The Conference were attended by representatives from the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST), including Mr. Huynh Thanh Dat - Member of CPV Central Committee, Minister of Science and Technology, and Mr. Bui The Duy - Alternate member of CPV Central Committee, Deputy Minister of Science and Technology. Mr. Le Hong Son, Member of the Standing Committee of the City Party Committee, Standing Vice Chairman of the City People’s Committee represented Hanoi. The Conference was also attended by representatives from central ministries and branches, functional units under the Ministry of Science and Technology, Leaders of the IP Viet Nam and its divisions, agencies of Hanoi City, universities, researchers, businesses, industrial property representative organizations, international organizations headquartered in Hanoi, as well as around 250 delegates from Departments of Science and Technology across the country. Mr. Luu Hoang Long - Director General of IP Viet Nam and Mr. Nguyen Hong Son - Director of Ha Noi Department of Science and Technology co-chaired the Conference.

Mr. Huynh Thanh Dat - - Member of CPV Central Committee, Minister of Science and Technology delivered the opening speech at the Conference on State Administration of Intellectual Property 2024

Speaking at the opening of the Conference, Minister Huynh Thanh Dat said that the State Administration Conference on Intellectual Property has become an important annual forum of the Science and Technology sector, where the Ministry of Science and Technology, directly the IP Viet Nam reports on IP activities nationwide, and is also a place for central and local State Administration agencies, businesses, research institutes, and universities to exchange and discuss IP issues. The Minister noted the results of IP activities in 2023, notably the work of building institutions, policies and laws. The Government and ministries and branches have issued 03 Decrees and 02 Circulars detailing and guiding the implementation of the IP Law in 2022. Activities to support the establishment, protection, management and development of intellectual property, especially for key products and local specialities, are promoted; The number of processed industrial property rights (IP) registration applications increased by 13.2% compared to 2022, Vietnam's GII index ranked 46/132 countries and economies in the world. However, the Minister also suggested some issues that need to be exchanged and discussed to further improve the effectiveness of State Administration of intellectual property, such as the issue of handling industrial property applications, enforcement of IP rights, and the effectiveness of intellectual property management activities after protection, etc.

Mr. Le Hong Son, Member of the Standing Committee of the City Party Committee, Standing Vice Chairman of the City People’s Committee delivered a welcome speech to the Conference

Welcoming the Conference, Standing Vice Chairman of the City People’s Committee Le Hong Son said that in recent years, Ha Noi has focused on promoting the development of intellectual property associated with developing the science and technology market; focus on developing science and technology according to market mechanisms, putting businesses as the centre; support and improve the technology absorption capacity of businesses in the area. Accordingly, the number of industrial property registrations in the City has increased significantly, contributing to improving spiritual and material values for society and in contributing to making Hanoi the top locality in the ranking results of the Provinvial Index innovation in 2023. The Standing Vice Chairman hopes that in the coming time, Hanoi will continue to receive the attention and support of the Ministry of Science and Technology and other ministries and branches, especially when the Law on the Capital is passed by the National Assembly, creating favourable conditions for Ha Noi Capital’s breakthrough, rapid and sustainable development.

Mr. Luu Hoang Long - Director General of IP Viet Nam and Mr. Nguyen Hong Son - Director of Department of Science and Technology of Ha Noi co-chaired the Conference

Reporting on state administration activities on intellectual property, Deputy Director General of IP Viet Nam Nguyen Van Bay said that in 2023, State Administration agencies on intellectual property at both the central and local levels have carried out a large amount of work and basically completed the assigned tasks. Documents guiding the implementation of the Law on Amending and Supplementing a number of Articles of the Law on Intellectual Property 2022 have been issued, creating a complete basic legal corridor for practical implementation, especially the key contents with policy changes in the implementation of the GI management rights; the right to register inventions, industrial designs, layout designs created from science and technology tasks using state budget, etc… In 2023, the number of applications to register industrial property rights will increase quite high (8.5%), of which patent applications increase by 10.6%, and industrial design applications increase by 11.8%; the result of processing applications for establishing industrial property rights increase by over 13% compared to 2022. International integration and cooperation on intellectual property have been maintained and achieved many important results, positively contributing to the implementation of the country's foreign affairs tasks, etc… The Deputy Director General also said that the number of processed applications has improved, but the backlog of industrial property registration applications is still high, so one of the task directions in 2024 is to implement the Application Processing Plan Industrial Property aims to implement Resolution No. 100/2023/QH15 of the National Assembly, aiming for 2027 to bring the application examination time to the deadline according to the provisions of law.

The conference also heard reports on the situation of intellectual property activities in the world - major trends; the situation of intellectual property development in Vietnam - some issues to note; IP with protection, management and development of OCOP products; support for registering trademarks and geographical indications abroad; legal regulations, current situation and problems in supporting the protection of trademarks and geographical indications abroad for local businesses and key products. Next, the Conference heard from representatives of the Inspectorate of the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Department of Trade Promotion (Ministry of Industry and Trade), the Central OCOP Office, and the Departments of Science and Technology of Hanoi, Binh Dinh, Ho Chi Minh City, and Lang Son, Da Nang City and Concetti Company reported, and discussed the current state of State Administration of intellectual property in the locality; enforcement and specialized inspection of industrial property; State Administration activities on initiatives, intellectual property development work; IP with protection, management and development of OCOP products; legal regulations, current situation and problems in supporting the protection of trademarks and geographical indications abroad for key local businesses and products. 

Director General Luu Hoang Long delivered a concluding speech at the State Administration Conference on Intellectual Property 2024

Concluding the Conference, Director General of IP Viet Nam Luu Hoang Long said that in addition to the achieved results, the Vietnamese IP system is facing many challenges such as: Innovative activities are mainly aimed at emulating and rewarding without focusing on practical application for socio-economic development; the issue of exploiting geographical indications and certification marks after protection is still limited (some geographical indications/certification marks are protected and no longer have products on the market); the issue of asset transfer is formed on the basis of projects supporting the development of the intellectual property, etc… The Director General said that in order to make IP activities more effective, in the coming time it is necessary to focus on implementing a number of key tasks such as: researching the possibility of building a platform for transactions and intellectual property management; promote the implementation of models to promote the exploitation of intellectual property after protection and invention; research and propose amendments and supplements to relevant legal regulations, including Decree 70/2018/ND-CP to resolve the issue of handling assets created within the framework of the Intellectual Property Asset Development Program at both the central and local levels; research new issues such as IP protection for industrial property rights objects created by artificial intelligence (AI), non-traditional trademark protection, conflict issues between conventional trademark protection and protection community trademark/geographical indication etc… to complete the policy and legal system to suit Vietnam's reality as well as major trends in the world; At the same time, it is also necessary to review and research to amend regulations on initiatives to ensure the achievement of the goal of encouraging and promoting technical innovation initiatives in production activities, serving development goals of the Socio-economic.

Director General Luu Hoang Long requested that state agencies on intellectual property, including the IP Viet Nam and the Departments of Science and Technology, need to promote the development and implementation of professional training programs, in-depth training on intellectual property, and improve awareness of intellectual property. awareness of businesses and consumers about respecting intellectual property rights and complying with the provisions of the Intellectual Property Law; implement measures to enhance coordination, exchange, sharing, and provision of information in the industrial property rights enforcement system and build mechanisms to strengthen coordination between rights holders and enforcement agencies, collective management organizations, professional organizations, associations, consumers; and especially implementing solutions to speed up and improve the efficiency of processing applications to establish rights.

Exhibition and survey IP activities in Hanoi City to showcase products protected by IP rights were held on the sideline of the conference.

Here are some images from the conference on the state administration of intellectual property 2024

Minister Huynh Thanh Dat, Standing Vice Chairman of the Ha Noi People’s Committee Le Hong Son, Director General of IP Viet Nam Luu Hoang Long, Director of Hanoi Department of Science and Technology Nguyen Hong Son and delegates visited the exhibition displaying products are protected by intellectual property rights before the opening of the Conference

Minister Huynh Thanh Dat, Deputy Minister Bui The Duy, Standing Vice Chairman of the Ha Noi People’s Committee Le Hong Son, Director General of IP Viet Nam Luu Hoang Long, Director of Hanoi Department of Science and Technology Nguyen Hong Son took group photos with Leaders of Departments of Science and Technology and delegations attending the Conference

Mr. Nguyen Van Bay, Deputy Director General of IP Viet Nam, presented a report on the state administration activities related to industrial property in 2023, along with the task orientation for 2024 and some new points in the Law on Industrial property.

Mr. Nguyen Quoc Ha, Deputy Director of Hanoi Department of Science and Technology, presented a report on the current status and future plans for industrial property activities in Hanoi up to 2024.

Mr. Tran Le Hong - Deputy Director General of the IP Viet Nam reports on the situation of industrial property activities in the world - major trends

Ms. Le Thi Thuc - Deputy Director of the Da Nang Department of Science and Technology discussed at the Conference

Mr. Nguyen Phuc Thuong - Deputy Director of the Department of Science and Technology of Bac Giang province discussed at the Conference

Mr. Le Cong Nhuong - Director of Department of Science and Technology of Binh Dinh province reported on the enforcement of industrial property rights and specialized inspection of industrial property in Binh Dinh

Ms. Nguyen Thi Ngoc Nhung - Deputy Head of IP Management Division, Ho Chi Minh Department of Science and Technology reports and proposals on managing initiative activities in the city. Ho Chi Minh

Ms. Nguyen Thi Thu Trang, Deputy Chief Inspector of the Ministry of Science and Technology, discussed the inspection and handling of violations related to industrial property rights

Mr. Le Huy Anh - Deputy Director General of IP Viet Nam reports on the situation of intellectual property development in Vietnam - some issues to note

Ms. Be Thi Thu Hien - Deputy Director of the Department of Science and Technology of Lang Son province reported on the situation of intellectual property development in Lang Son

Mr. Dao Duc Huan - Head of the One Commune One Product Program Office (OCOP Program) reported on IP with the protection, management and development of OCOP products

Mr. Ta Manh Cuong - Head of Capacity Management Department, Department of Trade Promotion (Ministry of Industry and Trade) reported on Support for registration of trademarks and geographical indications abroad: some assessments from promotion activities commercial advancement

Mr. Han Truong Minh - CEO of Concetti Company reported on legal regulations, the current situation and problems in supporting the protection of trademarks and geographical indications abroad for businesses and key local products

Mr. Luu Binh Khiem - Director of the Department of Science and Technology of Son La province discussed at the Conference

Mr. Nguyen Ba Hoi – AMC Viet Nam Brand development and consultancy company Ltd discussed the issue of registering geographical indication protection abroad

IPVIETNAM

(Translator: Duy Khanh)