That was stated by businesses at a workshop hosted by National Office of Intellectual Property of Vietnam in HCMC yesterday.
One of the risks was the possibility that businesses might be sued back by fake makers, they said. Intellectual property infringement has developed complexly. However, handling has been costly and time consuming.
Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Ty, chief executive of Son Hat Fashion Company, said that counterfeits caused heavy damage for the company while violators had accepted to pay fines which were not deterrent enough.
Similarly, leaders of Spark Plug NGK Vietnam Company, specializing in making spark-plugs told that their products were faked and sold publicly. Therefore they have proposed authorized agencies to take the initiative in assisting the company, tightly supervise spots selling counterfeits to protect genuine businesses and consumers.
Mr. Tran Giang Khue, deputy representative of the National Office of Intellectual Property of Vietnam in HCMC, told that there are businesses operating for a long time with known brand names in the market. Still they have forgot to register intellectual property rights and been sued back by fake producers when proceeding against them. The issue has not only occurred in Vietnam but also abroad.
Many Vietnamese brand names such as Vintaba and Buon Me Thuot coffee have been registered in China, Trung Nguyen Coffee in the US and Duy Loi foldable hammock design in Japan. That is a lesson which businesses should pay attention to, said Mr. Khue.
Businesses have been more and more interested in intellectual property rights with the number of registrations having highly increased in recent years. In 2016, the National Office of Intellectual Property of Vietnam received about 60,000 registrations, up 15 percent over 2015 and triple the number in 2013.
