Vietnam's Amended IP Law and China

Home | China Law Blog | Vietnam’s Amended IP Law and China Vietnam's Amended IP Law will take effect on New Year's Day 2023, bringing some good news to trademark applicants. Under Article 117 of the amended Intellectual Property Law, trademark applicants in Vietnam will be able to request that examination of their applications be stayed by the National Office of Intellectual Property (NOIP), pending resolution of cancellation and invalidation proceedings against other trademarks, which could potentially impact the application. Similar amendments to China's Trademark Law would be greatly welcomed. Imagine that you want to register a trademark in Vietnam or China. While running a pre-application trademark clearance, your counsel finds that another party already registered the same mark seven years ago. However, available information suggests that the other party has not been using the mark. According to Vietnam's Intellectual Property Law, a trademark owner has the obligation to use the mark continuously. If the mark has not been in use for a period exceeding five years, you can request that the registration be cancelled by NOIP. In China, the period stipulated by the Trademark Law is just three years. The problem is that both NOIP and their counterparts at the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) will usually make a decision on the trademark registration application before the outcome of the cancellation request is known. This requires you to file a new trademark registration application, at the risk of losing your place in line to another party. Vietnam's Amended IP Law solves this issue, by allowing you to ask NOIP to stay your application while the cancellation request runs its course. This will foil anyone trying to cut in line. By contrast, if your application is rejected in China, you will still need to deal with the time gap. And if you do not file a new application right away, another party may file its own application, and position itself to benefit from cancellation action that you filed and paid for! Both trademark applicants and CNIPA would benefit if China took a page from Vietnam's Amended IP Law. For applicants, availing themselves of the protections of the Trademark Law would no longer require stressfully dancing to the discordant beats of unconnected proceedings. At the same time, it would help reduce CNIPA's caseload, with a considerable number of trademark applications no longer necessary. If CNIPA is concerned about the reduction in application fee revenues, then they can charge fees for the stays: Most applicants will gladly pay up. Apart from hopefully providing inspiration to the neighbor to the north, Vietnam's Amended IP Law is good news for those who want to register their marks in Vietnam. And if you are doing any kind of business in Vietnam, including sourcing products from the country, you need to register your trademark in Vietnam. And if you are sourcing products from a Chinese company with a Vietnam operation, you definitely need to register your trademark in Vietnam. That, and make sure that the products you are sourcing are not actually made-in-China goods being transshipped through Vietnamese ports. Check Out Our China Law Services Share Twitter Facebook LinkedIn E-mail Comment Fred Rocafort Fred leads Harris Sliwoski’s intellectual property practice and is the coordinator of the firm’s international team. Much of Fred’s practice consists of helping cannabis businesses protect their brands. He also works with entrepreneurs and companies entering the Web3 space, a new frontier for IP law. Prior to joining Harris Sliwoski, Fred worked overseas for more than a decade, in both government and private sector roles. Fred is a regular contributor to the award-winning China Law Blog and Canna Law Blog. Fred began his career overseas as a U.S. consular officer in Guangzhou, China, where he advocated for fairer treatment of American companies and citizens in China and for stronger intellectual property rights enforcement. After entering the private sector, Fred worked at a Shanghai law firm as a foreign legal advisor and later joined one of the oldest American law firms in China, helping foreign companies navigate the Chinese legal environment. He also led the legal team at a Hong Kong-based brand protection consultancy, spending most of his time out in the field, protecting clients against counterfeiters and fraudsters in Greater China, Southeast Asia and Latin America. In addition to his IP work, as a native Spanish speaker, Fred works closely with different Harris Sliwoski teams on Latin America and Spain matters. Fred also provides advice to cannabis industry participants and other businesses on import and export transactions. Fred is an ardent supporter of FC Barcelona—and would be even in the absence of Catalan forebears who immigrated to Puerto Rico in the mid-1800s. Harris Sliwoski Attorney Read more posts [email protected] Read More Intellectual Property (IP) Related Posts September 15, 2026 Your AI-Drafted China Contract Says It Needs a Lawyer. Listen to It. September 11, 2026 Forensic Accountants in China Business Litigation: How True Numbers Can Tell the Wrong Story September 4, 2026 China NNN Agreement or Trademark Registration? You Usually Need Both September 1, 2026 AI Didn't Replace Lawyers. It Gave Us the 48-Page Contract. August 27, 2026 Do I Need a China NNN Agreement or a China Manufacturing Agreement? Usually Both. August 26, 2026 China’s New Overseas Investment Rules: Can Your Chinese Investor Actually Get the Money Out? 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