or her own efforts and expenses; or
• The organizations or individuals who have invested funds and material facilities to the authors in the form of a job assignment or job hiring unless otherwise agreed by the parties and such agreements are not contrary to the following rule: in case more than one organizations or individuals have jointly created or invested in the creation of an invention, those organizations or individuals shall all have the right to file application and such right shall only be exercised with their consensus.

Person having right to registration may assign that right to other organizations or individuals in the form of a written contract, passing by inheritance in accordance with the law, even when an application has been filed.

The Government shall regulate right to registration of inventions created by using funds and material and technical facilities from the State budget.

Subject matters not patented:

• Discoveries, scientific theories; mathematical methods;
• Schemes, plans, rules or methods for performing mental acts, training domestic animals, playing games, doing business; computer programs;
• Presentations of information;
• Solutions of aesthetic characteristics only;
• Plant varieties, animal varieties;
• Processes of essentially biological nature for the production of plants and animals other than microbiological processes;
• Disease prevention, diagnostic and treatment methods for human or animals.