Intellectual Property Enforcement Great Efforts by Vietnam

Intellectual Property Enforcement Great Efforts by Vietnam

A national conference on intellectual property enforcement was held in Hanoi on September 8 by the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Ministry of Culture and Information. The most pressing issue discussed at the conference was that while Vietnam has made great legislative efforts in this area, protection of intellectual property rights remains a weakness to be addressed.

Real situation

Tran Chien Thang, Deputy Minister of Culture and Information, told the conference that the violation of intellectual property rights seemed to be spreading. Most goods, ranging from necessities, such as food & beverages, clothing, footwear, machinery, cosmetics and medicines, are pirated, or bear false indicators of their country of origin.

Intellectual property right violation is popular with trademarks and industrial designs. However, other assets have been pirated, displaying false trademarks and countries of origin. In particular, violation has recently been seen in patents and plant varieties.

Copyright violation now can be seen in publishing, cinematography, photography, figurative arts, performance arts, the audio and video industry, and even science, especially in software.

According to the National Intellectual Property Agency, the number of industrial property violation cases has seen a significant increase.

According to economic experts, there are four major reasons for the situation. These include a lack of refined and effective mechanisms, poor implementation, lack of knowledge of people and owners about industrial property enforcement and the negative impacts of the international economic integration process as pirated goods made in foreign countries are imported to Vietnam.

Finding solutions

Under guidelines released by the Deputy Prime Minister Vu Khoan, finding solutions to the problem is one of the major tasks which will decide whether Vietnam will join the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in 2005 or not. To overcome weaknesses in the protection of intellectual property rights, in addition to receiving comment and input from enterprises, owners of intellectual property and those who relate directly to industrial property, a project entitled ‘Improving the effectiveness of intellectual property’ has been developed by the Ministry of Science and Technology. The project’s main achievement is a 2005-2009 action programme aiming to improve the effectiveness of intellectual property rights enforcement. Accordingly, by 2009, the intellectual property enforcement system in Vietnam will be in line with international standards.

According to Hoang Van Phong, Deputy Minister of Science and Technology, Vietnam is accelerating the creation of legislation on intellectual property enforcement with a focus on civil, administrative and criminal regulations with proper and simplified application conditions. As planned, Vietnam will promote its investment in human resources development from 2005 to 2009 to increase awareness in the community about the concept of intellectual property and its right to protection. In the same period, the Government will boost its examination and inspection activities related to intellectual property protection and enforcement and will take tough measures against those found to be in violation of the new laws.

Enterprises, entrepreneurs, artists and officials contributed their comments about the improvement of intellectual property enforcement in Vietnam. These will act as a basis for the Government to make decisions on combating intellectual property violations.

Le Phung Bao, deputy director of the Kinh Do Company, said that the Government should issue long-term policies to increase people’s awareness about the importance of intellectual property protection. It is time to issue a law on intellectual property. At the same time, any violation must be toughly penalised, so that a healthy business environment will be created for enterprises and investors. Bao stressed: “We strongly propose that the Government should issue separate regulations (on the court and arbitration) to handle intellectual property violations. If civil procedures are used, it will take longer and not be effective enough to prevent such violations. Procedures for intellectual property should be simplified and the State should issue effective policies to help enterprises protect their trademarks in foreign countries.”

Music composer Pho Duc Phuong, director of the Vietnam Centre for Music Copyright Protection, said that the Government should pay careful attention to educating the public and businesses, and guiding intellectual property enforcement with proper measures to ensure that the law is effectively observed. Therefore, legal regulations on copyright should be disseminated to those who do business with the works of composers, so that violations of intellectual property rights in this field will reduce.

Phan Dang Long, acting director of the Hanoi Department of Culture and Information, said: “The Government should continue to build and refine the legal system on copyright with penalties for copyright violations, and educate the public. Copyright is the right of people to assert ownership of their works in both material and spiritual value, so authors and owners of works should protect their rights, and ask State management to protect their copyright. On October 24, Vietnam will officially join the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literacy and Artistic Works. Cultural and artistic activities in Vietnam will then see positive changes during the international integration process in accordance with international law. This is also an opportunity for Vietnam to introduce its culture to the world.

Vuong Tri Dung, deputy head of the Hanoi Market Management Agency, said: “To increase the effectiveness of intellectual property enforcement, the Government should issue regulations for each concrete field, such as domestic market, border and court. The legal system should include adequate regulations on handling and penalising any violation. There should also be regulations on withdrawing business licences of offenders.

Hanoi should build a centre for displaying real and counterfeit and pirated goods to help consumers distinguish them while helping to educate students. This will also act as a place to provide information for the mass media. The centre will help put intellectual property into the public eye.

• Doan Phuong