Canada helps Vietnam improve IP management capacity
VOV.VN - The Global Affairs Canada through the Expert Deployment Mechanism for Trade and Development (EDM) has offered a training course aimed at improving the intellectual property (IP) management capacity for a delegation of the Vietnamese Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST) and Ministry of Finance.
This is part of Canada’s commitment to helping Vietnamese officials and experts to concretize the IP provision under the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).
According to Le Huy Anh, deputy director general at the MoST’s IP Office of Vietnam, the examination and protection of non-traditional trademark (sound mark), implementation of IP rights, plan outlining and financial management of IP offices, and promotion of innovation were the four main contents of the training course.
The IP protection for sound mark is unknown in the nation, while the Canada IP Office (CIPO)’s financial management is applicable in the country, he said.
CIPO, under the Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, is a similar business model with more than 1,000 staff and a revenue of CAD200 million, equal to US$148 million USD, recorded in 2022, he said. Anh added that the model allows it to expand operation scale whilst ensuring service quality and efficiency at the same time.
The IP Office of Vietnam and CIPO have consented to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in 2024 to carry out IP co-operation. The nation will therefore consider and promote the signing of an agreement on mutual recognition of geographical indications with Canada to ease the burden for businesses of both sides, he said.
Hoang Ngoc Dinh, representative of Vietnam’s science and technology in Canada, said that linkages with CIPO are viewed as an opportunity for the country to improve its IP right protection and implementation capacity, while helping localities and businesses to better respond and comply with IP issues in the future.
As part of efforts to carry out the CPTTP’s IP provision, Canada has pledged to help the Vietnamese side to better its capacity through joining hands to build instructions which help local firms implement commitments under the trade pact, and the Budapest Treaty on the International Recognition of the Deposit of Microorganisms for the Purposes of Patent Procedure.
In 2020 and 2021, Canada supported the Copyright Office of Vietnam (COV) with administrative reform, the implementation of the IP law, and raising public awareness of IP. This year it has sharpened focus on helping the Vietnamese sides with trademark and geographical indication registration procedures in the CPTPP’s key markets, including Canada, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand.
