HANOI - The National Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam has passed the Law on Intellectual Property which will officially come into force July 1, 2006. Accordingly, all the intellectual property (IP) regulations, which were formerly stipulated in the Vietnamese Civil Code or other legal documents, are now provided in a separate law - Intellectual Property Law.
In general, the Law on Intellectual Property comprehensively and adequately prescribes industrial property rights, copyrights, the related rights, plant varieties rights, according to WINCO Vietnam-International Patent, Trademark & Copyright Law Firm.
Furthermore, regulations which were previously stipulated in Government's decrees and ministerial circulars and are now put into the Law on Intellectual Property to become more legally effective, making this new Law more concretized than ever before.
The Law on Intellectual Property does more than simply bring together current IP provisions, which are scattered across numerous laws and regulations. It incorporates notable amendments and supplements in comparison with current IP provisions to meet the international standards.
The introduction of the new unified Law on Intellectual Property marks a new milestone in the development of intellectual property protection in Vietnam and contributes to Vietnam's preparation in terms of legal instruments in the IP field with a view to join the World Trade Organization (WTO). This also proves Vietnam's increasingly greater concern over the IP field and its strenuous efforts as well as strong determination to improve its IP law system towards the regional and international standards.