Xuất bản thông tin Xuất bản thông tin

In coordination with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the National Office of Intellectual Property of Viet Nam (NOIP) organised the Sub-regional Seminar on “Intellectual Property and Branding of Products with Strong Geographical Origin for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)” in Ha Noi, on September 09 and 10, 2014. This Seminar was held in the  series of events on protection and promotion of products bearing geographical origin in order to implement the ASEAN Action Plan on Intellectual Property in the period 2011-2015.

Mr. Tran Huu Nam, Deputy Director General of NOIP delivered speech at the opening remark of the Seminar

At the Seminar, international experts presented to participants with: the protection mechanism of intellectual property rights for products bearing geographical origin, measures of identifying and formulating the list of products with potential geographical indications (GIs), issues of intellectual property rights and product branding, measures of using intellectual property rights for building brands and promoting products with particular geographical origins as well as related challenges. Representatives from ASEAN Member States (AMSs) also shared experiences of their countries in such topics.

Making the Seminar’s conclusion, Mr. Tran Huu Nam, Deputy Director General of NOIP said intellectual property rights in general and GIs in particular have become an important instrument for socio-economic development of Viet Nam, especially for rural areas. During recent years, the Vietnamese Government has continuously improved its legal framework to facilitate  GI registration and protection for local specialities. However, like other AMSs, Viet Nam has currently faced many difficulties in post-registration phase, particularly management, development, and promotion of products bearing GIs. Mr. Nam also asked WIPO for its continuing assistance for AMSs to handle mentioned difficulties, and asked AMSs either to maintain the cooperation of sharing information and experiences in GIs, or to co-implement collective activities for development and promotion of ASEAN’s products bearing GIs.

According to statistics, currently in the world there are approximately 10.000 products protected under geographical indication mechanism with annual trade value recording at around 50 billion US dollar. In ASEAN region, over 120 geographical indications are registered and protected. Viet Nam has 38 geographical indications registered and protected, of which GI “Phu Quoc” for fish sauce was registered for GI protection in EU market./.

International Cooperation Division