As the northern hemisphere summer draws to a close, this particular summer was marked by a spate of headlines in business-oriented publications: 

Vietnam likely to replace China as factory of the world in near future – Business Standard 

Vietnam’s battle to climb the global value chain – Nikkei Asia 

Good morning Vietnam: the world’s new factory is emerging – The Times of London. 

There has long been talk of Vietnam encroaching on China’s position as the world’s factory. We first heard how Vietnam was preparing to take on some of that role on a trip to Hanoi nearly a decade ago. It hadn’t happened yet, to be sure, but the lawyers and business leaders we spoke with were confident that rising prices and rising living standards in China would push manufacturers to begin looking elsewhere – and they, almost to a person, believed that “elsewhere” would be somewhere close to China, such as Vietnam. 

Fast forward a few years and China was still maintaining most of its manufacturing base. People still talked about where manufacturers might turn next. Vietnam was almost always on that list, but nothing much had happened yet, most likely because moving entire supply chains from one country to another is a massive undertaking, one that will ultimately cost millions of dollars.  

And then Covid-19 hit, the Chinese government adopted its Zero-Covid strategy, and many of its supply lines became incontrovertibly snarled when factory workers, truck drivers, dock workers, airport workers and other essential cogs in the machine were told to stay home in order to achieve the main goal of Zero-Covid, that cases of infection be kept at or near zero. 

That signalled Vietnam’s big opportunity, and earlier this month, Nikkei Asia first reported on Apple’s plans to diversify its supply chain by moving Apple Watch and MacBook production to Vietnam, where those production lines would join the iPads and AirPods already being made there. 

It’s far too early to tell how much manufacturing will ultimately shift to Vietnam, but one thing is certain: whether high tech or low tech, it will represent a boon to the intellectual property community, both short term and long term. In the short term, IP lawyers will be needed to protect patents and supply chains. In the long term, increased manufacturing should help increase the size of Vietnam’s middle class, increase their affluence and, ultimately, increase the importance of brand protection. It may even give rise to domestic brands which are ultimately exported regionally or even further afar.  

With this burgeoning interest in intellectual property protection 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.  

Today’s clients are looking for more than just a degree from a top-notch university and a couple of decades of practice. In order to be an outstanding provider of intellectual property advice, a lawyer must also be capable of understanding how intellectual property impacts the rest of his client’s business, and be able to provide practical, real-world, business-savvy advice. She must be able to provide sound advice on the current law, but also needs to be able to understand coming trends which are likely to impact her client’s business. 

Unlike days past when she might have played just a bit role, today’s IP Expert is every bit a full-fledged team member. 

While five powerhouse firms account for 20 of the lawyers on our list, the rest of the list 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 (Hien Thi Thu Vu, Hung Tuan Nguyen, Linh Thi Mai Nguyen, Thanh Phuong Vu, Thomas Treutler and Tu Ngoc Trinh) led the way, with six lawyers on our list. Rouse placed four lawyers on our list (Chris Vale, Dung Vu, Tu Do and Yen Vu), as did Vision & Associates (Do Quang Hung, Dzung Thi Kim Le, Nguyet Dzung Nguyen and Pham Nghiem Xuan Bac). 

Baker McKenzie (Minh Tri Quach, Thi Kieu Hoa Tran and Tran Manh Hung) and D&N International (Dang Thi To Hang, Tran TN Hoa and Thuy TH Dang) each placed three lawyers on our list. Twenty-two different firms placed either one or two lawyers on our list.  

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 editorial team at Asia IP, which has nearly 45 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 nominations process; there were no fees or any 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.