Half price for filing IP in Vietnam for the rest of 2020
03 June 2020
On May 26, 2020, the Ministry of Finance issued Circular No. 45/2020/TT-BTC providing the levels of collection, payment of registration charge (confirmation) for using foreign barcode, and IP fees. Amongst others, Circular No. 45 provides a temporary 50 percent discount on certain IP fees at the Vietnam IP Office, said Manh Hung Tran, country managing partner of Baker McKenzie in Hanoi.
The discount will only be applied to regulatory fees provided in Schedule A of the MOF's Circular No. 263/2016/TT-BTC on fees and charges for IP and the collection, transfer, management and use thereof imposed by the VNIPO, said Thanh Thuy Ninh, special counsel at the firm. “The fees/charges remain the same as regulated in Circular No. 263. In particular, the following regulatory fees will be discounted by half:
- fees for filing applications for registration of protection of IP
- fees for extension of time limits for responding to notifications of the VNIPO
- fees for issuance of protection certificates and certificates of registration of IP assignment contracts
- fees for maintenance, extension, invalidation or annulment of certificates of IP
- fees for issuance of IP representation service practice certificates and declaration, and registration of IP representative”
From January 1, 2021, the above official IP regulatory fees will again be charged in full as prescribed under Circular No. 263.
“While Circular No. 45 took effect on May 26, 2020, in practice, the VNIPO will only apply the discounted fee schedule from May 29 to December 31, 2020. Further instructions from the VNIPO may be needed in this regard,” said Huu Tuan Nguyen, an associate at the firm in Ho Chi Minh.
Johnny Chan
