HANOI: Intellectual property (IP) protection is increasingly being recognised as a vital safeguard for Vietnamese enterprises striving to maintain competitiveness and promote innovation in a rapidly evolving global market, experts say.

Vice-chairman of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) Vo Tan Thanh said that despite Vietnam having over 700,000 registered trademarks, IP violations remain widespread.

During a recent forum in Ho Chi Minh City, Thanh said although the country has historically benefitted from abundant resources and low-cost labour, these are no longer viable long-term advantages.

Vietnam must shift to a growth model driven by innovation. Recent government resolutions stress that innovation is the new engine of growth, and the legal foundation for IP protection must be prioritised for improvement, he said.

Over the past decade, Vietnam has taken notable steps to enhance its legal framework for IP rights.

Participation in the World Trade Organization and a series of next-generation free-trade agreements, including the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, European Union-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement, and Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, has compelled the country to align with higher international standards.

Despite progress, the country’s IP legal framework still contains many significant loopholes, according to Thanh.

He cited statistics from the Intellectual Property Office of Vietnam showing that last year, there were more than 2,000 cases of IP infringement, with the value of counterfeit or pirated goods reaching into the hundreds of billions of dong.

In the first half of this year, authorities uncovered more than 3,270 cases of IP infringement, resulting in damages worth thousands of billions of dong and causing significant harm to brand reputations.

In Vietnam, both small businesses and major brands are being blatantly counterfeited, Thanh noted.

According to international studies, the rate of IP violations in Vietnam remains high compared with many countries in the region. He warned that this causes economic damage and seriously impacts the nation’s reputation, investment climate and integration into the global economy.

Lawyer Mai Thi Thao, deputy director of TAT Law Firm, said many companies believe that once a trademark is registered, it is automatically protected by law. But in reality, case after case shows that having protection does not necessarily mean being protected.

Thao said at the conference that her firm is currently handling numerous infringement cases that demonstrate the limitations of the current system.

Without a flexible appraisal mechanism and a robust, specialised IP court, she warned, even major national brands can suffer significant damage in their own domestic market.

“Brand protection is vital protection,” Thao said. “You cannot just promote a brand, you must have a legal strategy running in parallel.” — Viet Nam News/ANN