Vietnam's Intellectual Property Landscape from a Regional Perspective *

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to provide a comprehensive understanding of the development of intellectual property rights (IPR) in Vietnam from a regional perspective. The protection of IPR in Vietnam has recently received domestic and international attention. The Vietnamese government has responded by reforming its industrial and copyright regimes, consolidating its legislation, and creating new administrative and judicial institutions to facilitate the enforcement of these new rights. In so doing, Vietnam has brought its IPR system into conformity with the requirements under the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). The study reveals major stylized facts of Vietnam's intellectual property (IP) landscape that include an insignificant volume of invention, the predominance of non-residents' patents, high grant ratios to non-residents, a remarkable increase in non-residents' applications, and dynamic patterns of trademark activity. The slow increase in patent applications and grants implies the country's weak technological progress, low quality of scientists and research institutions, and low investment in research and development (R&D) over nearly two decades. Despite having taken significant steps to strengthen its IPR protection and enforcement, Vietnam continues to experience severely IP-infringed goods. The paper also derives possible policy implications for upgrading Vietnam's IPR system.