Industries
Automotive

Practices
Dispute Resolution and Litigation
Intellectual Property

Location
Vietnam

Languages
Vietnamese
English

Education

LLB, Hanoi Law University

BA, People’s Public Security Academy

Linh Duy Mai
Head of IP Enforcement, Vietnam, T&G Law Firm LLC (TGVN)
+84 24 3772 8811 ext. 113

Biography

Linh Duy Mai is the head of intellectual property enforcement in Vietnam of T&G Law Firm LLC (TGVN), a licensed law firm and IP agent that partners with Tilleke & Gibbins for litigation and local IP filings in Vietnam. Linh has helped clients in a wide range of industries—including automotive, computer software, cosmetics, fashion, and food—to protect their valuable trademarks and patents in the country. He is recognized as a leading IP lawyer in Vietnam by both the IAM Patent 1000 and the WTR (World Trademark Review) 1000.

A passionate defender of clients’ IP rights, Linh fights counterfeiting and infringement through market monitoring, cooperation with customs and border control, and tightly orchestrated raids on infringing retailers, distributors, and manufacturers. Linh served in the Hanoi police force before turning his interest to IP law. His law enforcement background has given him strong contacts in the field, as well as a unique perspective in handling criminal cases. Linh represented a French cement conglomerate before the Danang People’s Court to obtain an ex parte judgment in favor of his client to secure the return of a domain name that had been appropriated by a cybersquatter. He has obtained several positive VIPRI opinions (non-binding expert opinion from an official assessment agency) in pharmaceutical patent infringement cases on behalf of major research-based pharmaceutical clients.


Experience
  • Won a domain name dispute case at the Ho Chi Minh City Court for a German auto manufacturer. The defendant was required to surrender the disputed domain names, make a public apology, and pay the client’s legal fees. This was the most severe punishment ever dealt out by a Vietnamese court to a cyber-squatter.
  • Represented a world-leading ball bearing manufacturer to orchestrate an administrative raid. Approximately ten tons of counterfeit goods were seized. The infringer was then imposed with a record fine.
  • Litigated on behalf of a U.S.-based raisin producer and won a challenging case in which the defendant raised a copyright registration as a defense to trademark infringement.
  • Represented a world-leading manufacturer of coding, printing, and laser marking products and won a precedent-setting victory in which the court awarded record attorney’s fees to the plaintiff. Managing Intellectual Property  magazine selected the victory as its Case of the Year for Southeast Asia in 2014.
  • Represented one of the world’s leading biochemical corporations and secured a victory in a groundbreaking case of patent infringement in which the court agreed to enforce and protect an agrochemical patent for a foreign patentee against a local pesticide producer.
  • Won the second domain name dispute case handled by the Vietnamese courts on behalf of a well-known French cement producer.
  • Won a wide range of domain name disputes by virtue of UDRP proceedings before the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center.
  • Assisted a British multinational pharmaceutical company in an unfair competition case involving the use of misleading trade dress by a local competitor. In a rare occurrence, the enforcement body in charge of resolving the case rendered the final conclusion in favor of the client without relying on an expert opinion from the Intellectual Property Office of Vietnam.
  • Represented the world’s leading motorbike manufacturing company to enforce its rights against all types of infringement on a nationwide scale.
  • Represented some of the world’s top pharmaceutical companies from Europe and the U.S. in fights against local generic companies which infringe the clients’ patents.
  • Represented several leading software publishers to raid end-users and then force them to legalize unlicensed software and pay damages.