Vietnam: IP-related decrees and circulars to be revised or replaced after the amended IP Law is enacted

In brief

  • The Intellectual Property (IP) (Amendment) Bill revising and supplementing the current Vietnamese IP Law ("Amended IP Law") was approved and passed by the National Assembly of Vietnam on 16 June 2022. The Amended IP Law will come into effect on 1 January 2023, with exceptions saved for sound mark protection (14 January 2022) and protection of test data for agrochemicals (14 January 2024).
  • Soon after the Amended IP Law takes effect, the relevant existing statutes, namely four decrees and two circulars, will need to be revised or replaced. Decision No. 917/QD-TTg, issued by the Prime Minister of Vietnam on 1 August 2022, mandates these changes.
  • The revisions or repeal of the IP-related decrees and circulars at issue will reflect 102 articles being revised/supplemented, as well as the repeal of a number of provisions in six articles, as stipulated under the Amended IP Law.
  • The Vietnamese government's deadline for submitting new/revised IP-related decrees and circulars is before 15 November 2022.

Details regarding these IP-related decrees and circulars to be revised/replaced are set out below.


Contents

In more detail

Three new draft decrees prescribing details on the Amended IP Law replacing four current decrees

  • In terms of industrial property rights, IP rights protection and state management of IP, a new decree will replace the following:
    • Decree 103/2006/ND-CP prescribing details and guiding implementation of several articles in IP Law on industrial property, which was amended and supplemented by Decree 122/2010/ND-CP ("Decree 103") 
    • Decree 105/2006/ND-CP prescribing details and guiding implementation of several articles in IP Law on protection of intellectual property and state management of IP, which was amended and supplemented by Decree 119/2010/ND-CP and Decree 154/2018/ND-CP ("Decree 105")

The Ministry of Science and Technology will be the lead drafting agency for this new draft. 

  • In terms of rights over plant varieties, a new draft decree will replace the following: 
    • Decree 88/2010/ND-CP prescribing details and guiding implementation of several articles in IP Law on rights over plant varieties, which was amended and supplemented by Decree 98/2011/ND-CP ("Decree 88")

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development will be the lead drafting agency for this new draft.

  • In terms of copyright, a new draft decree will replace the following:
    • Decree 22/2018/ND-CP prescribing details on several articles and measures to implement IP Law 2005 and Law amending and supplementing several articles in IP Law 2009 on copyright and related rights ("Decree 22")

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST) will be the lead drafting agency for this new draft.

Two current circulars prescribing details on current IP-related decrees to be revised/replaced

  • The first circular to be revised is Circular 01/2007/TT-BKHCN guiding implementation of Decree 103/2006/ND-CP, which was amended and supplemented by Circular 13/2010/TT-BKHCN, Circular 18/2011/TT-BKHCN, Circular 05/2013/TT-BKHCN and Circular 16/2016/TT-BKHCN ("Circular 01").

The Ministry of Science and Technology will be the lead drafting agency for this new draft (with the draft being assigned to and handled directly by the Intellectual Property Office of Vietnam).

  • The second circular to be repealed is Circular 08/2016/TT-BVHTTDL on forms of activities to register copyrights and related rights ("Circular 08"). This circular will be replaced by a new circular.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism will be the lead drafting agency for this new draft circular (with the draft being assigned to and handled directly by the Copyright Office of Viet Nam).

Conclusion

The proposed schedule for drafting new statutes is critical to the effectiveness of the Amended IP Law, as many of its general provisions are expected to be guided in detail by the relevant decrees and circulars.

During the legislative drafting process, opinion polls will be distributed to different stakeholders, including IP lawyers, practitioners and experts. We will keep a close eye on the development and offer additional analysis and commentary in due course.

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