Carrying out the procedures for the establishment of industrial property rights

Implementing the legislation issued by the Government on the protection of inventors (Decree No 31-CP) and trademarks (Decree No 197/HDBT), in early dates of its establishment, the National Office of Inventions prepared necessary technical, material conditions and human resources for trademarks. According to these Decrees, the State Committee of Science and Technology was the competent authority for granting protection titles for inventions and trademarks, i.e. the National Office of Inventions is responsible for receiving and examining applications and submitting the results to the Chairman of the Committee for issuing decisions for granting protection titles. At the beginning, owning to the shortage of human resource and patent documentation and information, a number of patent applications were sent to the former Soviet Union for having them examined.

On 11 April 1984 the first inventor certificate for invention and the first certificate for registration of trademark were granted. Since then, the number of applications for inventions and trademarks as well as the number of granted protection titles for inventions and trademarks continuously increased. By the end of 1989, the National Office of Inventions had received 1,721 applications for registration of trademarks, 531 applications for patents and had granted 1,550 certificates for registration of trademarks, 81 protection titles for inventions (most of which were inventor certificates).

Director General An Khang at the ceremony for granting the first patent for invention and the first certificate for registration of trademark held at the National Office of Inventions in 1984.

In 1989, the National Office of Inventions started to receive, examine and grant protection titles for industrial designs (according to Decree No 85-HDBT) and for utility solutions (according to Decree No 200-HDBT).

The first patent for industrial design and the first patent for utility solution were granted on 26 June 1989 and 24 September 1989, respectively. By the end of 1989, the National Office of Inventions had received 25 applications for utility solutions, 87 applications for industrial designs and had granted 4 patents for utility solutions, 66 patents for industrial designs. Thus, until the end of 1989, the National Office of Inventions had received a total of 2,163 applications for acquisition of industrial property rights and had granted a total of 1,722 protection titles for industrial property rights of all types, among which 70% were certificates for registration of trademarks granted to foreigners. This implies that foreign companies were very interested in the Vietnam's market, whereas Vietnamese enterprises were not aware of the importance of the industrial property right protection.