Duong & Tran Intellectual Property

News & Updates

IP law developments across Southeast Asia

Vietnam

Accelerate the Examination of Vietnamese Patent Applications in Certain Special Cases

The 2025 Law Amending and Supplementing a Number of Articles of the Law on Intellectual Property (the IP Law), effective from 1 April 2026, allows an applicant to request expedited substantive examination of a patent application where certain conditions prescribed by the Government are satisfied. This provision creates considerable convenience for applicants, giving them the opportunity to obtain a patent earlier and to be more proactive in commercializing their rights to the invention and implementing business plans relating to the invention.

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Vietnam

Patent Prosecution Highway Program between Korean Intellectual Property Office and Intellectual Property Office of Vietnam

Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) program for accelerating examination of patent applications between Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) and Intellectual Property Office of Vietnam (IPVN) (KR-VN PPH program) was launched on 1 June 2019. The program is continuing to be extended from 1 June 2025 to 31 May 2028. There is a maximum of 100 requests filed each year in Vietnam.

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Vietnam

Patent Prosecution Highway Program between Japanese Patent Office and Intellectual Property Office of Vietnam

Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) program for accelerating examination of patent applications between Japanese Patent Office (JPO) and Intellectual Property Office of Vietnam (IPVN) (JP-VN PPH program) was launched in 2016 with phase 1 in the period of 2016-2018, and subsequently extended to phases 2, 3, and 4. Phase 4 of the program started from 01 April 2025 and will end on 31 March 2028. There is a maximum of 200 requests filed each year in Vietnam. Of those 200 requests, a maximum of 100 is permitted from 1 April to 30 September, with the remainder permitted from 1 October to 31 March.

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Vietnam

Accelerate the Examination of Vietnamese Patent Applications under ASEAN Patent Examination Cooperation Program

The ASEAN Patent Examination Cooperation (ASPEC) is a regional patent work-sharing program among nine participating ASEAN member states (“AMS”) including Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. The program was launched on 15 June 2009 aiming to accelerate the substantive examination of patent applications in participating AMS by reducing duplication on the search and examination work done, saving time and effort.

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Vietnam

Vietnam Industrial Design: Extending Protection to Partial Designs and Designs of Non-physical Products

Vietnam’s amendment of the Intellectual Property Law (IP Law) and its guiding regulations extended protection of industrial design to partial designs and designs of non-physical products, effective from 1 April 2026, by the amended definition of an industrial design, particularly “an industrial design refers to the external appearance of all or part of a product, in physical or non-physical form, expressed in shape, lines, colors, or a combination of these elements, and visible in the process of exploiting the product's use”. Below is a summary of the updated regulations regarding partial designs and designs of non-physical products.

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Vietnam

Territorial Jurisdiction of the Specialized Intellectual Property Court under Resolution No. 04/2026/UBTVQH16, Effective from June 10, 2026

Resolution No. 04/2026/UBTVQH16 dated June 10, 2026 amending and supplementing a number of articles of Resolution No. 81/2025/UBTVQH15 dated June 27, 2025 regarding the territorial jurisdiction of Provincial People’s Courts and Regional People’s Courts, took effect on June 10, 2026. Territorial jurisdiction of Regional People’s Courts over civil, business and commercial matters and administrative cases relating to intellectual property (IP) and technology transfer is provided as follows: • Regional People’s Court 2 – Ha Noi has territorial jurisdiction over 20 provinces and cities, comprising: Ha Noi, Hai Phong, Hue, Bac Ninh, Cao Bang, Dien Bien, Ha Tinh, Hung Yen, Lai Chau, Lang Son, Lao Cai, Nghe An, Ninh Binh, Phu Tho, Quang Ninh, Quang Tri, Son La, Thai Nguyen, Thanh Hoa and Tuyen Quang; • Regional People’s Court 1 – Ho Chi Minh City has territorial jurisdiction over 14 provinces and cities, comprising: Can Tho, Da Nang, Dong Nai, Ho Chi Minh City, An Giang, Ca Mau, Dak Lak, Dong Thap, Gia Lai, Khanh Hoa, Lam Dong, Quang Ngai, Tay Ninh and Vinh Long.

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Vietnam

Digital Court Procedures Under Resolution No. 01/2026/NQ-HDTP

On 15 January 2026, the Judicial Council of the Supreme People's Court of Vietnam issued Resolution No. 01/2026/NQ-HDTP ("Resolution 01"), providing comprehensive guidance on the conduct of litigation procedures and judicial administrative procedures in the digital environment at People's Courts. Resolution 01 took effect on 1 March 2026 and supersedes Resolution No. 04/2016/NQ-HDTP, which had governed the submission and service of documents by electronic means under the civil and administrative procedure codes. Resolution 01 represents a significant step in Vietnam's broader digital transformation agenda, extending the scope of permissible electronic court interactions to cover virtually all stages of litigation. Key areas addressed include electronic filing, service of process, fee payment, online hearings, and the storage and exchange of case records in digital form.

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Vietnam

What Applicants Should Note When Preparing and Filing an International Industrial Design Application Under the Hague System Designating Vietnam

As of 30 December 2019, applicants could use the Hague System to protect their industrial designs in the Contracting Parties to the 1999 Act of the Hague Agreement designating Vietnam. After several years of implementation, we have seen that many international applications (Hague applications) designating Vietnam of foreign applicants have encountered refusal by the Intellectual Property Office of Vietnam (IPVN) for the reasons relating to industrial design description and/or photos/drawings, and unity of applications. Vietnamese law and practice on industrial design protection may differ from those in other countries, especially in term of strict requirements on drawings/photos/specification. This article aims to provide important notes the applicants should pay attention to when preparing and filing Hague applications designating Vietnam to avoid refusal by IPVN.

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Vietnam

Key Changes to Administrative Enforcement of Industrial Property Rights Under Decree No. 186/2026/ND-CP

On 26 May 2026, the Vietnamese Government issued Decree No. 186/2026/ND-CP (“Decree 186”), amending Decree No. 99/2013/ND-CP as amended and supplemented by Decrees No. 126/2021/ND-CP and No. 46/2024/ND-CP (“Decree 99”), which governs administrative penalties for industrial property violations. Decree 186 will take effect on 15 July 2026. Decree 186 is issued primarily to align Decree 99 with the Law Amending the Intellectual Property Law, which came into force on 1 April 2026 (the “Amending IP Law”), and to reflect recent structural reforms to Vietnam’s state administrative machinery. The amendments introduce new remedial measures for domain name infringement, clarify and expand enforcement authority, increase maximum fine thresholds that can be imposed by some administrative enforcement bodies, and streamline certain procedural requirements. This article summarises the most notable changes under Decree 186.

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