Draft circular on industrial property assessments issued

The Ministry of Science and Technology has issued a draft circular which provides guidelines for industrial property assessments. The circular is expected to be promulgated later this month.

The key features of the circular include the following:

• Industrial property assessments cover:
  
  
  • trademarks and geographical indications;
    
    
  • industrial designs;
    
    
  • inventions and layout designs of semi-conductor integrated circuits; and
    
    
  • other IP rights.
    
    
• In carrying out an industrial property assessment, an entity must:
  
  
  • ascertain the protectability of the subject matter of the IP rights and the scope of protection of the IP rights;
    
    
  • define the loss rate;
    
    
  • specify infringing goods and/or services; and
    
    
  • define its ability to prove infringement.
    
    
• An entity has the right to conduct an industrial property assessment where:
  
  
  • at least two of its members possess an IP assessor card; and
    
    
  • it has been issued with the relevant certificate by the National Office of Intellectual Property or the Ministry of Science and Technology.
    
    
• The general director of the National Office of Intellectual Property has the competence to issue and revoke assessor cards, and to announce the list of IP assessors. Assessors may work either freelance or in-house; they must be registered as such in the list of IP assessors and possess an assessor card.

Duong Le Hoai, LÊ & LÊ, Hanoi