Register trademarks for coffee, tea and dessert products in Vietnam?

1. What are trademarks for coffee, tea and dessert products?

Trademarks are symbols in form of drawings, pictures, letters, words or slogan that are used to differentiate the coffee, tea and dessert products of your company from products provided by other entities in the market. The trademarks can be expressed in one color or many colors.

Trademarks for coffee, tea and dessert products are classified into Class 30 according to the newest version of Nice Classification. Class 30 is a class of products which mainly includes foodstuffs of plant origin, except fruits and vegetables, prepared or preserved for consumption, as well as auxiliaries intended for the improvement of the flavour of food, such as:

- Drinks with coffee, cocoa, chocolate or tea;

- Cereals are prepared for human consumption, for example, oat flakes, chips, rice husk, bulgur, muesli;

- Pizza, baked goods, bread;

- Chocolate-coated nuts;

- Flavoring, except essential oils, for drinks.

This Class does not include the following particular products:

- Salt for preservation, not for food;

- Healing tea and food and nutrients are made suitable for medical use;

- Food for babies;

- Dietary supplements;

- Yeast for medicinal purposes or for animal feed;

- Raw cereals;

- Food for animals.

2. Why should you register trademarks for coffee, tea and dessert products in Vietnam?

Coffee, tea and dessert is one of the highly attractive industries in Vietnam and attractiveness also come with the competitiveness. To be able to bring the brand of companies to consumers, it requires companies producing and selling coffee, tea and dessert products to have their own brand, thereby, affirming products value in this market, building trust and credibility and at the same time being able to compete with other businesses. Therefore, registering trademarks for products of companies is a very important task and need to be done as soon as possible.

We can provide some of the great advantages of registering trademarks as below:

- From the trademarks, customer can know the origin of the products, who are the owner of the trademarks, accordingly, build the trust of customers for the products of the companies.

- After your trademarks are registered, other companies, organizations or individuals will not be able to register the same or similar trademark as your trademark, thus, increasing the position of your company in the market.

- A registered trademark will be a legal basis for your company to ask state authorities to handle violations of other entities and to protect your trademark from risks such as duplicating trademarks or using your registered trademarks without your consent;

- Bring extra profit for your company from licensing or transferring your registered trademarks of coffee, tea and dessert as an asset of the company.

3. How to register trademarks for coffee, tea and dessert products in Vietnam?

In order to register trademarks for coffee, tea and dessert products in Vietnam, applicant needs to prepare documents and papers as below:

- 02 Declarations registered under Form No. 04-NH

- Trademark sample: 08 samples (size not exceeding 80 mm x 80 mm, not less than 20 mm x 20 mm);

- List of goods and services bearing the trademark: Classified according to the Nice Classification;

- Regulations on use of collective marks / certification marks;

- Explanatory notes on the nature and quality of specific products bearing the trademark (if the registered trademark is a collective mark used for a product of a particular nature or a certification mark quality of the product or trademark certification of geographical origin);

- Map of territory determination (if registered trademark is a certification mark of the geographical origin of the product).

- Receipts of payment of charges and fees

4. Procedures of trademark registration for coffee, tea and dessert products in Vietnam

The process of registration for trademarks of coffee, tea and dessert products normally includes the following steps:

Step 1: Conduct a trademark search

A trademark of product can be searched by two methods: basic search and advanced search.

- Basic search: The processing time of this method of search is normally from a few hours to 2 days. Though basic search is easy to be conducted, its result often has a low accuracy rate (about 60%).

- Advanced search: The processing time of advanced search is normally up to 7 days. Your registering trademarks for coffee, tea and dessert will be reviewed by intellectual property experts, its searching result will accordingly have a higher accuracy rate (up to 90%).

Step 2: Application submission

The trademark application for coffee, tea and dessert products can be submitted directly to the National Office of Intellectual Property (NOIP) in Ha Noi city or its two representative offices in Da Nang city and Ho Chi Minh city. The applicant can also file the application via post to the above address by post office or couriers.

Step 3: Formal examination

It is an assessment of the validity of the application according to the requirements of the form, the subject of exclusion, the right to apply ... so as to make a valid or invalid application conclusion. Examination time is 1 month from the filing date

Step 4: Announcing a valid application

Valid trademark applications are published on the Industrial Property Gazette within 2 months from the date of acceptance as a valid application. Contents of publication of trademark registration applications are information related to valid applications stated in notices on acceptance of valid applications, trademark samples and lists of accompanied goods and services.

Step 5: Appraisal of application content

A valid application for trademark registration is validated to assess the possibility of granting a protection title to the object stated in the application under the conditions of protection. The time limit for appraisal of the trademark application is 9 months from the date of publication of the application.

Step 6: Issuance the protection title

The Trademark Registration Certificate will be issued within 01 month from the date full payment of the state fees is made.

5. Where to register an exclusive trademark for coffee, tea and dessert products in Vietnam?

According to the intellectual property law of Vietnam, foreign entities can only register their trademarks for coffee, tea and dessert products in Vietnam through a legal industrial property representative.

Many foreign companies have come to Minh Khue Law Firm to register trademarks in Vietnam because Minh Khue Law Firm is a legal industrial property representative organization which was licensed by the NOIP since August 2017, our representative code is 226.

Trademarks of clients will be handled and registered by our Intellectual Property Department. 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 coffee, tea and dessert products that were registered by Minh Khue Law Firm:

CHE Thanh Loan Trademark

Class 30: Tea; mixed sweet gruel; grapefruit tea sweet gruel; tea beans sweet gruel; cold ice cream; Fruit jelly (candies).

THOM Coffee Trademark

Class 30: Coffee; drinks based on coffee; coffee drinks with milk; artificial coffee; unroasted coffee; Coffee flavoring.

6. Contact to register a trademark for coffee, tea and dessert products 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