What is a Trademark?

A trademark is a type of intellectual property. A trademark also commonly known as a trademark, trade-mark or a mark. A trademark consists of a recognizable sign, design, or expression which identifies products or services of a particular company and helps in distinguishing the products from those of others. The symbols ® ‘the registered trademark symbol’ and ™ ‘the trademark symbol’ are generally used to indicate trademarks; the former is only for use by the owner of a trademark which is registered.

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The trademark can be owned by:

-An individual,

-Business organization,

-Or any legal entity

When a trademark is registered, it confers an exclusive right to the owner to use the registered trademark. Thus it can be said that the trademark can be used by his owner exclusively, or it can be used by a person licensed for use in return of valid consideration.

Complete assignment

In this type of assignment, all the rights are completely transferred by the owner to the assignee.

The assignee has got all the rights including rights such right to further transfer and right to earn royalties.

Partial assignment

In this type, the assignment of the trademark is made to the assignee, but with respect to only some of the goods/ services, the transfer of ownership of the trademark is restricted to specific goods or services only. The rights are not transferred completely.

Assignment with goodwill

In this type of assignment, there is also a transfer of goodwill of the product with the trademark. In this, the valuation of goodwill is calculated differently in the agreement.

Assignment without goodwill

 In this type of assignment, goodwill of the product is not transferred along with the assignment of the trademark; in this, the owner of the brand restricts the rights of the assignee and does not allow him to use such trademark of the brand for the products being used by the assignor. Such an assignment is also referred to as a gross assignment.

When can a Trademark be assignerd?

A trademark can be assigned in the following situations

The Death of the Trademark Owner

Whenever the owner of the trademark i.e. the assignor dies, its ownership is passed on to the successors of the previous owners in a will or intestate. The condition is that the Trademark must be valid and should not have been abandoned by the previous owner.

Sale of Business

 Intellectual properties are assets for the company, just like all properties, even the trademark can be sold with the company. Provided it is registered under the company’s name. If a party acquires trademark rights of a company by acquiring a business with regard to the sale of assets of the company, the intellectual properties are also said to be transferred.

Change of the owner of businesses

When two companies decide on having a merger or an amalgamation of the company, a notification is sent to the registry. All the intellectual property of the acquired company are transferred to the new owner through the trademark assignment agreement between the parties.

Change in Form of Business

Whenever a business plan on changing its form of business or its business structure an assignment is a boon for those businesses.

If you are looking for an experienced trademark attorneys in Vietnam to help you with your trademark application, you should visit ANT Lawyers.vn. Our attorneys have experience with the trademark process and will work closely with you as you apply for your trademark.

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What happens if I have a trademark without registering?

Trademark registration provides protection and exclusive rights to the owner of a Trademark in relation to his goods and services used commercially.

Trademark registration services in Vietnam 

A Trademark differentiates the identity and brand name of a business and separates the goods and services of a business from that of other similar goods or services in the market.

If your Trademark is not registered, it can be easily infringed upon by someone. In such case, you cannot file an infringement suit, but only claim remedy for passing-off. Passing off in trademark is when infringement of an unregistered trademark happens. The mark is not only deceptively similar to the trademark of other company but also creating confusion for the customers, which ultimately results in damage to the business of company.

Legal Remedy In Case Of Passing Off

The trademark owner can file a suit in district court/ High Court within the local limits of the jurisdiction, where the person instituting actually and voluntarily resides or carries on business or personally works for gain.

Where the passing off does not involve the use of trademark or where there is no sale of goods, the suit may be filed in a subordinate judge’s court or a court of superior to it. The plaintiff in a suit for passing off must be the owner of an unregistered trademark which has acquired reputation in relation to some goods or the owner of the goodwill in a trade name, or get-up relating to some goods or business or profession.

The defendant in the suit must be a person who has passed off or whose activities are likely to pass off his goods or business as the goods or business of the plaintiffs. Passing off actions may be instituted by many plaintiffs in a representative capacity provided there is a common interest, common grievance and a remedy beneficial to all. The rules governing the preparation of the plaint and the subsequent proceedings are the same as in any other suit and are governed by the Code of Civil Procedure.

If you are looking for an experienced Trademark attorneys in Vietnam to help you with your trademark application, you should visit ANT Lawyers.vn. Our attorneys have experience with the trademark process and will work closely with you as you apply for your trademark. We routinely match inventors with experienced Trademark attorneys for a free consultation on our platform and offer a money back guarantee.

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What is the meaning of trademark?

What is a Trademark?

A Trademark generally refers to a “brand” or “logo”.

Trademark registration can also be obtained for a business name, distinctive catch phrases, taglines or captions.

Trademark in Vietnam

Properly used and promoted, a Trademark may become the most valuable asset of a business. Trademarks such as Coca Cola, HP, Canon, Nike and Adidas serve as an indication of origin of the goods as well as an indication of quality.

It is also essential to obtain trademark registration for the business name/trade name under the Trademarks Act. Registration of a company or business name under the Compani­­es Act does not in itself give protection against others who might commence using identical or similar marks.

Use of TM, SM and ® symbols

'TM' stands for Trademark and 'SM' stands for Servicemark. The use of TM and SM symbols notifies the public that the company is claiming exclusive ownership of the trademark and can generally be used by one who has filed a trademark application.

The ® symbol, can be used only once the trademark is registered and the registration certificate is issued. Also, you may use the registration symbol only in connection with the goods and/or services in respect of which the trademark is registered.

The registration process is the same for both trademarks and servicemarks.

ANT Lawyers - A Law firm in Vietnam is supported by a team of experienced patent, trademark, design attorneys with qualification and skills handling full range of legal services relating to intellectual property rights in Vietnam.  We have specialized in the preparation and registration of patents, trademarks and designs for our clients.   Please contact our lawyers in Vietnam for advice via email ant@antlawyers.vn or call our office at +84 28 730 86 529

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What To Do When the Trademark Certificate is Misplaced?

Trademark is a type of asset of individual and organization. To be officially recognized as an owner of that trademark, the applicant needs to submit the trademark registration dossiers to National Office of Intellectual Property in Vietnam (NOIP), pay the examination fee and certificate issuance fee to receive the trademark certificate.

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The trademark owner needs to have the consciousness of protecting the trademark certificate. However, if unfortunately, the trademark certificate is misplaced, lost or damaged, torn, stained or faded out that it can no longer be used, the trademark owner may submit the dossier to NOIP to request for regranting the trademark certificate.

The specific required documents for re-granting the trademark certificate are:

-The declaration for regranting the trademark certificate;

-01 mark specimen;

-Power of attorney (if submit the dossiers via IP agent).

NOIP will consider the dossier within 01 month from the date of submitting. In case the dossier satisfies the provisions of law, NOIP will issue the decision to regrant the trademark certificate and record into the National Register of Industrial Property. The information in the duplicate version of the trademark certificate will present sufficiently the information in the first-granted trademark certificate and attached with the phrase “regranting version”.

In case of request for regranting the trademark certificate does not meet the provisions of law, NOIP will issue the denied decision and clearly sates the reasons.

If the client needs any other information or requires for further advice, our IP attorney in Vietnam at ANT Lawyers, the IP agent in Vietnam will be available for service.

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What are the limits as to what can be trademarked?

There are certain limits to get a trademark registration. Here we can understand that what can be a trademark or what can’t be a trademark. First of all you should remember that, if a brand name is not a part of trading than the word can’t be a trademark, it means the trading is the compulsory to get a trademark to be registered. In a simple words we can say;

Trademark protection in Vietnam 

-A trademark can be a name, symbol, shape, colour, tunes and packing of products.

-A Trademark should not be a generic name, it means trademark should be an invented or coined.

-A Trademark should not contain the words related to religious sentiments.

-A trademark should not be conflicting trademarks with others. It means the trademarks should not create confusion between two trademarks.

-A Trademark that discrib the good or service and give the consumer an idea about the quality, quantity or geographic origin of the particular good or service. Descriptive trademarks cannot be registered.

Apart of all above there few more criterias that should be consider before filing a trademark. Therefore you should contact to your attorney.

If you are looking for an IP attorney, but are concerned about the typical costs associated with the traditional legal search, you should visit ANT Lawyers where we work to trim those costs. We will match you with an experienced IP attorney in Vietnam for a free, no obligation consultation. Hope this helps.

Source: Quora

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Process for Trademark registration

A Trademark is a name, logo, tagline, colors that identify a product or service. Business owners are given rights on their trademarks.Trademark is essential as it protects any word, name, slogan, design, or image that identifies a business or brand and distinguishes it from others. It also gives right to the mark and allows the holder to file lawsuit against infringers. It has an unlimited term but must be renewed after every 10 years.

Trademark protection in Vietnam 

Process for Trademark registration

Before you start registration of your trademark, you need to conduct a trademark search in which you need to search the trademark database to check whether there is any other similar or identical trademark. After the completion of trademark search, Trademark registration can be filed with the fees in the Trademark Registrar. Then the registration application is allotted to a Trademark officer, who decides whether the application is accepted or rejected. If the trademark registration application is rejected, the applicant can appear before the officer to address the problem occurred at a given date and time. When the application is accepted it is published in the trademark journal with other trademark registrations for the public to see and if needed then oppose. If there is no objection within 90days then registration is accepted. But if there is an objection then a hearing is called before the Trademark hearing office where the applicant and the objecting party gives evidence for their stand. Based on the evidence and hearing the officer decides to accept or reject the Trademark registration.

If not opposed then the Trademark registration certificate will be given.

Documents Required for Trademark Registration

-Date of using the Logo/Tagline (Any supporting document for the same)

-Power of Attorney signed by the applicant

-Softcopy of the Logo/Tagline

Source: Quora

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What is the importance of trademark registration?

Trademark Registration is a legal protection for your Brand name which can’t be copied by any other party Legally. If in case they copy that brand then through the Rights under Intellectual Property Act. The owner of the Trademark can recover the whole profit earned with the name of Registered Trademark.

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Many of my clients have said that their lenders or investors felt more comfortable once registration was achieved in important countries.

if you have registrations in major countries such as US , UK you can persuade amazon, eBay etc. to shut down infringing websites without the time and expense of court action.

Customers even search and see you are serious about your rights. It is so cheap to do you look very cheap if you don’t do it.

If you need to prevent infringing use by competitors the court will assume that your right is valid until the other side has proved that it is not. The percentage of registrations found invalid is minuscule. Once you have registration it can be renewed forever as of right. In the UK registration no 1 remains valid as the owners renewed it every ten years since 1876. You have to police the use of the mark, use and renew and then it’s yours forever.

If you have a registration potential licensees have an easy way of finding you. Lenders can give loans secured on registrations.

It is wise to consult the advice of a IP attorneys in Vietnam to help assist you with your trademark. We are a legal marketplace with quality lawyers who are knowledgeable in various areas of the law—including intellectual property rights.

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Procedures for registration of trademark protection in Vietnam

Trademark plays an important role in the business activities of the enterprise, helping to position products and services in the minds of customers as well as make a difference in the market. In the current competitive context, trademarks are easily violated by illegal acts, easily affecting business results of enterprises. According to the provisions of the Intellectual Property Law 2005 (amended and supplemented in 2009), a trademark is an intellectual property that needs to be protected and the legal basis to protect it is a trademark registration certificate.

Trademark registration services in Vietnam 

1. Conditions for a trademark to be registered for protection

Article 72 of the Intellectual Property Law 2005 stipulates that trademarks are protected if the following conditions are met:

a) A visible sign in the form of letters, words, drawings, images, including holograms or a combination thereof, expressed in one or more colors.

b) Having the ability to distinguish the goods or services of the trademark owner from the goods and services of another subject.

2. Procedures for registration of trademark protection

2.1. Look up trademarks (optional)

In order to assess the ability to register a trademark and save time for enterprise, it is necessary for the applicant to conduct a trademark search before filing an official registration application. This is to determine if the trademark of an enterprise is identical or similar to that of another registered trademark for the same or similar products.

Search time: 02 days.

For searching, the applicant should provide the following documents: 05 trademark samples; List of branded goods/ ervices.

2.2. Trademark registration (brand / logo):

If the search results show that the trademark is not identical or similar to the trademark of any registered individuals or organizations, the applicant should submit a trademark registration application in the fastest time to have priority dates soon.

 2.3. Time of trademark registration:

 The application for trademark registration will go through three stages:

a) Examining the form of trademark registration applications:

During this period, if the application satisfies the requirements, the National Office of Intellectual Property (NOIP) will confirm the date of valid application, the number of valid applications, the priority date of the application and notify the applicant of the decision to accept the application. If there are deficiencies, the NOIP will notify the applicant and within two months from the date of notification, the applicant must correct the deficiencies.

Time limit for formality examination: 03 months from the date of application to the NOIP.

b) Publication of the registration application: 02 months from the date the application is formally accepted.

If the application is valid, it will be published by the NOIP in the Industrial Property Official Gazette. This gazette is published monthly.

c) Substantive examination: 07 months from the date of publication of the mark registration application

At this stage, if the application is recognized as valid, there is no dispute or complaint when it is published, the NOIP will notify the applicant of the fee for substantive examination. Then the NOIP will conduct the evaluation. The purpose of substantive examination is to determine whether the object stated in the application meets the protection standards prescribed by law.

Time for substantive examination: 09 months from the date of notification of acceptance of valid application.

If the result of substantive examination shows that the trademark of the applicant is likely to register, the NOIP will issue a Protection Title within 1 month thereafter.

3. Application dossier for trademark registration

a) A trademark registration declaration.

b) Documents, specimens, information showing the trademark intended to be registered.

c) Power of attorney (if the application is submitted through an intellectual property representation organization).

d) List of products and services that the enterprise intends to use the trademark.

e) A notarized copy of the enterprise registration certificate, investment certificate if the owner is an organization, the identity card or other equivalent papers of the individual owner.

f) Receipt of fees and charges.

The term of protection of trademarks is 10 years from the date of filing of applications. The owner of a protection title may extend it many times. Procedures for renewing a trademark protection certificate are carried out at the National Office of Intellectual Property.

If you're looking for an affordable Trademark lawyers in Vietnam , check out ANTLawyers.vn. ANTLawyers.vn was established to meet these needs by providing fast, effective and economical solutions. Hope that clears things up a bit. Feel free to message me directly to chat further about any other IP questions that you face.

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How can I check if a domain name has been registered as a trademark or not?

As many of the answers have pointed out here, there are several online searches you can use. However, I would urge you to utilize the skills of a professional trademark attorney.

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I suggest this because there are many nuances to conducting a thorough trademark search. Conducting a search on your own is an option but you’d be surprised at how many people make mistakes throughout this process. In order to ensure that it’s a thorough search, you are better off relying on people who can ensure that the domain name has not already been registered. Keep in mind, not all protected trademarks may not appear in th TESS (Trademark Electronic Search System).

Ultimately, this could save you valuable time and money.

If you would like to be in touch with a trademark attorney in Vietnam, reach out to us at ANT Lawyers. We are the largest platform of freelance attorneys that offer quality legal help at an affordable rate.

Hope this helps!

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When do I need to trademark my company?

This is not your question, exactly, but the most vital step is to do a comprehensive US trademark search before spending any money on marketing and merchandising. You do not want to waste time and money on a mark that is strikingly similar to another product or service.

Trademark Law Firm in Vietnam  

If that is not an issue, I recommend that you trademark your startup shortly after you incorporate. I suggest this for two reasons:

-First, if you’ve done a comprehensive trademark search (which you’ll do during the trademark filing process), you can find out if you’re actually infringing on another company’s mark. This will help to avoid significant time and legal fees in the future.

-Second, although you can claim ownership of your trademark without formally registering with the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), your rights are limited to the geographic region where your trademark is used. So, by formally filing, you can have protection across the US.

I really do recommend working with an attorney familiar with the trademark process to help you through the process.

A trademark attorney can

-Complete a thorough trademark search

-Fill out the application

-Ensure that deadlines are met

-Guarantee that the process has been completed properly

Source: Raad Ahmed - Quora

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