When a trademark is well-known in the market, many others will try to profit from it by copying, counterfeiting, or imitating it. A trademark protects a company’s reputation legally. The Intellectual Property Law specifies that trademark protection is effective for ten years. Renewal of a trademark early ensures its legal protection. If the trademark is not renewed within this time frame, it will be difficult to litigate. That costs the company a lot. To prevent trademark infringement and promote company growth, trademark owners should renew trademark protection as soon as possible.
When to renew a trademark registration?
The Certificate holder must submit an extension request to the National Office of Intellectual Property of Vietnam (NOIP) 6 months prior to the expiration date. According to Article 93 of the Law on Intellectual Property (2019), the trademark registration certificate is renewed for a further 10 years. Besides, there is no limit to the number of times of renewal of trademark registration.
Renew a trademark registration in Vietnam
Late filing of trademark renewal
Renewal may be made late, but the deadline to renew cannot be extended for more than 6 months after the expiration date of the period of protection. A certificate holder needs to pay an additional late renewal fee in this case (10 percent of the renewal fee for each late month). Thus, trademark owners should consider when renewing trademark registrations on time to prevent loss of trademark protection and disruption of production and business activities.
Additionally, when the trademark renewal period ends. Owners may still be assured of trademark ownership from the expiration date if the company quickly files a new trademark registration dossier within five years.
Processing time according to regulations
Consideration of an application for renewal should occur within one month of receipt. However, trademark registration renewal applications must now be processed in 2 – 4 months.
If the request is legitimate, the NOIP will renew the protective title and publish it in the Industrial Property Official Gazette.
When an applicant for protection renewal is informed that the request has been found invalid, the NOIP will clearly state the reasons for rejecting the request. The NOIP will also provide a deadline of 1 month from the date of notice for the applicant to cure any mistakes or challenge the planned denial. If the requester does not rectify the mistake within a specified time frame, or if the correction does not satisfy the criteria, NOIP will send a notice of refusal to extend.
No trademark renewal
If the owner does not apply for an extension of the protection term, the trademark becomes invalid, which means the owner loses all rights to the mark. The trademark will revert to the unregistered status. Then, any individual or organization has the right to register such mark, which means that the trademark copyright is at risk of being lost.
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