What foreign founders, creators, and small businesses need to register, where to file, what it costs, and how long protection lasts.
Picture this. You launch a business in Vietnam, register the company name, buy the domain, and build customer trust. Then you discover that someone else has filed a similar trademark.
That is when intellectual property stops feeling abstract. A company registration and domain do not replace a Vietnamese trademark certificate. Protecting key assets early can cost far less than rebuilding a brand after a dispute begins.
What changed in Vietnam in 2026?
Vietnam's main framework remains the Law on Intellectual Property No. 50/2005/QH11, as amended. Its latest major amendment, Law No. 131/2025/QH15, took effect on 1 April 2026.
The amendment strengthened electronic filing, shortened several examination periods, and introduced a three-month accelerated substantive examination route for qualifying patent and trademark applications in specified cases.
Under Decree No. 134/2026/ND-CP, human involvement must be substantial and decisive for an AI-assisted output to qualify for copyright. Fully AI-generated output does not itself receive protection. Businesses using AI should retain prompts, drafts, source files, editing histories, and records of human decisions.
What counts as intellectual property in Vietnam?
Vietnamese law divides intellectual property rights into three main families.
| Right | Typical examples | Main authority |
|---|---|---|
| Copyright and related rights | Writing, photographs, videos, music, software, databases, performances, recordings, and broadcasts | Copyright Office of Vietnam |
| Industrial property | Patents, utility solutions, designs, trademarks, trade names, geographical indications, and trade secrets | IP Viet Nam under the Ministry of Science and Technology |
| Plant variety rights | New agricultural, horticultural, and forestry varieties | Competent authority under the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment |
Copyright is one branch of intellectual property, not another name for the system. A product can combine patent, design, copyright, and trademark protection.
Copyright normally arises automatically when an eligible original work is created and fixed. Trade names arise through lawful use, while trade secrets require lawful control and reasonable confidentiality. Trademarks, patents, designs, and plant varieties generally require registration.
What should your business protect?
Start with the asset that would be hardest or most expensive to replace.
If customers recognize the name, consider a trademark
Businesses should consider registering names and logos that identify their goods or services. Vietnam generally follows a first-to-file system for trademarks, patents, and industrial designs, so search and file before a major launch, franchise rollout, distributor appointment, or packaging order.
A trademark only covers approved goods and services. A cafe registered for restaurant services is not automatically protected for packaged coffee or an app, so classifications should reflect realistic business plans.
If people can copy the content or code, consider copyright
Copyright can protect original content, artwork, videos, course materials, software, and qualifying databases. It protects expression, not a bare idea, business model, method, principle, or raw data.
Paying a freelancer or agency does not always transfer every commercial right. Contracts should identify the work, ownership or licence scope, duration, source-file delivery, and permitted portfolio use.
If the value is technical, visual, or confidential
A patent protects an eligible technical invention. An industrial design protects a product's external appearance rather than its function. Avoid disclosure before filing because publication, exhibitions, crowdfunding, or factory samples can damage novelty, subject to limited exceptions.
Recipes, formulas, manufacturing settings, and customer intelligence may be trade secrets. There is no certificate. Protection depends on access controls, confidentiality terms, records, and removing access when someone leaves.
Plant breeders and agritech businesses can protect qualifying new varieties. DUS testing follows growing cycles, so timing varies by species.
Why register if some rights already exist automatically?
Registration creates a clearer evidence trail. Certificates help partners, investors, marketplaces, customs authorities, and licensees identify and verify a right. Registered rights can also support licensing, franchising, investment, distribution, or a business sale.
Registration does not make the government your market monitor. Owners must watch similar filings, marketplaces, distributors, renewals, and evidence of use. A trademark may become vulnerable after five consecutive years of non-use without a valid reason.
Where do you register, and what does an application require?
Trademark, patent, utility-solution, industrial-design, and geographical-indication applications go to IP Viet Nam. The dossier generally includes a Vietnamese application, asset documents, authorization where applicable, priority evidence if claimed, and fee proof. Trademarks need a mark sample and classified goods or services. Patents need claims and a technical description. Designs need consistent images.
Copyright applications go to the Copyright Office of Vietnam. The dossier generally includes a Vietnamese declaration, the work, identity or entity documents, ownership evidence, authorization if used, and required co-owner consents.
Plant-variety applications go through the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment's public-service system with an application, photographs, technical questionnaire, filing-right evidence, and relevant supporting documents.
Foreign applicants without the required residence or establishment in Vietnam will generally need an authorized local representative for industrial-property procedures. Similar rules apply to certain copyright applicants. Foreign documents may need translation, notarization, or consular legalization.
Processing times and estimated government fees in 2026
| Application | Clean statutory planning baseline | Illustrative government fees in 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Trademark | Formal examination: 1 month. Publication: within 1 month after validity. Substantive examination: 5 months. A straightforward file may take about 8 months, but objections or corrections add time. | About VND 1.93 million from filing through grant for one class with up to six correctly classified items. |
| Copyright | Review and validity assessment: 22 working days. Certificate issuance after a valid result: another 15 working days. | VND 100,000 to VND 600,000 depending on the type of work. Related-right fees generally range from VND 200,000 to VND 500,000. |
| Patent | Formal examination: 1 month. Normal publication: month 19. Substantive examination: 12 months, subject to a timely request. Total processing can exceed two years. | Filing: VND 75,000. Examination: VND 900,000 plus a VND 600,000 search fee per independent claim. Other charges apply. |
| Industrial design | Formal examination: 1 month, publication after validity, then 5 months for substantive examination. Deferred publication and corrections add time. | Filing: VND 75,000. Examination: VND 700,000 plus VND 120,000 per design variant for the search. Other charges apply. |
| Plant variety | Formal examination: 15 days, publication within 90 days, and 60 days to review DUS test results. Growing cycles determine the total. | Filing: VND 50,000, examination: VND 2 million, and grant: VND 175,000. DUS testing is separate. |
These are government charges, not complete service quotations. Searches, drafting, translation, legalization, testing, and representative fees are additional.
Several filing and grant charges are temporarily reduced by 50 percent through 31 December 2026 under Circular No. 64/2025/TT-BTC. Eligible industrial-property public services completed through VNeID may receive filing and grant-fee exemptions under Circular No. 29/2026/TT-BTC. Not every examination, search, publication, or advisory fee is reduced, so recheck the current schedule before filing.
How long does protection last?
| Right | Standard term |
|---|---|
| Trademark | 10 years from filing, renewable indefinitely in further 10-year periods. |
| Invention patent | Up to 20 years from filing, subject to annual maintenance. |
| Utility solution | Up to 10 years from filing, subject to annual maintenance. |
| Industrial design | 5 years from filing, renewable twice, with a maximum of 15 years. |
| Copyright | Most works: the author's life plus 50 years. Films, photographs, applied art, and anonymous works generally receive 75 years from first publication, with special rules for unpublished works. Most core moral rights endure indefinitely. |
| Related rights | Generally 50 years from the relevant fixation, publication, or broadcast event |
| Plant variety | 25 years from grant for timber trees and vines, and 20 years for other varieties. |
| Trade name or trade secret | No fixed certificate term. Protection continues while the legal conditions remain satisfied. |
The practical takeaway
Do not register everything. Identify the assets driving recognition, revenue, or advantage. Confirm ownership, search before launch, file before disclosure when novelty matters, and retain contracts, drafts, source files, and proof of use.
IP rights are territorial. A registration in another market does not automatically protect you in Vietnam. International systems can simplify expansion, but Vietnam must still be designated.
For a small business, the goal is simple: protect the few assets holding the business together before they become expensive to recover.
If you need help finding an intellectual property lawyer or registered IP representative in Vietnam, send EasyTiger a message or submit a request through the EasyTiger request form. We can connect you with a suitable specialist for trademark, copyright, patent, design, licensing, or IP dispute support.
This article provides general information, not legal advice. Procedures, fees, classifications, and required documents can change. The appropriate strategy depends on the asset, applicant, ownership history, and planned markets. Information checked to 4 September 2026.
