THE MINISTRY OF SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENT THE MINISTRY OF SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENT CIRCULAR No.3055-TT/SHCN OF DECEMBER 31, 1996 OF THE MINISTRY OF SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENT GUIDING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE REGULATIONS ON THE PROCEDURES FOR ESTABLISHING INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY RIGHT AND OTHER REGULATIONS IN DECREE No.63-CP OF OCTOBER 24, 1996 OF THE GOVERNMENT DETAILING THE PROVISIONS ON INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY Pursuant to Decree No.63-CP of October 24, 1996 of the Government detailing the provisions on industrial property; The Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment issues this Circular to stipulate in details and guide the implementation of the procedures for making, filing and examining applications for titles of protection, the procedures for approving and registering contracts for the transfer of industrial property right, the procedures for considering applications for non-voluntary licenses, the procedures for amending and extending the validity of titles of protection, the procedures for handling applications for international registration of inventions, utility solutions under the PCT Agreement and applications for international registration of trademarks under the Madrid Agreement and the procedures for the granting of industrial property representative licenses. Chapter I GENERAL PROVISIONS 1. Terminology 1.1. The terms used in this Circular shall be construed as follows: - "The Decree" refers to Decree No.63-CP of October 24, 1996 of the Government detailing the provisions on industrial property; - "Application" refers to an application for a title of protection; - "Invention application", "utility solution application", "industrial design application", "trademark application" and "appellation of origin of goods application" refer to an application for an invention patent, an utility solution patent, an industrial design patent, a certificate of registered trademark and a certificate of the right to use the appellation of origin of goods, respectively; - "International application" refers to an application for international registration of an invention or an utility solution filed in accordance with the PCT Agreement; - "International registration application" refers to an application for international registration of a trademark filed in accordance with the Madrid Agreement on the international registration of trademarks; - "Trademark" refers to a "trademark" as provided for in Article 2 of the Decree; - "The subject named in document " is an individual, a legal person or an organization, that makes, issues or signs to certify the validity of a document. 1.2. Other terms shall be construed in accordance with the Decree. 2. Certification of documents: 2.1. Certification of signatures: In the process of filling the procedures for the establishment, maintenance, extension, execution, transfer...of industrial property rights as prescribed in this Circular, the signature of the person named in papers and/or documents used in transaction with the competent agencies, must be certified that it is the true signature of such person and in case where the signatory is the representative of the subject named in the document, he/she must be certified to be authorized to represent the subject named in document, in accordance with the following stipulations: (i) For a subject having a lawful seal, the certification of signature shall be made by affixing his/her/its seal on the signature; (ii) For a Vietnamese subject having no lawful seal, the certification of signature must be done at the State Notary Public or the office of the administration of the locality where the subject resides or has its head office; (iii) For a foreign subject having no lawful seal, the certification of signature must be done at the Notary Public or at an agency having equivalent competence. 2.2. Certification of copies: a) Every document which is a copy of any form must be certified that it is duly copied from the original as prescribed in Paragraph b) before being used as official document in the process of filling the procedures related to industrial property at the competent agencies. b) A document shall be considered a true copy of an original document if such copy is certified by one of the following agencies: (i) the notary public, (ii) the People�s Committee or a competent agency, (iii) the State agency or social organization which has made the original document; if the copy has many pages, each page must be certified or every two consecutive pages must be sealed. 2.3. Certification of translations: a) Any Vietnamese translation of a document must be certified that it is translated verbatim from the original as prescribed in Paragraph b) before being used as official document in the process of filling the procedures related to industrial property at the competent agencies. b) The certification of a translation may be done in one of the following ways: (i) public notary; (ii) certification of the subject named in the original document; (iii) certification of all parties to the contract or agreement (if the original document is a contract or an agreement); (iv) recognition by the agency competent to use such translation in the process of carrying out the relevant procedures. 3. The person acting on behalf of the subject to carry out the industrial property procedures 3.1 Only persons mentioned in points 3.2 and 3.3 below shall be entitled to act on behalf of the subject to file application, supplement and amendment to the documents of the application; receive and reply to the comments of the National Office of Industrial Property related to the application; to decide the continuation or suspension of the process of requesting the protection; receive the title of protection; undertake the maintenance, amendment and extension of the validity of the title of protection as well as other industrial property procedures with regard to the National Office of Industrial Property and the competent agencies. The National Office of Industrial Property shall be entitled to transact only with the above-mentioned persons and such transactions shall be considered the official transactions with the subjects. 3.2 For entities who are entitled to directly file applications and conduct relevant procedures provided for in Clauses 2 and 3.a, Article 15 of the Decree, the following persons shall be entitled to conduct on behalf of the subjects the activities mentioned in point 3.1 above: (i) The very individual or his/her representative at law (if the subject is an individual); (ii) The representative at law of the subject; an individual who is a member of the subject and authorized by the representative at law of the subject to represent; the head of the representative office or branch of the subject, or a person who is authorized by the representative at law of the subject (if the subject is a legal person or an entity of other type); (iii) The head of the representative office in Vietnam of a foreign subject, who is authorized by such subject to represent it; the representative at law of an enterprise established in Vietnam with 100 percent of investment capital of the foreign subject, who is authorized by such subject to represent it; (iv) A person meeting one of the conditions prescribed in paragraphs (i), (ii) and (iii) above who is also one of the individuals or belongs to one of the legal persons or other subjects - if the subject includes many individuals, legal persons or other subjects - and if such person is authorized by such individuals, legal persons and other subjects to represent them. 3.3 For subjects that are entitled only to file applications and carry out relevant procedures through an Industrial Property Service Organization prescribed in Clause 3.b) of Article 15 of the Decree as well as any other subject carrying out the said procedures through an Industrial Property Service Organization, only those who have been granted Cards of Industrial Property Representative, belong to Industrial Property Service Organizations and have the written authorization of the subjects can conduct activities mentioned in point 3.1 above. 4. Authorization to carry out industrial property procedures 4.1 An authorization to carry out industrial property procedures must be made in writing (letter of procuration), which must include the following contents: (i) The name (surname), full address, telephone number, fax number (if any) of the authorizing party; (ii) The name (surname), full address, telephone number, fax number (if any) of the authorized party; (iii) the scope of authorization (the tasks to be performed by the authorized party on behalf of the authorizing party); (iv) the term of authorization; (v) the place and date of making the letter of procuration; (vi) the signature of the person who makes the letter of procuration (certified in accordance with the provisions on the certification of signatures). 4.2 The authorized party must be an individual or organization entitled to carry out industrial property procedures as prescribed in points 3.2 (ii), (iii), (iv) and 3.3 of this Circular. 4.3 Any change in the scope of authorization and termination of the authorization before schedule must be reported in writing to the National Office of Industrial Property. 4.4 If the authorization scope stated in the letter of procuration includes many separate procedures, the authorized party can submit the copy of the letter of procuration, provided that he/she has submitted the original letter of procuration to the National Office of Industrial Property and indicated the number and date of submitting the dossier containing the original of the letter of procuration. Chapter II APPLICATIONS AND HANDLING OF APPLICATIONS 5. General requirements regarding the application 5.1 The application must ensure the consistency as required in Clause 2, Article 11 of the Decree and satisfy the general formality requirements mentioned in point 5.2 below. 5.2 The application must satisfy the following general formality requirements: (i) Each application shall be filed for only one title of protection, the type of title of protection to be granted must conform with the industrial property object described in the application; (ii) All documents of the application must be made in Vietnamese, except for documents that can be made in other languages as stipulated in point 5.3 below; (iii) All documents of the application must be laid out vertically and on one side of A4-format (210 mm x 297 mm) paper, with four margins on all sides, each 20 mm wide, except for documents added to the application for reason of necessity to support and further illustrate the application the sources of which are not for inclusion into the application, therefore may be otherwise laid out; (iv) For documents that need to be made according to set forms, such forms must be filled with items at the proper places; (v) Each kind of document must have the required number of copies; if a document has many pages, each page must be numbered at its center-top position with Arabic numerals; (vi) All documents must be clearly typewritten or printed with a permanent ink without any erasure or correction. 5.3 The following documents may be made in any language other than Vietnamese language but must be translated into Vietnamese: (i) The letter of procuration (if any); (ii) Documents certifying the lawful right to file application, if the applicant is given such right by another person (inheritance certificate, certificate or agreement on the transfer of the application filing right, including the transfer of the application already filed; contract for job assignment or labor contract...); (iii) Document on assignment of the priority right (if the application has a request for the priority right and such right is given by another person); (iv) Relevant documents evidencing the basis of enjoying the priority right (the first application, exhibition certificate); (v) The original documents or copies thereof included in the application to support the application. 6. Requirements regarding invention/utility solution application In addition to the general requirements prescribed in point 5 of this Circular, invention/utility solution application must satisfy the requirements prescribed in this point. 6.1 The application must comprise the following documents: (i) The declaration requesting the grant of invention/utility solution patent, made under the form issued by the National Office of Industrial Property, 3 copies; (ii) The invention/utility solution description paper (hereinafter referred to as the description paper), 3 copies (iii) The request for protection, 3 copies; (iv) Drawings, diagrams, calculation tables,...(if required) to further clarify the nature of the technical solution indicated in the description, 3 copies; (v) The summary of the invention/utility solution, 3 copies; (vi) The document certifying the lawful right to file application if the applicant is entitled to such right from another person (inheritance certificate, certificate or agreement on the transfer of the application filing right; the contract on work assignment or labor contract...), 1 copy; (vii) The letter of procuration (if required), 1 copy; (viii) The copy of the first application or exhibition certificate if the application has a request for priority right under the international agreement, 1 copy; (ix) The vouchers of payment of application filing fee and application publicizing fee, 1 copy. 6.2 The documents mentioned in point 6.1 above must be submitted together. For the following documents, they can be submitted within 3 months from the date of filing the application: (i) The Vietnamese version of documents 6.1 (ii), 6.1 (iii) and 6.1 (v), if the application includes an English, French or Russian version; (ii) The original of document 6.1 (vii) if the application includes a copy thereof; (iii) The document 6.1 (viii), including its Vietnamese translation. 6.3 The description paper must totally reveal the nature of the technical solution requested to be protected. The description paper must provide information to such an extent that based on which a person with the average professional level in the corresponding technical area can apply such solution. The description paper must clarify the novelty, creativity (if the protection object is an invention) and applicability of the technical solution requested to be protected. The description paper must include the following contents: (i) The international criteria for invention classification (under the Strasbourg Agreement), (ii) The name of the technical solution, (iii) The area in which the technical solution is applied or involved, (iv) The technical situation of the above-said area at the time of filing the application (the technical solutions already known), (v) The nature of the technical solution, (vi) A brief description of the attached drawings (if any), (vii) A model of application of the technical solution, (viii) The obtainable benefits (the effectiveness of the technical solution). 6.4 The protection request aims to determine the scope (volume) of the protection of invention/utility solution. The protection request must be briefly and clearly presented in conformity with the description and drawings, in which the new characters of the technical solution requested to be protected must be clarified. 6.5 A summary of the invention/utility solution aimed at briefly publicizing the nature of the invention/utility solution. The summary must reveal the essentials of the nature of the technical solution for information purpose. 6.6 The requirements with respect to presentation and contents of the description paper, the drawings, the protection request, the summary of the invention/utility solution and other documents of the invention/utility solution application shall be prescribed by the National Office of Industrial Property. 7. Requirements regarding the industrial design application In addition to the requirements mentioned in point 5 of this Circular, the industrial design application must also satisfy the requirements prescribed in this point. 7.1 The application must comprise the following documents: (i) The declaration requesting the grant of industrial design patent, made in the form set out by the National Office of Industrial Property, 3 copies; (ii) The description of the industrial design, 3 copies; (iii) A set of photos or drawings of the industrial design, 6 copies; (iv) The document certifying the legal right to file application, if the applicant is entitled to such right from another person (certificate of inheritance right; certificate or agreement on the transfer of application filing right; contract on work assignment or labor contract), 1 copy; (v) The document certifying the label ownership right if the industrial design includes a label, 1 copy; (vi) The letter of procuration (if required); (vii) A copy of the first application or exhibition certificate if the application has a request for priority right under the international agreements, 1 copy; (viii) The vouchers of payment of application filing fee and application publicizing fee, 1 copy. 7.2 The documents mentioned in point 7.1 above must be submitted at the same time. The following documents may be submitted within 3 months from the date of filing the application: (i) A Vietnamese version of 7.1 (ii) document, if the application includes an English, French or Russian version; (ii) Document 7.1 (v); (iii) The original document 7.1 (vi), if the application includes a copy thereof; (iv) Document 7.1 (vii), including the Vietnamese translation thereof. 7.3 The description of the industrial design must fully and clearly indicate the nature of the industrial design and must be in conformity with the set of photos or drawings and include the following contents: (i) The name of the industrial design, (ii) The international index for the classification of industrial designs (under the Locarno Agreement), (iii) The area of use of the products made upon the industrial design, (iv) Similar industrial designs already known, (v) A list of photos or drawings, (vi) The nature of the industrial design, clearly indicating the main external shaping features of the industrial design requested to be protected as distinguished from those of the industrial designs already known. 7.4 The set of photos or drawings must fully expose the nature of the industrial design as described in order to determine the scope (volume) of protection of such industrial design. The photos/drawings must be clear and sharp, not causing any confusion between the products made upon the industrial design requested to be protected and other products. All photos/drawings must be made on the same scale. The size of each photo must not be smaller than 90 mm x 120 mm and not larger than 210 mm x 297 mm. 7.5 The requirements regarding the description and the set of photos/drawings of the industrial design shall be prescribed by the National Office of Industrial Property. 8. Requirements regarding the trademark application In addition to the general requirements mentioned in point 5 of this Circular, the trademark application must satisfy the requirements prescribed in this point. 8.1 The application must comprise the following documents: (i) The declaration requesting the grant of certificate of registered trademark, on which the trademark sample is fastened, made in the form set out by the National Office of Industrial Property, 3 copies; (ii) The regulation on the use of trademark in case the trademark requested to be protected is a collective trademark, 1 copy; (iii) A sample of the trademark, 15 copies; (iv) A copy of the document certifying the lawful business right (business license or certificate of business registration, etc.), 1 copy; (v) The document certifying the lawful right to file application, if the applican

Circular 3055/TT-SHCN