Besides the provincial Departments of Science and Technology, there are also the participation of enforcement agencies such as inspectorates, market surveillances, police, and customs. The coordination of local agencies and organizations in this state management activity has both contributed to solving local industrial property issues and at the same time spread the value of intellectual property recognition across the regions. This is also one of the measures to turn intellectual property assets into an important driving force for socio-economic development at the micro to macro administrative levels.

Formulation and implementation of documents on intellectual property

As one of the two important activities of the formulation and implementation of documents on intellectual property, the implementation of tasks in NSIP is diversely undertaken by ministries, agencies and localities. As the focal point of NSIP, on February 23, 2022, the Ministry of Science and Technology submitted to the Prime Minister Report No. 343/BC-BKHCN on the actual implementation situation of NSIP in 2021 based on summarizing the reports from ministries, agencies, and localities.

Basically, the implementation of NSIP was either individually carried out through the separate plans of each ministry, agency, locality or integrated in other regional or sectoral development plans, programs, including the programs of Intellectual Property Asset Development Program to 2030. In 2022, 66 documents were issued to implementing NSIP, including 30 resolutions of provincial People's Council, 36 decisions, plans and programs of provincial People's Committee. All these documents were on policies for intellectual property development, foreign registration support, development of science and technology and innovation, development of agriculture, rural, and products under the One Commune One Product (OCOP) program etc.

Thereby, it can be seen that the key tasks and solutions of NSIP continued to be consistently implemented by ministries, agencies and localities and achieved encouraging results. This is clearly demonstrated in the promulgation of legal documents on/related to intellectual property (laws, decrees, circulars, resolutions, decisions), the promotion of support measures to intellectual property activities, the encouragement of creating and exploiting intellectual property assets, the contribution of intellectual property guidance for organizations and individuals, the promotion of inter-sectorial coordination mechanisms in intellectual property right management and enforcement etc.

In the second activity of formulation and implementation of documents on intellectual property, the formulation and issuance of guiding documents for state management of industrial property in localities also made significant progress. In 2022, there were 92 documents issued by 39 local authorities across the country (twice as much as in 2021), most of which are administrative documents related to guiding the implementation of legal documents on intellectual property and initiatives, specifically the plans and schemes for the implementation of NSIP, the implementation plans of the Prime Minister's Decision No. 2205/QD-TTg dated December 24, 2020 approving the Intellectual Property Asset Development Program to 2030, the resolutions of the provincial People's Council stipulating the amount of support for intellectual property registration, decisions on issueing the list of provincial dominant products etc. It can be seen that the formulation of documents was one of the prominent activities of the local authorities in the previous year and continued to contribute to removing obstacles and encouraging intellectual property activities in the locality. The distinguished local authorities in the issuance of guiding documents on state management of industrial property are Bac Ninh (09 documents), Da Nang, Binh Duong, Bac Kan, Hai Duong (05 documents).

Minister of Science and Technology Huynh Thanh Dat delivered a speech at the National IP conference 2022

Organizational structure, personnel, staff training

The organizational structure and local personnel for the state management of industrial property remained stable. Currently, there are still only two Departments of Science and Technology in Hanoi and Hochiminh City that have specialized sections in charge of industrial property management (Intellectual Property Section), while in the remaining provinces, the state managing function of industrial property joined with functions of other sectors at specialized management sections or technology management sections.

In terms of personnel, the number of both full-time and part-time officials which in charge of local state management of industrial property increased to 52 full-time officers and 121 part-time officers (up 21% in comparison with 38 full-time staff and 104 part-time staff in 2021).

Regarding the intellectual property training and fostering, in 2022, after being no longer restricted because of the Covid-19 pandemic, the propaganda and dissemination of knowledge, policies and laws on intellectual property was strongly promoted by local authorities. Several new and effective ways were carried out, such as integrating activities into OCOP Program, providing diverse forms of dissemination including training courses, seminars, conferences, propaganda on mass media (newspapers, radio, website etc.). In 2022, a total of 60 seminars and 184 training classes was organized with 116,806 participants (increasing more than 3 times compared to 2021 in terms of quantity) . In addition to the industrial property training for managers at departments, agencies, etc., many localities expanded the scope of training courses to enterprises, students, farmers etc.  with in-depth content. Prominent local authorities in this activity were Bac Ninh (16 workshops, 15 training courses), Tuyen Quang (46 training courses), Hung Yen (14 training courses), Nam Dinh (2 workshops, 10 training courses), Binh Duong (1 workshop, 11 training courses) etc.

Industrial property rights enforcement

In 2022, administrative sanction in handling industrial property rights infringement continued to be mostly applied by local authorities. This is reflected in a sharp increase in both the number of cases handled and the amount of fines. As reported, the were 1,430 cases of trademark infringement handled with a total fine of more than 18 billion VND, an increase of nearly 30% in the number of cases and 35% in the total amount of fines compared to 2021 (1,109 cases with a total fine of 13,294,029,000 VND).

Intellectual property rights enforcement supporting activities has also been paid attention and promoted by IP Vietnam, includes: provided 219 professional opinions to the enforcement agencies; participated in 09 lawsuits in court and joined the Standing Committee of the National Program on Coordination of Action against Intellectual Property Rights Infringement.

In the current situation, when the effectiveness of the enforcement of intellectual property rights in the international commitments that Vietnam participates in is highly required, the improvement of the IPR enforcement system is becoming an urgent task. To fulfil this mission, it is necessary to continue to promote training and fostering industrial property knowledge for officials of industrial property rights enforcement agencies, establishing a close coordination mechanism, exchanging information and experiences between industrial property rights enforcement agencies and with state management agencies in charge of industrial property at both central and local levels.

Consulting and supporting activities for the development of intellectual property assets

The Departments of Science and Technology have always been a reliable address for applicants and enterprises to seek consultation and support on industrial property applications. In 2022, there were nearly 4,000 turns of individuals and organizations were consulted and guided by the Departments of Science and Technology, including 3,505 turns of trademarks, 135 turns of industrial designs, 100 turns of patents and hundreds of turns on other subject matters. Outstanding localities in these activities are Binh Duong, Vinh Phuc, Ha Tinh, Thai Nguyen, Thai Binh etc.

In 2022, 57 documents were issued by 38 provinces and cities on diversified forms of policy and mechanism of intellectual property asset development, 132 tasks were implemented with 118 local specialties supported for industrial property protection and management (21 geographical indications, 52 certification marks and 45 collective marks), 268 enterprises and 320 collective organizations were supported, nearly 19,000 turns of individuals were trained in intellectual property.

Reports from localities show that the need of foreign registration, the need  of geographical indication, collective marks, certification marks management and exploitation of local specialties, the need of project participation within the framework of Intellectual Property Asset Development Program continued to be guided and supported by IP Vietnam.

Director General Dinh Huu Phi granted trademark certificates to Son La Department of Science and Technology

Initiatives and creative development activities

Promoting initiatives and creative activities were implemented in most localities, mainly in the form of organizing local contests and awarding technical innovation awards (annual or once every two year). In 2022, there were 18 technical innovation contests, 17 youth and children creativity contests and 12 other creativity competitions held by localities with thousands of solutions and hundreds of awards. Through contests, the creative achievements of authors contributing to technical improvement, production rationalization, and socio-economic benefits were recorded.

According to reports from localities in 2022, there were 297,288 solutions proposed, 50,905 initiatives were recognized (up 13% compared to 2021), of which 1,949 initiatives were recognized with the scope of provincial influence (up 32% compared to 2021), the total amount of benefit due to the application of the initiative was more than 23 billion VND, the amount of remuneration and awards to the authors of the initiatives was more than 120 million VND and there were 1,275 officials receiving a salary increased ahead of time due to their recognized initiatives. It can be seen that in recent years, initiative activities throughout the country have become a widespread movement, demonstrating the strong creativity of Vietnamese workers.

Deputy Director General Nguyen Van Bay delivered a speech at IP training course, April 2022 in Da Nang

Comment

In 2022, the state management of industrial property in localities has achieved certain results, including good aspects such as: propaganda and dissemination of industrial property knowledge and legislation on (increasing by more than 3 times compared to 2021), consultant activities, guidance on industrial property rights registration and protection, promotion and support of initiatives and creative activities. Some outstanding localities with good results namely TP. Ho Chi Minh, Bac Giang, Can Tho, Da Nang, Binh Duong, Son La , Phu Tho , Ha Tinh , Bac Ninh, Nam Dinh etc.

 It can be said that the results in 2022 demonstrated that the achievements of state management of industrial property in localities contributed to local socio-economic development. However, the efficiency of industrial property activities, if being carefully evaluated, were still unevenly deployed across the country and underestimated the leading role of intellectual property agencies in many localities. In many localities where market activities were less active, implementation of intellectual property activities were straightforward, role of local state management were uncertain, passive, dependent and overlapped. Besides, the capacity and expertise of intellectual property rights enforcement agencies in localities are still inadequate, the situation of unhandy performance in functions and duties, and the dependence on the opinion of specialized agencies at the central level are still popular.

Intellectual Property Office of Vietnam