Vietnam is moving closer to having an operational intellectual property court, lawyers at Rouse Legal Vietnam say. The Law on the Organization of the People’s Courts, which came into effect on January 1, 2025, provides for a dedicated IP Court with powers to hear first-instance IP-related civil and administrative cases, the firm said in a story published on its website. It will also issue decisions to enforce legally effective court judgments and decisions on IP administrative cases, the firm said. 

“While the IP community is eagerly looking forward to necessary amendments to the existing laws, such as the Civil Procedure Code, for the operational start of the Specialized IP Court, a key development took place recently,” said Yen Vu, a partner at the firm. “The second draft resolution on the establishment, dissolution, and territorial jurisdiction of the People’s Courts has been submitted for review and finalization, with a tentative effective date of July 1, 2025.”  

The proposed Article 5 of this draft allows for the creation of two IP courts, one in Hanoi, with jurisdiction over 20 provinces and centrally administered cities, including Hanoi, Hai Phong and Hue, and one in Ho Chi Minh City, with jurisdiction over 14 provinces and cities, including Ho Chi Minh City, Can Tho and Da Nang. 

Thạch Phước Bình, a member of the National Assembly from Trà Vinh, told Viêt Nam News that the move will bring Vietnam closer to the global trend of judicial specialization. IP and bankruptcy cases – the law would also provide for the establishment of bankruptcy courts – are often complex and require interdisciplinary expertise, he told the newspaper, noting that specialized courts would enhance adjudication quality, help form case law and ensure consistent legal interpretation. 

However, he also warned that too many specialized courts with low case volumes and a shortage of expert judges could lead to inefficiency and higher costs. “To address this, Bình proposed amending Articles 58 and 61 of the law, suggesting that the decision to establish specialized courts should be based on average case numbers over three consecutive years, local development needs, judicial expertise and available infrastructure,” the newspaper reported. 

The newspaper also reported that Chief Justice Lê Minh Trí has acknowledged that while the number of such cases is currently limited, “future demand is likely to grow alongside economic development and global integration.” 

Additionally, Vu said, the Council of Judges of the Supreme People’s Court has submitted a draft resolution providing the application of some regulations on receiving and exercising the jurisdiction of People’s Courts, which guides the courts at different levels on cases hand-over and transition after July 1, 2025. 

“These draft resolutions mark an important step towards finalizing the operational framework for the IP Court. If the necessary legal reforms progress as planned, Vietnam’s specialized IP Court could begin operations very soon, within 2025 or early 2026,” Vu said. 

With this exciting developing in the practice of intellectual property in Vietnam, we turned to IP professionals in the region in order to understand better what clients need today. Asia IP asked a large number of professionals – mostly in-house counsel and corporate legal managers – what they were looking for from their legal service providers. From their answers, we have compiled our list of Vietnam’s 50 IP Experts, those lawyers who understand just what their clients need and are able to provide them with the best practical advice.  

While regional and national powerhouse firms account still account for many of the lawyers on our list, the rest of our list also reflects a growing diversity of practices in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, with lawyers from a number of young and relatively young firms receiving recognition as IP Experts.  

Not surprisingly, Tilleke & Gibbins (Hung Tuan Nguyen, Linh Thi Mai Nguyen, Loc Xuan Le and Michelle Ray-Jones) and Vision & Associates (Pham Nghiem Xuan Bac, Thi Kim Le Dzung, Do Quang Hung and Nguyet Dzung Nguyen) led the way, each with four lawyers on our list.  

Baker McKenzie (Minh Tri Quach, Hoa Tran and Manh Hung Tran) and D&N International (Dang T.H. Thuy, Hoa T.N. Tran and Hong Son Dang) each placed three lawyers on our list. Twenty-nine different firms placed at least one lawyer on our list, which appears on the following page. 

Most of the lawyers named to our list have multiple practice specialties. Many of them are litigators, while others concentrate on prosecution work or provide strategic advice.  

All of them have something in common: they are experts in their fields and, in one way or another, they provide extra value for their clients. They are Asia IP’s Vietnam’s IP Experts. – GREGORY GLASS 

Vietnam’s IP Experts is based solely on independent editorial research conducted by Asia IP. As part of this project, we turned to in-house counsel in Vietnam, Asia and elsewhere around the world, as well as Southeast Asia-focused partners at international law firms, and asked them to nominate private-practice lawyers including foreign legal consultants, advisers and counsel.  

The final list reflects the nominations received combined with the input of the editorial team at Asia IP, which has more than 50 years of collective experience in researching and understanding Vietnam’s legal market. 

All private practice intellectual property lawyers in Vietnam were eligible for inclusion in the nomination process; there were no fees or other requirements for inclusion in the process. 

The names of our 50 IP Experts are published here. Each IP Expert was given the opportunity to include their biography and contact details in print and on our website, for which a fee was charged.