Trademarks and brand protection: first-to-file, IP Viet Nam, national and Madrid filings, the 2026 examination timetable, oppositions, renewal and non-use, well-known marks, trade names and .vn domain names, with a filing checklist and a distributor-squatting example

First to file, and why it decides everything

Vietnam protects trademarks by registration. Under Law No. 50/2005/QH11 on Intellectual Property, amended in 2009, 2019 and 2022, by Law No. 93/2025/QH15 on Science, Technology and Innovation and most recently by Law No. 131/2025/QH15 with effect from 1 April 2026, the exclusive right to a mark arises when the Intellectual Property Office of Viet Nam (IP Viet Nam, the Cục Sở hữu trí tuệ under the Ministry of Science and Technology) grants a certificate of registration. Where two applicants file for identical or confusingly similar marks for the same or similar goods, the earlier filing or priority date prevails (FAQ 84). Use of the mark in Vietnam before filing, however long, and registrations in other countries, however famous, do not create a right that defeats a valid earlier Vietnamese filing, subject only to the exceptions for well-known marks and bad-faith applications described below.

The practical consequence is the risk of trademark squatting. The usual squatter is not an anonymous speculator but someone who knows the brand: a distributor, an importer, a licensee, a joint venture partner or a former employee, who files in its own name before or during the commercial relationship and then uses the registration as leverage when the relationship ends. A foreign owner in that position must either negotiate an assignment or bring an opposition or invalidation action, which takes time and money and requires evidence. The remedy is cheap by comparison: file in Vietnam before the brand is launched, before samples are shipped and before any distributor or manufacturer is appointed. The same applies to the Vietnamese transliteration or translation of a brand where local consumers will use one, and to the logo and any important sub-brands.

What can be registered

A trademark may be any visible sign, including words, letters, numerals, drawings, images, three-dimensional shapes and combinations of them in colour, and since the 2022 amendments sound marks represented graphically. It must be distinctive for the goods or services claimed. Article 74 refuses signs that are descriptive, generic, or common shapes, and signs that conflict with earlier marks, trade names, geographical indications and industrial designs. Law No. 131/2025/QH15 adds that from 1 April 2026 signs indicating Vietnam's national geographical origin are, with exceptions, treated as lacking distinctiveness. A mark may also be refused if it misleads as to origin or quality, or reproduces State emblems and the names of international organisations without consent.

Goods and services are classified under the Nice Classification, and one application may cover several classes. Official fees are charged per class and, beyond six items in a class, per additional item, so a specification that lists the products actually sold, rather than whole class headings, is both cheaper and easier to defend against non-use. Since the 2022 amendments an application filed in bad faith is a ground for refusal and for invalidation, which has become the main weapon against squatters who had no intention of using the mark themselves.

Filing nationally or through Madrid

A foreign company may file a national application at IP Viet Nam. An applicant that has no residence or business establishment in Vietnam must act through a licensed industrial property representative (Article 89), that is, a Vietnamese firm or individual registered with IP Viet Nam to practise. A Vietnamese subsidiary may file in its own name, but the parent will usually want to own the mark and license it to the subsidiary, so the parent files through a representative. Applications are filed electronically or on paper in Vietnamese, with a power of attorney, which since the 2025 amendments need not be notarised in certain cases involving foreign principals, and a priority claim within six months of the first filing in a Paris Convention or WTO country.

Vietnam is also party to the Madrid Agreement and Protocol, so an owner with a home registration or application can designate Vietnam in an international application filed through its home office (FAQ 85). Madrid is cost-effective where several countries are designated at once, but IP Viet Nam examines the designation under Vietnamese law exactly as it would a national application, and any provisional refusal must be answered through a local representative within the deadline set in the notice. National filing gives more control over the Vietnamese specification and the Vietnamese-language version of the mark, and a certificate of registration that banks, customs and enforcement authorities recognise immediately; Madrid owners may request a certificate of protection for the same purpose.

Examination stages and realistic timelines

An application passes through four statutory stages under Articles 108 to 119 of the IP Law. Formality examination checks the application within one month of filing. If it is accepted, the application is published in the Industrial Property Official Gazette within one month of acceptance, shortened from two months by Law No. 131/2025/QH15. From publication third parties have three months to oppose, previously five, and may file observations until a decision is taken. Substantive examination, which assesses distinctiveness and conflicts with earlier rights, must be completed within five months of publication, previously nine. Where the examiner raises an objection, the applicant has a period to argue or amend, and the time taken to respond is added. On approval, the grant fee is paid and the certificate issues. Under the transitional rules, applications filed before 1 April 2026 generally continue under the former law, but the new opposition and substantive examination periods apply to those published after that date.

Fast-track examination, introduced by new Article 119(2a), shortens substantive examination to three months, but only in the cases the Government prescribes. Circular No. 10/2026/TT-BKHCN limits it for trademarks to marks used for goods made under an invention on the list of strategic technologies or an invention exploited in emergencies, and to cases in which the registration certificate is a document the applicant must hold to complete another legal procedure. Most commercial brands do not qualify.

The statutory periods are maximums that IP Viet Nam has historically struggled to meet. Until 2025 an unopposed national application commonly took 12 to 24 months from filing to registration. The 2026 periods should shorten that considerably if IP Viet Nam's capacity matches them, but an investor planning a launch should allow for slippage and should treat the filing date, not the registration date, as the moment its priority is secured. Official fees are set by Circular No. 263/2016/TT-BTC as amended by Circular No. 63/2023/TT-BTC and amount to roughly VND 1 to 1.3 million for one class of up to six items, covering filing, classification, search, examination, publication and grant; Circular No. 64/2025/TT-BTC halves many industrial property fees until 31 December 2026. Professional fees are additional.

How a foreign owner registers a trademark in Vietnam

1. Search before filingCommission a search of the IP Viet Nam database and the WIPO Global Brand Database for identical and similar marks in the relevant classes, and a market check for local use of the brand by third parties. A representative can give an opinion on registrability before filing.
2. Decide the owner, the marks and the routeFile in the name of the group company that will own and license the brand. Cover the word mark, the logo and any Vietnamese-language version. Choose a national filing through a licensed industrial property representative, or a Madrid designation if several countries are being covered.
3. Draft the specificationList the goods and services actually sold or planned within the next five years, using Nice terms acceptable to IP Viet Nam, with any Paris Convention priority claim within six months of the home filing.
4. File and secure the dateFile electronically with the power of attorney and pay the official fees. The filing date fixes priority; keep the filing receipt for use with distributors, customs and platforms.
5. Monitor formality examination and publicationRespond to any formality objection within the period set. Check the published details for errors once the application appears in the Official Gazette, normally within one month of acceptance.
6. Watch the opposition windowThird parties may oppose within three months of publication. Prepare evidence of use and reputation in case an opposition or observation is filed.
7. Answer substantive examinationRespond to any provisional refusal within the period stated, by argument, amendment of the specification, a letter of consent from the earlier owner or a challenge to the cited mark for non-use.
8. Pay the grant fee and diarisePay the grant fee on approval. Diarise the ten-year renewal from the filing date, and record any licence to the Vietnamese subsidiary or distributor with IP Viet Nam.

Keeping the registration alive, and challenging others

A certificate of registration is valid for ten years from the filing date and may be renewed for successive ten-year periods (Article 93(6)), on request filed within six months before expiry or, with a surcharge, within six months after. A mark can be cancelled on request of any person if neither the owner nor its licensee has used it in Vietnam for five consecutive years before the request, without a legitimate reason, unless use began or resumed at least three months before the request (Article 95(1)(d)). Use by a licensee counts, which is a reason to record licences and keep evidence of sales under the mark: invoices, packaging, advertising and import declarations.

An owner may oppose another party's application during the three-month window, and once a mark is registered may request its invalidation on the ground that it should not have been granted, for example because it conflicts with an earlier right, was filed by an agent without the owner's consent, or was filed in bad faith. Invalidation requests on most grounds must be made within five years of grant, but there is no time limit where bad faith is alleged (Article 96). An assignment of a registered mark takes effect only when it is registered with IP Viet Nam, and a licence, although effective between the parties as agreed, is enforceable against third parties only once recorded (Article 148). The Law on Technology Transfer may also apply where a licence carries technology with it (Technology transfer and licensing).

Well-known marks, trade names and domain names

A well-known mark is protected without registration, and against dissimilar goods where use would mislead or take unfair advantage, but only once its status is proved on the criteria in Article 75: the number of relevant consumers who know it, the territory and duration of use, sales and advertising, the value of the mark and its recognition in other countries. Vietnam keeps no register of well-known marks; status is decided case by case in opposition, invalidation or enforcement proceedings, so evidence of reputation in Vietnam should be collected and kept current.

A trade name, the name under which a business is conducted, is protected through lawful use without registration (Articles 76 and 78), within the area and sector where the business operates. Business registration offices check company names against other registered enterprise names, not against trademarks, so a third party can register a company whose name contains the investor's brand; the remedy is an unfair competition or infringement action, or a request to the business registration office to require a change of name where the name infringes industrial property rights. A foreign investor should register its Vietnamese company under a name matching its registered mark.

Domain names under .vn are allocated on a first come, first served basis through registrars accredited by the Vietnam Internet Network Information Center (VNNIC) under the Ministry of Science and Technology, governed by the Law on Telecommunications and Decree No. 147/2024/ND-CP. A .vn domain is not a trademark right, and a registration in bad faith can be challenged by negotiation, mediation, arbitration or court proceedings, with VNNIC acting on the outcome. Registering the brand under .vn and .com.vn at the same time as filing the trademark avoids the dispute. Since 15 July 2026 Decree No. 186/2026/ND-CP has allowed authorities to order the blocking of access to domain names that infringe industrial property rights (IP enforcement and anti-counterfeiting).