Building and Protecting Vietnamese Brand Value

Speaking at the workshop, Mr Do Kim Lang, Deputy Director of the Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency (Vietrade), affirmed that many Vietnamese companies still do not understand the concepts of trade name and brand name. This makes them unable to grasp opportunities to create their competitiveness on the market. Vietnam is a well-known exporting country in the world. Vietnam is exporting agricultural products, processed foods, footwear, apparels, handicrafts and seafood. And, the quality of these items is increasing day after day. However, 90 percent of Vietnamese goods must go through the intermediary to sell its crude products or be outsourced for famous foreign brands. Therefore, foreign consumers still have no idea about Vietnamese-branded goods. This is a great loss and weakness of Vietnam exports in foreign markets.

 

Furthermore, the added value of key exports is not high either. Recent M&A deals show that foreign investors are very keen on big brand names because this is the quickest way to approach customers and the market, he said. Therefore, businesses should regard brand development and protection as the biggest asset value to enhance product competitiveness. Branding is a process that generates the core value of businesses and serves as a tool for them to market products.

 

Ms Nguyen Thanh Binh, Head of the Marketing Department, the Foreign Trade University of Hanoi, said brand helps customers associate and feel products of enterprises. In their business strategies, enterprises must do branding well first. She stressed that the brand value is a promise and a commitment to clients to create the correlation of customers to the core value of products that companies look for. Branding is to make the difference. It is easy to copy a commodity but it is difficult to imitate an organisation.

 

She said, for consumers, brand image is an overall impression in the perception of customers because physical properties like name, symbol, fame and support services position the brand. Brand value will create a strong association of customer awareness (prestige, quality, price, pride, etc.). Therefore, to assert their positions in the hearts of consumers and enhance their competitiveness over their rivals, businesses must build and protect their brands. Corporate branding strategy will include brand designing, mission establishment, construction, protection, communication and utilisation. Brand protection must start from enterprises themselves because that is the competitive advantage that only they can do for their own.

 

Lawyer Le Quang Vinh from Bross & Partners Law Firm, in the current context, competition on the world market has become a war among brands plus “conventional wars of price and quality.” Without sufficient attention to intangible asset - brand, good market positioning, target customer determination and confidence in the added value generated by brands, the investment for brand construction and development is hindered.

 

He added that current brand disputes are typically disputes in the process of establishing rights and disputes in the enforcement of brand protection. In enforcement disputes, there are two main types: Infringement of protected brand and unfair competition. Giving evidence to unfair competition, he said, the following are considered the acts of unfair competition: Registration and possession of the rights to use or usage of domain names identical or confusingly similar to protected trademarks and trade names of others or geographical indications which they are not entitled to use for the purpose of possessing such domain names, abusing or harming prestige and fame of known brands, trademarks and geographical indications. In recent years, many brand names and trade names are imitated, thus causing serious harm to businesses and spoiling their reputation to consumers. For that reason, they must protect their brand values, particularly those with strong market footholds and in the hearts of consumers.

 

Also at the conference, participants discussed how to protect and ensure brand rights of enterprises in Vietnam and in foreign countries. According to them, companies registering trademarks in foreign countries can do it in every single company or conduct registration in line with the Madrid System on international brand registration. With the US market, they can file brand registration application forms to the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) at their offices or via the Internet at www.uspto.gov. With the European market, they can file documents to the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (OHIM). They need to lodge their applications at only OHIM for the area-wide effect. To be certified and become a community brand with effect in all member states, the brand must be agreed by all countries. In case the community brand is cancelled or invalidated in member state, it shall be automatically void in all other member states.