Decree No. 99/2013/ND-CP dated August 29, 2013 of the Government on sanctioning of administrative violations in industrial property

 THE GOVERNMENT

Decree No. 99/2013/ND-CP dated August 29, 2013 of the Government on sanctioning of administrative violations in industrial property 

Pursuant to the Law on Organization of Government dated December 25, 2001;

Pursuant to the Law on handling of administrative violations dated June 20, 2012;

Pursuant to the Law on Intellectual Property dated November 29, 2005; Law on amending and supplementing a number of articles of Law on intellectual property dated June 19, 2009 (hereinafter collectively referred to as Law on Intellectual Property);

Pursuant to the Law on Information Technology dated June 29, 2006;

Pursuant to the Law on competition dated December 03, 2004;

At the proposal of Minister of Science and Technology;

The Government promulgates Decree on sanctioning of administrative violations in industrial property.

Chapter 1.

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope of adjustment

This Decree specifies acts of administrative violation, sanctioning forms and levels, remedies; procedures for filing written requests for handling of violations; competence and procedures for settling written requests for handling of violations; sanctioning competence and enforcement of decisions on sanctioning administrative violations in industrial property.

Article 2. Provisions on the maximum fine level, sanctioning competence for individuals, organizations

1. The fine levels for acts defined in Chapter 2 of this Decree will be the fine levels applicable to individuals. The maximum fine level for individuals will be VND 250,000,000.

For the same act of administrative violation, the fine level for organization will be twice as the fine level for individual. The maximum fine level for organizations will be VND 500,000,000.

2. The competence of sanctioning administrative violations of persons defined in Articles from 16 thru 21 of this Decree is competence applicable to an administrative violation of individual. In case of fine, sanctioning competence for organizations will be twice as sanctioning competence for individuals.

Article 3. Sanctioning forms, remedial measures

1. For each act of administrative violation in industrial property, infringing organizations and individuals must suffer either of principal sanctioning forms being warning or fine.

2. Depend on nature and severity of violations, infringing organizations and individuals may also be applied one or more of the following additional sanctioning forms:

a) Confiscation of material evidence and means used in the commission of administrative violations, including goods bearing counterfeit marks or geographical indications; raw materials, materials and means used mainly for producing or trading in those goods;

b) Deprivation of the right to use industrial property representation practice certificates; assessor cards; or certificates of eligibility for assessment practice, for between 01 and 03 months from the effective date of the sanctioning decision;

c) Suspension of the production, trading or provision of infringing products or services, for between 01 and 03 months from the effective date of the sanctioning decision.

3. Apart from principal sanctioning forms, additional sanctioning forms, infringing organizations and individuals may also be forced to apply one or more of the following remedies:

a) Forcible removal of infringing elements on their goods or means of business and destruction of infringing elements; forcible alteration or return of domain names; forcible alteration of enterprise names, removal of infringing elements in enterprise names;

b) Forcible use for non­commercial purposes of goods bearing counterfeit marks or geographical indications; raw materials, materials and means used mainly for producing or trading in these goods, after infringing elements on these goods are removed, provided such act does not affect the exercise of the industrial property rights by their holders;

c) Forcible bringing out of the Vietnamese territory of transit goods infringing upon industrial property rights or forcible re-export of goods bearing counterfeit marks or geographical indications, or imported means, raw materials and materials used mainly for producing or trading in these goods after infringing elements on these goods are removed;

d) Forcible destruction of goods bearing counterfeit marks or geographical indications, means, raw materials and materials used mainly for producing or trading in these goods, evidence and means involved in violations on which infringing elements cannot be removed; infringing goods which may cause harms to the health of humans, domestic animals, plants and the environment; stamps, labels, and articles bearing counterfeit marks or geographical indications; stamps, labels, packages and other articles bearing infringing elements; protection titles, certificates or other documents which are modified, erased or counterfeited;

dd) Forcible modification or addition of indications on industrial property;

e) Forcible public correction of errors, for acts of giving wrong indications on industrial property rights;

g) Forcible confiscation of dispersed material evidence or means of violation;

h) Forcible remittance of illicit earnings from the commission of administrative violations or forcible remittance of an amount equal to value of material evidence or means of administrative violation which have been sold, dispersed or destroyed in contrary to provisions of law.

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