On December 30, 2019, the government of Vietnam issued Decree 99/2019/ND-CP detailing and guiding the implementation of the amended 2018 Law on Higher Education (Decree 99). Decree 99 will take effect on 15 February 2020, and sets out, among other things, conditions for the establishment of campuses in Vietnam of foreign higher-education institutions, regulations on governing boards, and the autonomy and accountability of higher-education institutions.

The Hague Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Industrial Designs (Geneva Act of July 2, 1999 – “1999 Act”) officially took effect in Vietnam on December 30, 2019. Hague System users can now designate Vietnam in an international design application.

On December 24, 2019, the Ministry of Commerce issued a notification on the filing and recording of letters of exclusive importation and distribution of trademarked goods. This notification supplements the 2016 Prakas on the Procedure to Record and File Letters of Exclusive Importation of Trademarked Goods, which required importers with the exclusive right to import goods bearing specific trademarks to record that exclusivity in order to enforce their rights against third parties.

In this first Human Resource Watch column of 2020, Tilleke & Gibbins’ labor and employment lawyers take a look back at three of the most common issues that our clients have asked us about over the past year, including some of the most significant recent legal developments and applications that employers in Thailand have been facing.Thailand’s Personal Data Protection Act

On December 13, 2019, the Vietnamese government issued Decree No. 94/2019/ND-CP (Decree 94) providing detailed guidance on some articles of the Law on Crop Production related to plant varieties and cultivation. Decree 94 will come into effect on February 1, 2020.Notably, Decree 94 includes a list of plant variety genetic resources banned from export. In addition, it provides detailed regulations on labeling, conditions for trading or manufacturing, and administrative procedures related to plant varieties to facilitate the manufacture, trade or import of plant varieties.

Vietnam’s new Cybersecurity Law was promulgated on June 12, 2018 and came into effect on January 1, 2019, with a majority of its provisions enforceable from the effective date. However, there are still certain provisions of the law which need to be further guided by implementing regulations and guidelines. There are currently draft guidelines under consideration, including:

Ever-increasing internet penetration and the proliferation of constant connectivity have sparked new intellectual property protection concerns in recent years. With the e-commerce market in Southeast Asia projected to reach USD 102 billion by 2025, online infringement threatens to dampen this economic surge, and rights holder must rise to meet these new challenges in addition to their conventional methods of combatting infringement.

On December 6, 2019, the Notification Regarding the Guidelines for the Consideration of Unfair Trade Practices in Franchise Businesses was issued to prevent franchisors from adopting overly restrictive and unfair contractual conditions that are deemed to potentially cause damage to franchisees. The notification will become effective on February 4, 2020.