The Laos chapter of Global Guide 2018: Doing Business In…, a guide published by Practical Law in association with Lex Mundi, presents a comprehensive Q&A-style overview of doing business in Laos.

Laos has attracted substantial foreign investment in recent years, which has contributed to a surge in the establishment of legal entities, both local and foreign. However, the Lao government has noted that a number of legal entities have not actually been operating business activities in the country, nor have they fulfilled minimum requirements set out in relevant regulations.

It has been reported that the National Office of Intellectual Property (NOIP) of Vietnam will begin accepting requests on April 2, 2018, for the final year of its Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) pilot program with the Japan Patent Office (JPO).As the number of requests is limited, if you wish to file any PPH requests, please let us know as soon as possible. The requests should be prepared well in advance so they can be filed in the morning of April 2, 2018.

Article 115 of Vietnam’s IP Law prohibits any amendment of a mark in a pending application that “materially alters” the character of the original mark or expands its scope of protection. However, the question of what constitutes material alteration in Vietnam is not easily answered, as the law remains silent, and the interpretation of the National Office of Intellectual Property (NOIP) can vary depending on the department or the examiner.

Experts from Tilleke & Gibbins’ franchising practice have contributed the Vietnam chapter to International Franchising, Second Edition (Release 6), a guide to franchising law and practice in 36 countries in North and South America, Europe, Asia, and Africa. The firm also provided the chapter for Thailand.

Attorneys from Tilleke & Gibbins’ active franchising practice have coauthored the Thailand chapter of International Franchising, Second Edition (Release 6), a guide to franchising law and practice in 36 countries worldwide. The firm also wrote the chapter for Vietnam.

The Myanmar chapter of Global Guide 2018: Doing Business In…, a guide published by Practical Law in association with Lex Mundi, presents a comprehensive Q&A-style overview of doing business in Myanmar.

Decree No. 08/2018/ND-CP (“Decree 08”), issued by the Vietnamese government on January 15, 2018, and taking immediate effect, amends a number of existing decrees across a wide range of trade areas, with the aim of reducing administrative procedures for doing business. One area impacted by Decree 08 is e-commerce activities, which are governed by the Law on E-Transactions and its guiding Decree No.