Vietnam launches nationwide clampdown on intellectual property violations

Deputy Prime Minister Ho Quoc Dung signed an official directive calling for stronger measures to prevent and strictly handle intellectual property violations.

The campaign comes despite recent progress in enforcement efforts, as authorities say violations remain widespread in several sectors and localities, negatively affecting the investment environment as well as the legal rights and interests of businesses, organizations, and consumers.

The government has instructed authorities to focus on copyright violations involving movies, music, television programs, and video games on digital platforms, alongside counterfeit goods, fake products, trademark infringement, and geographical indication violations.

Vietnam's Ministry of Public Security has been tasked with dismantling major pirate movie, music, and gaming websites, including English-language platforms with large traffic volumes.

The ministry will also investigate and prosecute serious cases involving copyright, trademarks, and geographical indications.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism will inspect compliance with copyright regulations covering software, films, music, and video games.

The government has ordered that the number of handled violations increase by at least 20 percent compared with May 2025.

Provincial and municipal governments are also required to establish inter-agency task forces to support the campaign.

Experts call for technology-driven enforcement

Nguyen Manh Quy, director of the Institute of Copyright and Digital Assets, described the fight against copyright infringement as "an arms race in technology."

He proposed using artificial intelligence and big data to develop automated real-time scanning systems capable of detecting violations early and automatically sending blocking requests to Internet service providers.

Huynh Ho Dai Nghia, a lecturer at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities under Vietnam National University-Ho Chi Minh City, said Vietnam should adopt a two-layer strategy consisting of short-term enforcement measures and long-term policies aimed at building a stronger intellectual property ecosystem to support the creative economy.

In the short term, Nghia said authorities should intensify inspections and impose tougher penalties in high-risk sectors such as consumer goods, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, food products, fashion, electronic components, software, e-commerce, and exports.

He also stressed the need to increase accountability for e-commerce platforms, digital services, and intermediaries, arguing that many counterfeit and trademark-infringing products are now distributed online.

According to Nghia, enforcement efforts will remain limited if authorities focus only on small-scale sellers without requiring online platforms to monitor, remove and preserve data on violations while cooperating with regulators.

He further recommended establishing a rapid-response mechanism for exported goods, especially for industries serving markets such as the United States, the European Union, Japan, and South Korea, where intellectual property compliance standards are becoming increasingly strict.

Nghia also called on authorities to publicly disclose major enforcement cases to send a clear policy message that Vietnam does not tolerate counterfeit goods or the theft of creative assets.

Organized digital piracy on the rise

Mai Tu Anh, vice-chairman and secretary-general of the Vietnam Reproduction Rights Association, said copyright infringement in Vietnam was previously mostly small-scale and individual, but organized illegal content operations have emerged alongside the growth of the Internet and digital platforms.

He warned that advances in artificial intelligence have made copying, editing, and distributing content almost instantaneous, while also generating derivative and altered material that complicates ownership identification.

According to Anh, the association is promoting legal usage mechanisms rather than focusing solely on punishment. Its priority is developing collective licensing systems based on authorization from authors and rights holders.

He said the model has been recommended by the World Intellectual Property Organization and widely adopted in many countries because it simplifies licensing procedures while protecting creators' rights.

The association is also helping develop transparent fee frameworks for sectors including education, libraries, and digital environments, while promoting public awareness campaigns on copyright protection.

Anh added that Vietnam needs to further improve legal enforcement mechanisms, particularly in digital environments, while increasing the responsibility of intermediary platforms to monitor and remove infringing content.

Intellectual property linked to national economic security

Lecturer Nghia said Vietnam should view intellectual property not merely as a legal or market management issue, but as a matter directly tied to national competitiveness and economic security.

He argued that stricter global standards on origin, copyright, technology, labor, environment, and supply chains mean countries seeking innovation-driven growth must strongly protect intellectual property rights.

Nghia said intellectual property protection safeguards incentives for innovation. If businesses invest in research, branding, technology, and product design that can easily be copied or counterfeited, companies will lose motivation for long-term innovation investment.

Strict enforcement also protects legitimate businesses and consumers. Counterfeit and trademark-infringing goods distort market competition and undermine companies that comply with legal and quality standards.

Intellectual property protection also directly affects Vietnam's international trade reputation, according to Nghia.

Vietnam is becoming increasingly integrated into global supply chains, particularly with the United States, the European Union, Japan, and South Korea, all of which closely assess compliance with intellectual property and supply chain transparency standards.