PADEMARK - Patent Attorneys/Trademark Attorneys in Vietnam

The People's Court of Dak Lak Province just adjudicated the first case of patent infringement in the province that has been lasted over 8 years.

The brick extruder, technically improved with an axial rake and knife by Mr. Hoang Thinh in Trap village, Krong Bana district - the author and owner of a utility solution, was granted Patent for Utility Solution No. 319 by the National Office of Intellectual Property of Vietnam in 2002. Early in 2003, Mr. Thinh found that the Viet – My Brick Production Factory run by Mr. Nguyen Dinh My and Ms. Thai Thi Thu Suong had been using the brick extruder with scratch axis based on his patent to produce bricks for commercial purpose. Mr. Thinh asked them to cease the production because they are not authorized by him and asked relevant authorities for legal actions. Accordingly, the Department of Science and Technology and other agencies of Dak Lak Province recorded the scene, met with the owner and infringers to assess the brick extruder in question based on the granted patent and concluded that Viet – My Brick Production Factory infringed the patent granted to Mr. Thinh.

By the end of March 2008, the People Committee of Dak Lak forwarded the case of patent infringement between Mr. Hoang Thinh and Nguyen Dinh My - Ms. Thai Thi Thu Suong to the People's Court for settlement. Dated 18 July 2010, the Trial Board of the People's Court of Dak Lak Province opened the first instance trial on the case.

According to the Law on Intellectual Property, the use of patent must be authorized by the owner and a remuneration/license fees must be paid to him. By the Viet – My Brick Production Factory did not perform the obligation to obtain permission for its use and pay any remuneration or fees for licensing thereof, Mr. Hoang Thinh should make claims for compensation. The court has identifed damages caused by the Viet-My Brick Production Factory and forced them to compensate for Hoang Thinh 351 million VND

Source: NOIP

We have known that on 11 March 2011, Japan experienced a dual catastrophe of quakes and tsunami. We would like to express our deep sympathy to Japanese people, particularly our Japanese clients for losses and hardship that they suffered.

We are convinced that with the spirit of self-resilience, industry, smartness and discipline and with the assistance from the international community, Japanese people and our Japanese clients will shortly overcome the catastrope and back to the way of economic prosperity.

On Vietnamese intellectual property administration's side, on 30 March 2011, the Director General of the National Office of Intellectual Property issued the Notification No. 1691/TB-SHTT providing the bailout measures for Japanese applicants.

According to the said Notification, for Japanese applicants who have suffered from the catastrophe, any delay in meeting legal deadlines caused by the event will be tolerated. The applicants should file a request to enjoy the grace period and identify exact period of delay time with documents certified by competent authorities.

The full text of the Notification can be viewed here.

GITI TIRE PTE. Ltd is a global tire manufacturer based in Singapore and has branches in a number of countries such as US, Canada, England, Germany and China. The Company is exporting its products to more than 100 countries over the world and won more than 20 international awards and quality certificates.

To protect its trademark in Vietnam, on 11 June 2009, GITI TIRE PTE. Ltd filed an application to register the trademark "GITI" in Vietnam through the Madrid international system of registration of trademark. Unfortunately, on 19 August 2010, the National Office of Intellectual Property of Vietnam (NOIP) issued a notification of provisional refusal on the protection of the trademark on the ground that it was confusingly similar to the protected trademark "CITI".

The notification came as a surprise to the Company because the trademark "GITI" had been used for a long time with reputation over the world and was protected in a number of countries such as Australia, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, Syria, Equador and Egypt,..

Authorized by GITI TIRE PTE. Ltd, PADEMARK made an appeal against the said notification of NOIP. In our observations, the trademark "GITI" is different with the protected trademark "CITI" in terms of visual impression and spelling. Moreover, a number of protected trademarks have the same suffix "-ITI" such as trademarks "hiti" or "Miti" which is not considered confusing similarity.

After taking due regard to our reasonable arguments, on 23 December 2010, NOIP invalidated the said notification and registered the trademark "GITI" in Vietnam.

Our Company has been rapidly developing in recent years. In response to the increasing size of our Company, from January 1st, 2011, the Hanoi Office of our Company moved to the new location at the following address:

Room 706 CT3, Fodacon Building , Bac Ha Resident, Thanh Xuan, Hanoi, Vietnam
Tel:+84-4-66835253
Fax:+84-4-62863348
Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
Website:http://www.pademark.com; www.pademark.com.vn

With the new location and dynamics, we believe that we will better serve our clients.

Taking this oppotunity, we would like to express our sincere thanks for your support to and trust in our Company so far and we wish to further cooperate with you in the coming time.

With best regards,

Mai Diep
Director