International cooperation

In early 1990s, owning to the political upheavals in the former Soviet Union and the Eastern European communist countries, the cooperative bonds between the National office of Inventions and the national industrial property office of these countries experienced a short pause, since 1994, the National office of industrial property took the lead in rapprochement with the Russian Agency for Patents and Trademarks through the conclusion of the bilateral cooperation agreement.

At the same time, apart from the continuation and development of cooperative relation with WIPO, the National office of industrial property expanded and deepened its links with national office of Laos, France, Switzerland, Federation Republic of Germany, Austria, Thailand, Australia, Japan, South Korea and China by the conclusion and implementation of bilateral agreement, among them there were agreement at government level with Switzerland, Australia and Thailand.

In 1993, at the proposal of the National office of industrial property, Government ratified the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) signed in Washington in 1970 and Vietnam officially acceded to the treaty on 10 March 1993.

In 1995, the European Union granted a technical assistance project to help Vietnam develop its industrial property system, primarily improve its legal framework, to enhance the administration of patents and trademarks, to raise public understanding and to strengthen the enforcement of industrial property right. The project had worked well and played a vital role in the development of industrial property activities in Vietnam.

The seminal on Enforcement of Intellectual property Rights jointly organized by the National office of industrial property and the European Patent office in Hanoi during 17-19 March 1998