Vietnam, US talk on intellectual property issues

During their discussion yesterday, Vietnamese and US officials agreed that enforcement of intellectual property rights is crucial to economic growth, especially as Vietnam has integrated into the global economy.

The conception was shared by the two sides at their round-table talk held on November 7 in Hanoi between the US Embassy, the US Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Vietnam and the Ministry of Science and Technology.

Speaking at the event, US Ambassador to Vietnam David Shear featured the role of policymakers and industry experts of both countries in discussing solutions to better the current implementation of IP rights.

Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Tran Quoc Khanh said Vietnam needs expertise and support from countries including the US in perfecting its legal framework to accelerate IP practices, particularly when the country has joined international institutions and is negotiating the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement.

Good conditions for the implementation of IP rights that are protected by a firm legal framework is an attractive factor to foreign investors majoring in technology, Khanh said.

On 1 January 2006, the Vietnamese Civil Code took effect, and on 1 July 2006, the Law on Intellectual Property, which codified the Vietnamese Government’s regulations on intellectual property, came into force.

These are the two principal laws governing the protection of intellectual property rights in Vietnam and they were adopted in conformity to WTO standards on intellectual property protection.

Currently Vietnam is a State Party to the Paris Convention, the Madrid Agreement, Madrid Protocol, and the Stockholm Convention of 1967, which established the World Intellectual Property Organization.

The country is also a member of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs Agreement), the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, the Geneva Convention for the Protection of Producers of Phonograms against Unauthorized Duplication of their Phonograms, the Brussels Convention Relating to the Distribution of Program-Carrying Signals Transmitted by Satellite, and many others.