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In 2020, despite difficulties from the previous year due to lacking human resources and working equipment had not been fully overcome and regular working activities were interrupted by Covid-19 pandemic at certain times, the Industrial Design Examination Center (of IP Viet Nam) still carried out a quite large workload, completed and exceeded the targets and goals set out at the beginning of the year.

Regarding the receipt of applications, in the context of the Covid-19 situation, the number of applications of industrial design registration filed through national route was 3,213, down 8% compared to 2019. 2020  was the first year Viet Nam received international applications of registration of industrial designs under the Hague Agreement with which the number of international registrations designated Viet Nam was 174, including 328 industrial designs.

Regarding the handling of applications, the number of applications completely prosecuted (refused or granted) was 2,869, up 2.8% compared to 2019. The number of applications completed with formality examination was 3,270, up 4.8% compared to 2019. Industrial design applications filed before 01 January 2019 were intensively handled by the Industrial Design Examination Center to avoid a situation of serious application backlog. In general, the examination of the industrial design applications satisfied requirements in terms of quantity as well as processing time. All industrial design examiners exceeded their required level of labor productivity and many of them well exceeded.

Even though having achieved significant results mentioned above, the handling of industrial design applications still had some problems such as: backlog applications from previous years had not yet been completely resolved and formality examination of a number of industrial design applications did not meet their deadlines in accordance with regulations. One of the reasons for such limitations was a very large workload while the facilities for examination were inadequate. In addition, human resources for the Center had not been timely and fully reinforced to replace the emloyees retired and left during the years. Reinforced human resources and adequate equipment for examiners are essential to improve efficiency of industrial design application processing both in terms of productivity and quality.

Since 30 December 2019, Viet Nam has become a Contracting Party of the Hague System of International Registration of Industrial Designs (referred to as System). Foreign individuals and organizations can request for industrial design protection in Viet Nam through the System; at the same time, Vietnamese individuals and organizations can also use the System to request for industrial design protection in Contracting Parties of the Hague Agreement. Benefit of using this System is to make the registration for industrial design protection in many countries simplified and less expensive by filing a single application with International Bureau of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) to indicate the Contracting Party(ies) in which the applicant seeks protection for his/her industrial design without having to submit separate national applications to each country. In order to disseminate key information, knowledge and usage menthods of the System, on 25 November 2020, IP Viet Nam held a Workshop on “The Hague System on International Registration of Industrial Designs" in Ha Noi. In addition, a series of media articles about the System was published on websites of IP Viet Nam, the Ministry of Science and Technology and press agencies, e.g. An Overview of the Hague Agreement on International Registration of Industrial Designs, Guidelines for International Registration of Industrial Designs under the Hague Agreement, The Hague Agreement: Opportunities for Vietnamese enterprises to move abroad, How to Use and Prepare Document for Industrial Design Registration under the Hague Agreement, The Hague Agreement: Frequently Asked Questions.

In order to improve results achieved in 2020 and to solve the remaining problems, in 2021, staff of the Industrial Design Examination Center (of IP Viet Nam) shall continue to be proactive, effortful and creative at work to achieve and exceed the goals set from the beginning of the year. Communication and dissemination activities on international registration of industrial designs under the Hague Agreement will also continue to be carried out to promote the growth of number of industrial design applications.

Industrial Design Examination Center (IDEC)