Register inventions in the area storing or distributing gases or liquids in Vietnam?

1. Why should you register the inventions in the area storing or distributing gases or liquids?

Along with the development of the world in general and Vietnam in particular, inventions in the area of storing or distributing gases or liquids have played important roles. Because the inventions in this area often have high economic value, there are always some people want to exploit your inventions illegally or even steal your inventions and cause unfair competition in the market. In order to prevent and resolve this issue, you should carry out the procedure of invention registration as soon as possible. Moreover, this procedure can also give you outstanding benefits as below:

- Competitive advantages: The owner of the invention will have exclusive rights to manufacture or distribute specific products/services that are based on the inventions. Other entities like companies, organizations or individuals are not allowed to use or copy the invention unauthorized without your permission. This is one of the greatest benefits of invention registration.

- Legal basis for dispute resolution: Sometime there will be dispute related to the ownership of an invention and a patent will help the owner to prove the ownership If your invention has not been registered for a patent, it is possible that you may lose your invention in case the ownership of the invention is in dispute but you cannot prove your ownership. It could take a lot of time and money to resolve such dispute. If you have registered the invention before, it would be very easy to prove your ownership, all you need to provide is the patent. It will also be the legal basis the authority to handle any infringement related to the invention.

- High return from investment into the invention: After registering an invention, the owner can use the invention in marketing to attract more customers, investors and business partners. A company can sell more products/services that are based on the invention with higher prices because customers always like innovation and these products/services will be considered having higher quality than others.

- Being used as an asset to be contributed to the capital of other companies or business cooperative projects.

- Extra profit from licensing or transferring the invention to other entities.

2. What are inventions in the area storing or distributing gases or liquids?

Generally, the Vietnamese intellectual property law identifies two forms of inventions: inventions and utility solutions. The Law on Intellectual defines an invention or utility solution is a technical solution that is presented in the form of a specific product or method/process with the purpose is to resolve particular problems by applying natural laws.

Along with that definition, the provisions of law specifies two forms of patents: invention patents and utility solution patents. A technical solution can only be granted a patent if the following requirements are met:

- The technical solution is novel;

- The technical solution is creative; and

- The technical solution is applicable for industrial application.

According to the International Patent Classification (IPC) (established by the Strasbourg Agreement 1971 and updated regularly), inventions are sorted out into different classes based on their natures and characteristics. Inventions in the area storing or distributing gases or liquids are currently classified into Class F17, which mostly covers the inventions in areas as below:

- Gas-holders of variable capacity;

- Pressure vessels, e.g. gas cylinder, gas tank, replaceable cartridge;

- Vessels not under pressure;

- Methods or apparatus for filling pressure vessels with liquefied, solidified, or compressed gases;

- Methods or apparatus for filling vessels not under pressure with liquefied or solidified gases;

- Methods or apparatus for discharging liquefied, solidified, or compressed gases from pressure vessels, not covered by another subclass;

- Methods or apparatus for discharging liquefied or solidified gases from vessels not under pressure;

- Use of gas-solvents or gas-sorbents in vessels;

- Details of vessels or of the filling or discharging of vessels;

- Pipe-line systems;

- Arrangements for supervising or controlling working operations;

- Protection or supervision of installations;

3. How to register inventions in the area storing or distributing gases or liquids in Vietnam?

If you want to register an invention in Vietnam, the first step is to prepare an invention registration application dossier which contains the following documents:

- 02 Patent registration applications according to the prescribed form;

- 02 Detailed descriptions of Invention;

- 02 Requests of invention protection;

- Receipt of payment of state fees (if any);

- Power of attorney (if any);

- Other related papers for some particular cases.

4. The process of registration for inventions in the area storing or distributing gases or liquids in Vietnam?

After finishing the preparation, you can file the invention registration application dossier (directly or indirectly) to the National Office of Intellectual Property (NOIP) in Ha Noi or to its representative offices in Da Nang city or Ho Chi Minh city. The application will be examined through a process with stages as below:

First stage: The NOIP will examine your application to determine whether it satisfies the formal conditions. This stage normally takes about 01 month.

Second stage: If the application is determined as a valid application, its information will be published in the Industrial Property Official Gazette after 18 months from the submission date.

Third stage: The NOIP will continue to examine the content of your application. This stage usually takes 18 months from the publishing date.

Final stage: After determining the application meets all the conditions, the NOIP will grant a patent for your invention (after all state fees are paid promptly and properly).

5. Where to register inventions in the area storing or distributing gases or liquids in Vietnam?

Under the Vietnamese law on intellectual property, foreign invention owners (including companies, organizations or individuals) can only apply their inventions in Vietnam through industrial property representative organizations like Minh Khue Law Firm. Minh Khue Law Firm was licensed and certified as an industrial property representative in Vietnam from August 2017, with the representative code is 226. We helped a lot of clients register their inventions successfully in Vietnam as well as in other countries in the world.

The Intellectual Property Department of Minh Khue Law Firm will carry out all the procedures for the client. Our office based in Room 2007, 20th Floor, C2 Building, Vincom Tran Duy Hung, Tran Duy Hung Street, Trung Hoa Ward, Cau Giay District, Hanoi 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 completed register dossier will be submitted at: National Office of Intellectual Property of Vietnam.

Address: 384-386 Nguyen Trai, Thanh Xuan Trung, Thanh Xuan, Hanoi

6. Contact to register inventions in the area storing or distributing gases or liquids 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 Limite