Asia IP

While the Vietnamese government issued Decree No.99/2013/ND-CP with more administrative sanctions against infringement several months ago, the Decree just came into effect on October 15, 2013.

The passage of the decree comes as the result of the enactment of the 2012 Law on Handling Administrative Violations, which aims to guide the implementation of the law in the field of IP, Loc Xuan Le, an attorney at Tilleke & Gibbins in Hanoi, writes on the firm’s website. “Given the popularity of administrative measures in Vietnam, Decree 99 plays an important role in enforcement of industrial property rights in Vietnam.”

Compared with the former Decree No.97/2010/ND-CP dated September 21, 2010, Decree 99 brings forth four main changes:

1.      Higher fines. The maximum fine for an individual is D250 million (US$11,900) while for companies, the maximum is D500 million.

2.      More sanctioning power. Decree 99 grants new responsibilities and powers upon certain authorities, Linh Duy Mai, a trainee lawyer at Tilleke & Gibbins writes. “For example, under Decree 99, the Market Control Authority is granted a new task of raiding infringers at production sites.”

3.      Better domain name enforcement. Decree 99 strives to address the difficulty in enforcing the decision on revoking disputed domain names and infringing company names, Loc writes. “Decree 99 shortens the timeframe for a voluntary withdrawal of the disputed domain name and sets forth a stronger legal consequence in case of a failure to voluntarily change the infringing company name.”

4.      Clearer power of attorney (POA). Decree 99 clarifies and simplifies the requirement for the formality of POA in enforcement so that competent authorities will have a uniform understanding, Linh writes. “The POA must be duly executed and notarized. In case of no notarization, the POA must be legalized.”