This article provides a brief update on the filing of applications under the Protection of Geographical Indications Act.
July 7, 2023
The amended IP Law adopted by the National Assembly of Vietnam on June 16, 2022, which took effect on January 1, 2023, revises the definition of an industrial design, which had been unaltered since the introduction of the first IP Law in 2005. This amended definition will certainly have a significant influence on the understanding, application, and interpretation of regulations on protection of industrial designs in Vietnam. The revised definition reads as follows, with the new additions in bold (no words were removed from the old definition): Article 4.13: Industrial design means the external appearance of a product or a component for assembly of a complex product represented in shapes, lines, colors, or any combination thereof, and visible during the utilization of the product or complex product. This definition can be separated into two groups of objects: Group 1 Industrial design means: 1.1: the external appearance of a product 1.2: represented in shapes, lines, colors, or any combination thereof, and 1.3: visible during the utilization of the product. Group 2 Industrial design means: 2.1: the external appearance of a component for assembly of a complex product, 2.2: represented in shapes, lines, colors, or any combination thereof, and 2.3: visible during the utilization of the complex product. In principle, Group 2 must include at least one object that is not covered in Group 1, because if Group 2 is completely covered by Group 1, it would be unnecessary to revise the definition to reflect the “new” group of objects. We will consider the above definition in such spirit. Group 1 Objects Under the revised definition, conditions 1.1 and 1.2 are unchanged, and condition 1.3 is added. Condition 1.3 essentially reflects the exclusion already specified in Article 64.3 of the IP Law, i.e., “the external appearance of a product that