REQUIRED INFORMATION
- Full name, address and nationality of the applicant;
- Full name, address and nationality of the inventor;
- Title of the invention/utility solution;
- Country, application number and filing date of the original foreign application from which priority is claimed (if priority is claimed);
- International filing number and publication number (in case of PCT applications entering the Vietnam National Phase).
REQUIRED DOCUMENTS:
Specification consisting of the title, description, Claims and abstract (English version) – 02 copies;
Drawings (if any) – 02 copies;
Power of Attorney (notarization is not required)
A copy of Power of Attorney can be accepted at the filing time but the original one must be submitted later within 01 month from the Vietnamese filing date. As to non-PCT applications, in case original Power of Attorney is not available at the filing time, the fee for late submitting the document will be incurred;Certified copy of priority documents (only for applications claiming priority under the Paris Convention), which can be submitted later within 01 month from the Vietnamese filing date;
As to PCT applications entering the Vietnam National Phase, apart from the above documents, the following PCT documents are required: PCT publication, International Preliminary Examination Report (PCT/IPER/409) (if any), Notification of the Recording of a Change (PCT/IB/306) (if any), International Search Report (PCT/ISA/210)…
Notes:
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As to all patent applications to be filed in Vietnam, the Vietnamese version of the specification is required right at the filing time. Thus, instruction letter and English specification need to be provided as soon as possible (preferably 03 months before filing deadline) for translation work;
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As to PCT applications, if sending the specification causes any inconvenience, PCT application number or publication number should be early informed for downloading the specification from the WIPO database.
GENERAL INFORMATION:
Term for PCT applications to enter the Vietnam National Phase is 31 months from the priority date;
Deed of Assignment and the Vietnamese translation of the priority document may be required by the Vietnamese Patent Office in necessary cases;
Request for substantive examination must be filed within 42 months (as to applications to obtain Invention Patent) or 36 months (as to applications to obtain Utility Solution Patent) from the first priority date;
Time for formality examination is 01 month from the filing date and for substantive examination is 18 months from the publishing date (if the request for substantive examination is filed before the publishing date) or from the request date (if the request is filed after the publishing date);
Valid patent applications are published in the 19th month computed from priority date or Vietnamese filing date (if no priority is claimed), or within 02 months computed from the date of official acceptance of applications, depending on which date comes later. Thus, for the examination process to be shortened, it is advised that a request of early publication should be made. Then, the fee for the request of early publication will be incurred;
The validity term of an Invention Patent is 20 years and of a Utility Solution Patent is 10 years from the regular filing date and the Patent is effective from the granting date;
Annuity is required to be paid only after a Patent is granted.
