1. Procedures for examination of industrial design applications

Step 1. Submit the application form

The owner of an industrial design may file an application directly (in paper form) himself or through an industrial property representation service organization or send it by post to one of the following locations:

• Intellectual Property Department: 384-386, Nguyen Trai Street, Thanh Xuan District, Hanoi City;
• Representative office in HCMC. Ho Chi Minh City: 7th floor, Ha Phan building, number 17-19 Ton That Tung, Pham Ngu Lao ward, district 1, city. Ho Chi Minh;
• Representative office in Da Nang: 3rd floor, 135 Minh Mang street, Khue My ward, Ngu Hanh Son district, Da Nang city.

The applicant pays the application fee as soon as the application is submitted.

In case of online application: In order to submit an application online, the applicant needs a digital certificate and digital signature, registers an account on the Online Application Receiving System, and has an account approved by the National Office of Intellectual Property. accounts for performing industrial property rights registration transactions. The applicant needs to declare and submit an industrial design registration application on the NOIP’s online application receiving system.

Step 2. Formal examination of the industrial design registration application

The formal examination is intended to assess the validity of the application.

Check the validity of the application according to the requirements on the form, on the object of exclusion, on the right to file an application, etc. to make a conclusion that the application is valid or not.

– In case the application is valid, the NOIP shall issue a decision to accept the valid application;

– In case the application is invalid, the NOIP shall issue a notice of its intention to refuse to accept the application, clearly stating the reasons and omissions that cause the application to be rejected and setting a time limit of 2 months. for the applicant to comment or correct the omission.

If the applicant fails to correct the omissions/unsatisfactorily corrects the omissions/has no objections/inappropriate objections, the NOIP shall issue a decision to refuse to accept the application.

Step 3. Publication of application

After a decision on acceptance of a valid application is issued, the application will be published in the Industrial Property Official Gazette within 2 months from the date of acceptance as a valid application.

Contents of announcement of industrial design registration applications are information related to valid applications recorded in notices of acceptance of valid applications, a set of photos or drawings of the industrial design.

Step 4. Content Appraisal

The substantive examination aims to assess the possibility of granting an industrial design patent when the industrial design application has been recognized as valid.

The time limit for substantive examination of an industrial design shall not exceed seven months from the date of publication of the application.

Step 5. Issue a decision to grant/refuse to grant a protection title

– If the object stated in the application fails to satisfy the requirements for protection, the NOIP shall issue a decision to refuse to grant a protection title;

– If the object stated in the application satisfies the requirements for protection, and the applicant fully and timely pays fees and charges, the NOIP shall issue a decision to grant a protection title and record it in the book. National registration of industrial designs and publication in the Industrial Property Official Gazette.

2. Time limit for processing industrial design applications

From the date of receipt by the NOIP, the industrial design registration application shall be considered in the following order:

– Formal assessment: 01 month

– Announcement of applications: within 02 months from the date on which the industrial design registration application has a decision on acceptance of valid applications.

– Substantive examination: no more than 07 months from the date of publication of the application.

3. Industrial design registration fees and charges

– Application fee: 150,000 VND;

– Industrial design classification fee: 100,000/01 classification;

– Application examination fee: VND 700,000/person;

– Application publication fee: 120,000 VND;

– Publication fee from the 2nd picture onwards: 60,000 VND / 01 image;

– Fee for looking up information to serve the appraisal process: 480,000 VND / 01 subject;

– Fee for assessment of priority claim (if any): 600,000 VND/ 01 priority application.

Note: Industrial design registration applications need to be classified internationally in terms of industrial designs, in case the Applicant does not classify or classify them incorrectly, the NOIP will conduct the classification and the applicant The application needs to pay the classification fee according to regulations (VND 100,000 / 01 classification)