EU FTA poses intellectual property questions

It is predicted to have a major impact on Vietnam’s legal system, including laws related to intellectual property. The issue was discussed at a seminar in Hanoi on Tuesday which reviewed Vietnam’s legal framework and the commitments Vietnam has made about intellectual property.

The new FTA with EU includes a clause on intellectual property which includes regulations for trademark revocation clarified with the term “genuine use”. This term is familiar in European countries, but has yet to be defined in any Vietnamese legal document. This leads to difficulties in enforcing intellectual property protection.

"We have found out that the biggest challenge does not lie in Vietnam’s current laws, but in enforcing the EU-V FTA’s intellectual property regulations to effectively protect the rights of the licensees", said Nguyen Thi Thu Trang, Director of WTO & Integration Centre, Vietnam Chamber of Commerce & Industry.

Besides difficulties in the enforcement of intellectual property protection, Vietnam also needs to consider whether it needs a separate document to supplement the FTA or to amend its current laws. This will require better coordination between the involved agencies.

"Once we have increased our economic integration in the region and world, businesses will face competition. Therefore, firms need to register their trademarks and defend their intellectual property in the countries in which Vietnam has signed free trade agreements with", said Nguyen Anh Ngoc, Director of Trademark & Litigation Department, INVESTIP.

Experts also discussed intellectual property the seminar in order to help policy makers to continue developing the country’s legal system in this period of increasing international integration.