Register exclusive trademarks for beers and non-alcoholic beverages in Vietnam?

1. What are exclusive trademarks for beers and non-alcoholic beverages?

Exclusive trademarks for beers and non-alcoholic beverage products are exclusive signs which are used to differentiate beers and non-alcoholic beverage products of your company from other products in the market or from products in other product lines of your company. Exclusive trademarks can be presented in the form of diagrams, descriptions, symbols, words or slogans and in one color or several colors.

Exclusive trademarks for beers and non-alcoholic beverages belong to Class 32 according to the newest version of Nice Classification. Class 32 mostly covers beers; non-alcoholic beverages; mineral and aerated waters; fruit beverages and fruit juices; syrups and other non-alcoholic preparations for making beverages; in particular:

- De-alcoholised drinks;

- Soft drink;

- Drinks originating from rice and soybeans, except milk substitutes;

- Energy drinks, isotonic drinks, protein-rich sports drinks;

- Non-alcoholic essence and fruit extract for making drinks.

Class 32 does not include particular products as below:

- Drinks for medical purposes;

- Drinks with milk mainly;

- Drink on the basis of coffee, cocoa or chocolate.

2. Why should you register exclusive trademarks for beers and non-alcoholic beverages in Vietnam?

In the general development of the food industry, the beverage manufacturing and trading industry has also developed constantly. Drinks include non-alcoholic beverages and alcoholic beverages. It can be seen that the market for non-alcoholic beverages is wider than the alcoholic beverage market because this type of drink is suitable for many kind of customers with different ages, genders, and conditions. Therefore, more and more investors choose to do business in non-alcoholic beverages market. In order to increase competitiveness, business entities can choose to register exclusive trademarks as a solution. In addition, registering exclusive trademarks for beers and non-alcoholic beverage products also brings other outstanding benefits as below:

- An attractive exclusive trademarks will get the attraction of customers, customers will be able to distinguish your products from other thousands of products in the market, thus making them easy to be remembered by customers.

- Registering exclusive trademarks will prevent competitors from using, registering a same or similar trademark as your registered exclusive trademarks for beers and non-alcoholic beverages.

- Establishing the legal basis for your company to ask competent state agencies to handle infringement of other companies, organizations or individuals and protect your registered exclusive trademarks from being copied or used without your consent;

- Earning extra profits from providing license or transferring your registered exclusive trademarks as a company property.

3. How to register exclusive trademarks for beers and non-alcoholic beverages in Vietnam?

An exclusive trademark registration application for beers and non-alcoholic beverages normally includes the following documents and papers:

- 02 copies of Trademark Registration Declaration according to the Form No. 04-NH;

- 08 copies of Trademark samples (each sample is not exceeding 80 mm x 80 mm and not less than 20 mm x 20 mm);

- List products and services attached by the exclusive trademark and the Class of goods or service according to the Nice Classification;

- Power of attorney (if any);

- Receipts of payment of fees and charges;

4. Process of exclusive trademarks registration for beers and non-alcoholic beverages in Vietnam

The following stages are normal procedures of registration of exclusive trademarks for beers and non-alcoholic beverages.

Stage 1: Search the trademark

This stage is to check whether there is a trademark that is similar or identical with your trademark. The trademark can be searched in two methods as below:

- Preliminary search: It is easy to carry out the preliminary search, the trademark will searched in the electrical database of intellectual property but the result of this method often has a low accuracy rate (about 60%) because there is trademarks that was accepted has not been published.

- Advanced search: Your registering trademarks for beers and non-alcoholic beverages will be searched by experts in the field of intellectual property. Therefore, the result of advanced search usually has a higher accuracy rate (up to 90%).

Stage 2: Submit the Trademark registration application

You can submit the trademark application for beers and non-alcoholic beverages directly to the National Office of Intellectual Property (NOIP) if you are in Ha Noi city or to the two representative offices of NOIP if you are in Da Nang city or Ho Chi Minh city. The application can also be submitted via post office or couriers if you are not in the above cities.

Stage 3: Formal appraisal of the exclusive trademark application

In this stage, NOIP will conduct the appraisal of the formal requirements of exclusive trademark application such as the subject of exclusion, the right to apply ... in order to decide whether application is an invalid or valid application. The processing time of this stage is about 1 month to 02 months from the submission date.

Stage 4: Publish the trademark application

After being decided as a valid application, the information of the trademark application will be published on the Industrial Property Gazette within 2 months from the date of valid decision. The information includes trademark samples and lists of products attached by your exclusive trademarks.

Stage 5: Content appraisal of application

In this stage, the exclusive trademark application will be appraised in terms of the content. NOIP will check whether your trademark is similar or identical with a registered trademark in order to evaluate the possibility of granting a Trademark Registration Certification. The processing time of this stage is about 9 months to 12 months from the date of publication of the application.

Stage 6: Granting the Trademark Registration Certificate

The NOIP will issue a Trademark Registration Certificate within 01 month from the date the applicant pay all the state fees fully and properly.

5. Where to register exclusive trademarks for beers and non-alcoholic beverages in Vietnam?

Foreign entities shall only register their trademarks for beers and non-alcoholic beverages in Vietnam through a legal industrial property representative like Minh Khue Law Firm. We have helped many foreign as well as domestic entities to register their trademarks for beers and non-alcoholic beverages in Vietnam. Minh Khue Law Firm was certificated as an industrial property representative organization by the NOIP since August 2017, our representative code is 226.

Our Intellectual Property Department will handle and apply the trademarks for clients. Our office address is at Room 2007, C2 building, Vincom Tran Duy Hung, Trung Hoa ward, Cau Giay district, Ha Noi city.

The person in charge of the Intellectual Property Department of Minh Khue Law Firm:

Lawyer: To Thi Phuong Dzung

Email: dung@luatminhkhue.vn ;

Phone number: + 84986 386 648

The dossier will be submitted in: National Office of Intellectual Property of Vietnam, address at: 384-386 Nguyen Trai street, Thanh Xuan Trung ward, Thanh Xuan district, Hanoi.

You can refer to some trademarks for beers and non-alcoholic beverages that were registered by Minh Khue Law Firm:

Organik farm Trademark

Class 32: Non-alcoholic drinks; fruit juice; soft drink; Soy-based beverages, not milk substitutes; lemonade; juice.

6. Contact to register exclusive trademarks for beers and non-alcoholic beverages in Vietnam

Please contact: Minh Khue Law Company Limited

Address: Room 2007, C2 building, Vincom Tran Duy Hung, Trung Hoa ward, Cau Giay district, Ha Noi city.

Phone number: + 84986 386 648 - Lawyer: To Thi Phuong Dzung

Email: dung@luatminhkhue.vn

Best Regards,

Intellectual Property Department - Minh Khue Law Company Limited