Registering a product trademark, registering a brand name or registering a product logo is one of the important issues that cannot be ignored when a business starts operating. Brand names, logos and trademarks are only protected/protected if the owner completes the registration procedure and is granted trademark protection rights with the National Office of Intellectual Property of Vietnam and other countries. In case you want to register a product trademark in the form of copyright registration. Please refer to the article below by Viet My on trademark copyright registration.

1. Why register a product trademark?

Registering a product trademark is an important and urgent task for the owner to obtain exclusive protection for his trademark throughout Vietnam. Here are some reasons why you should register for trademark protection.

• Prove the owner’s ownership of the trademark to other parties.
• Intellectual property rights to a trademark do not arise until the trademark is registered with the Registrar.
• We have the exclusive right to use the trademark throughout Vietnam during the validity period of the registration certificate.
• We prevent infringement of registered trademark rights.
• Gain a competitive advantage and help your customers easily recognize and distinguish your branded products from others.
• Once a trademark becomes famous, the owner can profit by allowing others to use or transfer the trademark.

Branding a specific product or service helps customers and users of the product easily distinguish which products are from Company F and which are from Company l.

In addition, if a product is popular with consumers, similar products with that trademark may appear, which can confuse customers and make it difficult to distinguish which is “genuine”, causing customers to be confused and stop using the product.

Therefore, the owner must go through the process of registering a trademark for the product he produces to protect his product brand, avoiding being “counterfeited” or “imitated” by others.

Each registered trademark is only legally protected for 10 years and can be easily renewed. Therefore, by creating optimal time conditions, the owner will have enough time to develop his product and build a long-term strategy when entering the market.

2. Benefits of registering a product trademark

Registering a product trademark brings many important benefits to businesses that should be considered when establishing a company:

• Protection of intellectual property: Registering a trademark will protect the company’s intellectual property rights and give the company the right to claim compensation for damages from those who illegally use that trademark.
• Building trust for customers: Your brand is an important measure for customers to evaluate the quality and reputation of your products. By registering a trademark, a company can build trust with customers and increase the reliability of its products. Contributing to increasing brand value: Brands play an important role in building a company’s brand value. By registering a trademark, a company can enhance its brand value and differentiate itself from competitors.
• Increased Competition: Trademark registration allows a company to become more competitive and differentiate itself from its competitors.
• Increased Market Access: Trademark registration also helps companies increase their market access by protecting their products and not preventing them from being sold in the market.

Therefore, trademark registration is necessary to protect intellectual property rights, enhance brand value, and enhance product reputation in the market.

3. Instructions for registering product trademarks in 2024

Normally, famous products are easily copied because their recognition and coverage bring in huge revenue, so many people take advantage of it for profit. Vietnamese law does not have regulations on product trademark registration. The nature of a product brand is the recognition and popularity of that product in the market. The brand will often go hand in hand with the trademark because if it is a famous brand, people will know which brand it is just by looking at the trademark.

3.1 Product trademark registration application in 2024

The Intellectual Property Office will only issue a trademark registration certificate to those who are eligible to register a trademark. According to the Intellectual Property Law, individuals, groups, and companies must register their trademarks. If the target party is a Vietnamese company or individual, it can register directly with the State Intellectual Property Office or through an intellectual property agent. If the target party is a foreign organization, individual or enterprise that wants to register a trademark in Vietnam, it must submit an application through an intellectual property company.

The following documents must be prepared:

• Application form
• Power of attorney
• 09 trademark samples (size must not be smaller than 3×3 cm, not exceeding 8×8 cm)
• List of products and services to be registered.

The above are common trademark registration documents for goods and services. If you wish to register a collective or certification mark, you will need to submit the following additional documents:

• Regulations on the use of collective and certification marks
• A description of the unique (or specific) nature and quality of the product bearing the mark (in the case of a registered collective mark or a seal of approval for products of a specific nature as an indication of product quality or geographical origin).
• A map indicating the territory (in the case of a registered mark certifying the geographical origin of the product).

3.2 Product trademark registration procedures in 2024

Although it is not mandatory to register a trademark and brand, it is recommended to do so so that the trademark or trademark owner has exclusive rights to use his/her trademark and prevent counterfeiting and imitation. Trademark registration is just a procedure to ensure the intellectual property rights of the trademarked subject because the trademark is considered absolute intellectual property. The determination of the owner of a trademark, logo, or trademark related to business activities by an individual or a company is a legal basis when there is a dispute with other competitors.

Product trademark registration procedures are as follows:

Step 1: Choose a design and brand (Brand)

To register a trademark, you need to design a trademark according to your idea of ​​the goods for which the trademark needs to be registered. Note: Customers must perform step 2 before designing a stylized trademark.

Step 2: Classify registered products or services

As part of consulting clients on trademark registration, we often ask about the company or product for which they want to register a trademark to create a basis for grouping in trademark registration.

A trademark is registered for one or more groups of products and services according to the provisions of intellectual property law. In addition, the Intellectual Property Law stipulates that the number of groups of products and services in Vietnam is 45 groups. Groups 1-34 are product groups and 35-45 are service groups.

After registration, the trademark must be associated with a specific product or service to serve as a basis for transferring rights, grouping and charging fees (a trademark cannot be general as people understand it, but must be separate).

The Vietnamese Intellectual Property Law does not limit the groups of products and services when registering a trademark. However, the more groups the owner participates in, the more money he or she has to pay. Therefore, the owner must consider that he only registers the main business that he is building a brand for.

Step 3: Trademark search before registration

After designing the trademark, the customer will check whether the trademark is registered or not. If the results show that the trademark needs to be registered, the customer must submit an application as soon as possible to get the priority date.

Currently in Vietnam, there are several application methods:

Searching with Google search engine: If a customer wants to register the ABC trademark for a fashion product, the customer must first do a preliminary search to see if the trademark is owned by a company or individual. Consider building a brand. The syntax is simple, the customer just needs to enter “abc fashion product” and the results will appear for the customer to see.

Searching on the online database of the Department of Intellectual Property. In the brand search section, customers will type ABC and in the product/service group section, select number 25 (fashion group according to the regulations of the international classification table of trademarks)

More than 02 forms are completely free. However, the results are for reference only (40% accuracy), so to ensure standard results, customers should consider the following search methods:

Search through the search service: when customers use the in-depth search service, service companies (search through experts in the Intellectual Property Office, the age of the search results is guaranteed to be over 90%).

Step 4: Submit application to the Intellectual Property Office

After the trademark application is filed, the trademark owner must complete the registration procedure at the Intellectual Property Office to obtain the earliest priority date.

Step 5: Examination and issuance of a trademark registration certificate

A product trademark application must go through many processing stages and usually takes 16-20 months. Therefore, customers should pay attention to the possibility of trademark registration to avoid unnecessary disadvantages.

After processing the registration request, the Intellectual Property Office will send a notice whether the trademark meets the protection requirements or not?

Customers will have to pay a fee to be granted a trademark registration certificate or can appeal the decision to refuse to grant a registration certificate (if the application does not meet the requirements of the law). to argue)

The trademark registration certificate is valid for 10 years from the date of application and can be renewed multiple times.

4. How much does it cost to register a product trademark?

Above is detailed information about the profile and procedures for product trademark registration. If you have any questions about the profile and procedures or need support for trademark, brand, and logo registration services, you can contact VIET MY LAW AND ACCOUNTING for support.