Circular 06/2024/TT-BKHCN amend Circular 11/2015/TT-BKHCN guiding Decree 99/2013/ND-CP sanction administrative violations in industrial property

CIRCULAR

Amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Minister of Science and Technology’s Circular No. 11/2015/TT-BKHCN dated June 26, 2015, detailing and guiding a number of articles of the Government’s Decree No. 99/2013/ND-CP of August 29, 2013, on sanctioning of administrative violations in the field of industrial property

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Pursuant to the Law on Intellectual Property dated November 29, 2005; Law Amending and Supplementing a Number of Articles of the Law on Intellectual Property dated June 19, 2009; Law on Amending and Supplementing a Number of Articles of the Law on Insurance Business and the Law on Intellectual Property dated June 14, 2019; and Law Amending and Supplementing a Number of Articles of the Law on Intellectual Property dated June 16, 2022;

Pursuant to the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations dated June 20, 2012, and the Law Amending and Supplementing a Number of Articles of the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations dated November 13, 2020;

Pursuant to Government's Decree No. 28/2023/ND-CP dated June 2, 2023, defining the functions, tasks, powers and organizational structure of the Ministry of Science and Technology;

Pursuant to the Government's Decree No. 118/2021/ND-CP dated December 23, 2021, detailing a number of articles of, and measures to implement, the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations;

Pursuant to the Government's Decree No. 99/2013/ND-CP dated August 29, 2013, on sanctioning of administrative violations in industrial property; the Government's Decree No. 126/2021/ND-CP dated December 30, 2021, amending and supplementing a number of decrees on sanctioning of administrative violations in industrial property; standards, measurement and quality of goods; scientific and technological activities and technology transfer; atomic energy; the Government's Decree No. 46/2024/ND-CP dated May 4, 2024, amending and supplementing a number of articles of Decree No. 99/2013/ND-CP dated August 29, 2013, on sanctioning of administrative violations in industrial property, which was amended and supplemented under the Government's Decree No. 126/2021/ND-CP dated December 30, 2021;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 65/2023/ND-CP dated August 23, 2023, detailing a number of articles of, and providing measures to implement, the Law on Intellectual Property regarding industrial property, protection of industrial property rights and plant variety rights, and the state management of intellectual property;

At the proposal of the Chief Inspector and the Director of the Department of Legal Affairs;

The Minister of Science and Technology hereby promulgates the Circular amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Minister of Science and Technology’s Circular No. 11/2015/TT-BKHCN dated June 26, 2015, detailing and guiding a number of articles of the Government’s Decree No. 99/2013/ND-CP of August 29, 2013, on sanctioning of administrative violations in the field of industrial property.

Article 1. Amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Minister of Science and Technology’s Circular No. 11/2015/TT-BKHCN dated June 26, 2015, detailing and guiding a number of articles of the Government’s Decree No. 99/2013/ND-CP of August 29, 2013, on sanctioning of administrative violations in the field of industrial property

1. To amend and supplement Article 1 as follows:

“Article 1. Scope of regulation and subjects of application

1. Scope of regulation:

This Circular details and guides a number of articles of the Government’s Decree No. 99/2013/ND-CP dated August 29, 2013, on sanctioning of administrative violations in the field of industrial property, which was amended and supplemented under the Government's Decree No. 126/2021/ND-CP dated December 30, 2021, and Decree No. 46/2024/ND-CP dated May 4, 2024 (hereinafter referred to as Decree No. 99/2013/ND-CP).

2. Subjects of application:

a) Subjects specified in Article 1a of Decree No. 99/2013/ND-CP, who commit administrative violations in the field of industrial property;

b) Persons competent to sanction administrative violations and make written records of administrative violations in the field of industrial property as specified in Articles 15 thru 21a of Decree No. 99/2013/ND-CP;

c) Other organizations and individuals involved in the handling of administrative violations in the field of industrial property.”.

2. To amend and supplement Article 3 as follows:

“Article 3. Additional sanctions

When applying additional sanctions specified at Point c Clause 2 Article 3 of Decree No. 99/2013/ND-CP, the person competent to sanction administrative violations shall apply the measure of suspension of part or whole of the production, business or service operation of the institutional or individual violator on the principle of suspension of production, business or service operation that is directly related to the infringements to be administratively sanctioned. The measure of suspension of whole of the production, business or service operation of the institutional or individual violator shall be applied if the entire production, business or service operation is directly related to the infringements to be administratively sanctioned.”.

3. To amend and supplement Article 4 as follows:

“Article 4. Application of measures to deter administrative violations and assure the handling thereof

The person competent to sanction administrative violations shall consider applying the measure to deter administrative violations and assure the handling thereof, which is temporary seizure of domain names, when receiving valid documents of the party requesting the handling of the act of unfair competition in the field of industrial property related to appropriation or use of domain names specified at Point a Clause 16 Article 14 of Decree No. 99/2013/ND-CP, including:

1. A written request to apply the measure to deter administrative violations and assure the handling thereof, which is “temporary seizure of domain names” (in a separate document, or in the written request for handling unfair competition related to the appropriation or use of domain names);

2. A power of attorney under Article 23 of Decree No. 99/2013/ND-CP (if any);

3. Documents or evidence proving that the act of unfair competition in the field of industrial property is related to appropriation or use of domain names specified at Point c Clause 2 Article 19 of this Circular.”.

4. To amend and supplement Article 6 as follows:

“Article 6. Determination of illicit profit amounts earned through the commission of administrative violations

1. Illicit profit amounts earned through the commission of administrative violations are benefits earned through committing such administrative violations, including:

a) Money;

b) Valuable papers;

c) Other objects and assets.

2. Determination of illicit monetary profit amounts:

a) Illicit monetary profits mean the entire amount of money that an organization or individual earned through the commission of administrative violations. Such profits are calculated by the money amount gained from the transfer and sale of violated goods, or provision of violated services, after deducting the direct costs of the goods and services based on dossiers and documents proving the legality and validity of such costs that are provided by the institutional or individual violator;

b) The illicit monetary profit amounts shall be determined as follows:

The illicit monetary profit amount shall be equal to (=) the quantity of goods, the volume of services that have been transferred or sold, multiplied by (x) the unit price minus (-) direct costs of such goods or services (if the institutional or individual violator has sufficient dossiers and documents to prove the legality and validity of such costs).

In which:

The quantity of goods or volume of services transferred or sold shall be determined on the basis of declaration by the institutional or individual violator and inspection and verification by the person competent to impose sanction;

- The unit price of goods or services shall be determined on the basis of dossiers and documents of the institutional or individual violator. In case where the dossiers and documents are unavailable, the unit price shall be determined according to the market price of similar goods or services at the time of detecting the violations;

In case where the quantity, volume and unit price cannot be determined, the illicit profit amount shall be the total money amounts that organization or individual gained from the illegal transfer, sale of goods, or illegal provision of services.

3. Determination of the amount of illicit profits that are valuable papers:

a) Earned illicit profit amounts that are valuable papers mean the whole valuable papers that an institutional or individual violator earned through the commission of administrative violations;

b) Valuable papers specified in Clause 1 of this Article are valuable papers as prescribed in the Civil Code and other valuable papers as prescribed by relevant laws;

c) If the valuable papers are transferred, the amount of illicit profits shall be determined by the actual money amount collected at the time of transfer.

If the valuable papers are dispersed or destroyed, the amount of illicit profits shall be determined according to the book value of the organization issuing valuable papers at the time of dispersion or destruction.

4. Determination of the amount of illicit profits that are other assets and objects:

a) Illicit profit amounts being other assets and objects, that are gained by the institutional or individual violator through the commission of administrative violations, are other assets as prescribed by the Civil Code;

b) In case objects and other assets have been transferred, sold or destroyed, the illicit profit amount shall be the amount of money equivalent to the market value of similar assets, or shall be determined according to the book value of assets (if the market value is unavailable), or determined according to monetary value of assets recorded on the import or export declarations (for imports or exports) of the institutional or individual violator, after deducting the direct costs of such goods or services, on the basis of dossiers and documents proving the legality and validity of such costs.”.

5. To amend and supplement Article 7 as follows:

“Article 7. Infringements of provisions on indications of industrial property rights protection and licensing of industrial property matters in Article 6 of Decree No. 99/2013/ND-CP

1. Act of false indication of legal status specified at Point b Clause 1 Article 6 of Decree No. 99/2013/ND-CP shall be understood as the provision of indicative information misleading that a subject enjoys the industrial property rights protection in Vietnam though he/she/it is not or has not been eligible for protection, including the case where he/she/it has filed a registration application but is not yet granted a protection title or his/her/its protection title has been revoked or invalidated, or the term of protection has expired, at the time of making the indication on the goods, goods packages, means of business, including:

a) Affixed on his/her/its goods, goods packages or means of business an indication misleading that such goods or services bearing marks protected by industrial property rights, such as “mark granted a mark registration certificate,” “protected mark,” “mark under exclusive right of…,” or indications with similar meanings, including the use of the symbol ® (indicating that a mark is protected in Vietnam). In case the goods, or goods packages use the symbol ® and the goods or goods packages (including secondary labels for imported goods) have truthful indications about the mark protection status in Vietnam, it is not considered a violation specified at Point b Clause 1 Article 6 of Decree No. 99/2013/ND-CP;

b) Affixed on his/her/its goods, goods packages or means of business an indication misleading that such goods are under the protection of industrial property rights to inventions and industrial designs, such as “product is under industrial design protection,” “product is under patent,” “product is manufactured according to the patented process of…,” or indications with similar meanings, including the use of the symbol “P” or the word “Patent” t(indicating that products or goods are manufactured according to the protected inventions). In case the goods, or goods packages use the symbol “P” or the word “Patent” and the goods or goods packages (including secondary labels for imported goods) have truthful indications about the invention protection status in Vietnam, it is not considered a violation specified at Point b Clause 1 Article 6 of Decree No. 99/2013/ND-CP.

2. Acts specified at Point c Clause 1 Article 6 of Decree No. 99/2013/ND-CP shall be understood as follows:

a) The act of receiving the transfer of the right to use a mark not in the form of a written contract in the case of using the transferred mark on goods or goods packages means the receipt of the transfer of the right to use a mark from the right holder and use of such mark on goods or goods packages without conclusion of a contract with sufficient terms as specified at Point k Clause 1 Article 144 of the Law on Intellectual Property. Written consent or Letter of consent or similar document of the right holder, permitting one party to use the protected mark without fully containing the contents specified in Clause 1 Article 144 of the Law on Intellectual Property shall not be considered a contract for transferring the right to use the mark;

b) Act of false indication means an act of inscribing on goods or goods packages the phrase “manufactured under the industrial property licensing contract of…” or an indication of similar meaning, in Vietnamese or a foreign language, falling into one of the following cases:

- The user has not yet been lawfully licensed to use the industrial property subject matter as prescribed by law;

- The industrial property licensing contract between the parties is available, but the information about the name or contract number in the indication is incorrect.

c) Act of failure to provide an indication means an act of failing to inscribe on goods or goods packages an indication that such goods or products are manufactured under an industrial property licensing contract.”.

6. To amend and supplement the title of Section 2 Chapter II as follows:

“Section 2. Industrial property right infringements and unfair competition in the field of industrial property”.

7. To amend and supplement Article 10 as follows:

“Article 10. Infringements in the field of industrial property on the Internet

1. Acts regarded as committed on the Internet and fully satisfying the conditions specified in Clause 4 Article 72 of the Government’s Decree No. 65/2023/ND-CP dated August, 23, 2023, detailing a number of articles of, and providing measures to implement, the Law on Intellectual Property regarding industrial property, protection of industrial property rights and plant variety rights, and the state management of intellectual property (hereinafter referred to as Decree No. 65/2023/ND-CP), shall also be concluded as infringing acts in the field of industrial property and administratively sanctioned in accordance with Decree No. 99/2013/ND-CP.

2. The domain name register allowing other organizations or individuals to use the domain name who knows or has grounds to know such organizations or individuals use its/his/her domain name to commit infringing acts specified in Clause 1 of this Article shall also be concluded as committing infringing acts, and shall be considered and sanctioned in accordance with corresponding regulations of Decree No. 99/2013/ND-CP.”.

8. To amend and supplement Points c and d Clause 3 Article 13 as follows:

“c) When filing a request for handling of an infringement against a well-known mark, a rights holder shall provide evidence that such mark is well known in Vietnam in accordance with Article 75 of the Law on Intellectual Property, regardless of whether or not it has been registered for protection in Vietnam;

d) Before deciding to carry out procedures for handling the infringement, the competent agency shall base itself on the regulations of Article 75 of the Law on Intellectual Property to consider whether or not a mark is well known in Vietnam.

If the mark well-known in Vietnam is recognized according to the civil procedures or the well-known mark is recognized, leading to the decision on handling the infringement to such well-known mark in accordance with Point d Clause 1 Article 129 of the Law on Intellectual Property, or leading to the decision on not protecting other marks under Point i Clause 2 Article 74 of the Law on Intellectual Property, the competent agency may exchange opinions with state management agencies in charge of industrial property and/or consult experts to consider handling the case.”.

9. To amend and supplement Article 18 as follows:

“Article 18. Importation of goods infringing upon industrial property rights

1. Importation of goods infringing upon industrial property rights shall be administratively sanctioned under Decree No. 99/2013/ND-CP, except for the cases specified in Clause 2 of this Article.

2. The importation by an organization or individual of a product which has been launched on the domestic or overseas market by its owner or the organization or individual with licensed use right, including the case of compulsory licensing, or a person with the right to prior use of industrial property subject matter in accordance with the Law on Intellectual Property, without permission of the industrial property rights holder (parallel importation) shall not be concluded as the act infringing upon industrial property rights and shall not be administratively sanctioned.”.

10. To amend and supplement Clause 2 Article 19 as follows:

“2. Act of appropriating or using domain names specified at Point a Clause 16 Article 14 of Decree No. 99/2013/ND-CP:

a) A party that may request handling of an act of appropriating or using domain names specified at Point a Clause 16 Article 14 of Decree No. 99/2013/ND-CP is an organization or individual that has suffered damage or is likely to suffer damage caused by such infringing act. In which, the domain names specified at Point a Clause 16 Article 14 of Decree No. 99/2013/ND-CP include domain names under the management of Vietnam (except for those that have been distributed via auction of the use right in accordance with the law on telecommunications);

b) Act of appropriating or using domain names regarded as an act of unfair competition in industrial property, falling in either of the following cases:

- Appropriating or using domain names identical with or confusingly similar to protected marks or trade names of others or geographical indications without having the right to use, for introduction of products, offer for sale of identical, similar or related goods or services on the websites which such domain names direct to; causing a confusion for taking advantage of the reputation of the marks, trade names or geographical indications for illegal profit;

- Appropriating or using domain names identical with or confusingly similar to protected marks or trade names of others or geographical indications without having the right to use, with bad intentions, when satisfying either of the following conditions:

(i) Having grounds to believe that organizations or individuals appropriate or use the domain names only for resale, or transfer of the right to register or use such domain names to the owners of the marks or trade names, or agencies or organizations managing geographical indications to earn profits. At the same time, having grounds to believe that, at the time of domain name registration, these organizations or individuals know or have grounds to know that such marks, trade names or geographical indications have already been protected in Vietnam;

(ii) The websites which such domain names direct to post information causing damage to the reputation of the marks, trade names or geographical indications that have already been protected in Vietnam.

c) Request for handling act of appropriating or using domain names specified at Point a Clause 16 Article 14 of Decree No. 99/2013/ND-CP must be accompanied by the following information and documents:

- For the act of appropriating or using domain names identical with, or confusingly similar to, protected trade names or marks of others, or geographical indications without having the right to use, the purpose of taking advantage of the reputation of the corresponding marks, trade names or geographical indications for illegal profits:

Information and documents proving that the marks, trade names or geographical indications are protected in Vietnam, and the marks, trade names are widely used, or have their reputation known to Vietnamese consumers in relevant sectors, or proving that the marks are regarded as well-known ones in accordance with Article 75 of the Law on Intellectual Property (for example, information on advertising, marketing, display and exhibition; sale turnover; number of products sold; system of distribution agents, joint ventures and associated parties; investment scale; assessment by state agencies, association, socio-professional organizations, the mass media, selection by consumers; charity activities, or other information showing the that the marks, trade names or geographical indications are widely used in Vietnam, or proving that the marks are regarded as well-known ones); and

Information and documents proving that the party requested to be handled has used the domain names on the Internet for introduction of products, offer for sale of identical, similar or related goods or services on websites which such domain names direct to; causing a confusion about and taking advantage or causing confusion in order to take advantage of the reputation of the marks, trade names or geographical indications protected in Vietnam to gain illegal profits (for example, introductory information, indications or other information that makes Vietnamese consumers understand that it is an agent, branch, partner, or representative office in Vietnam);

- For the act of appropriating or using domain names identical with, or confusingly similar to, protected trade names or marks of others, or geographical indications without having the right to use, with bad intentions:

Information and documents proving that organizations or individuals appropriate or use the domain names for resale, or transfer of the right to register or use such domain names to the owners of the marks or trade names, or agencies or organizations managing geographical indications to earn profits, and information showing that at the time of domain name registration, these organizations or individuals know or have grounds to know that such marks, trade names or geographical indications have already been protected in Vietnam; or information showing that the websites which such domain names direct to, post information causing damage to the reputation of the marks, trade names or geographical indications that have already been protected in Vietnam;

- Information and documents proving that the party requested to be handled has no lawful rights to and interests from marks, geographical indications and trade names protected in Vietnam; information proving that the party requested to be handled is a member, partner or agent of the rights holder (if any).”.

11. To amend and supplement title of Chapter III as follows:

“Chapter III. PROCEDURES FOR HANDLING ACTS INFRINGING UPON INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY RIGHTS”.

12. To amend and supplement Article 22 as follows:

“Article 22. Authorization to request for handling acts of infringing upon industrial property rights

When being attached to a written request for infringement handling, a power of attorney must fully satisfy the conditions prescribed in Article 23 of Decree No. 99/2013/ND-CP, and the following instructions:

1. In case the original power of attorney containing the authorization for carrying out procedures to protect industrial property rights has been submitted to the same agency competent to handle infringement, the rights holder shall submit a copy of the power of attorney directing to the previously-submitted original.

2. In case the original power of attorney containing the authorization for carrying out procedures to protect industrial property rights has been filed with the competent state agency in charge of industrial property or another competent agency, the rights holder shall submit a copy of the power of attorney certified by the agency keeping the original.”.

13. To amend and supplement the title of Article 23 and a number of clauses of Article 23 as follows:

a) To amend and supplement the title as follows:

“Article 23. Requests for infringement handling in sanctioning of administrative violations”.

b) To amend and supplement Clauses 2 and 3 as follows:

“2. Documents proving the right to request infringement handling:

a) Copies of written certifications, protection titles, certificates and other documents shall be considered valid if the rights holder produces the originals for comparison or copies authenticated by a competent agency or copies certified by agencies granting the originals. For protection titles granted in electronic form, the rights holders shall submit the true copies, certified true copies, or excerpts as prescribed by law;

b) Documents proving the owner of a trade name include documents and material evidence proving the prior and lawful use of the trade name in the business line and sector satisfying the protection conditions prescribed in Articles 76, 77 and 78 of the Law on Intellectual Property;

c) Documents proving the owner of a business secret include documents proving that the organization or individual has lawfully held and taken measures to keep confidential information classified as business secret under Articles 84 and 85 of the Law on Intellectual Property;

d) In case the contract on use of an industrial property subject matter, regulation on use of a collective mark, or license to use a geographical indication contains no agreement or provision restricting the right to request infringement handling of the licensee, such licensee may carry out procedures to request infringement handling under Decree No. 99/2013/ND-CP, provided that the rights holder make no written opposition.

3. Documents and evidence attached to a request:

An explanatory report of the rights holder (on turnover, reputation, advertising, widely used evidence, copies of certificates and protection titles in other countries) provided to the agency competent to handle infringement shall be considered valid if there is a commitment to bear the legal responsibility for contents and information of the report and certification signature and seal (if any) of the rights holder or its lawful representative. If the report has multiple pages, the rights holder shall sign on each page and append a seal (if any) on every two adjoining pages.

This provision also similarly applies to documents provided by the party requested to be handled.”.

14. To amend and supplement Article 24 as follows:

“Article 24. Consideration and settlement of requests for infringement handling in sanctioning of administrative violations

In case where the requester provides insufficient documents and evidence, the agency processing the request may request the parties to provide information, evidence and make explanation report in accordance with Points b and c Clause 3 Article 25 of Decree No. 99/2013/ND-CP.

1. The agency competent to settle the case shall request the requester to provide information, evidence, explanations or clarify circumstances of the case within the defined time limit; request the industrial property rights holder to provide information, documents and samples to identify signs of infringement, determine genuine or counterfeit goods, or goods infringing industrial property rights, sources of supply or places of legal consumption of goods, and bases for determining goods manufactured outside the scope licensed to use industrial property matters or imported goods other than those specified in Clause 2 Article 18 of this Circular.

2. The parties may provide to the agency competent to settle the case written expertise opinions of the sate management agency in charge of industrial property, written conclusions of industrial property examination, dispute settlement decisions and decisions on handling of related or similar infringements of competent agencies and other documents and evidence to prove their requests, arguments and statements and clarify facts of the case.

In case written statements of the parties cannot clarify facts of the case and when requested by one or all of the parties, the agency competent to settle the case shall work directly with the parties. The written record of opinions of the parties made during working with the competent agency shall be used as a proof for settlement of the case.

3. The agency competent to settle the case may itself inspect, verify and collect evidence, determine the scope of protection of industrial property rights and determine the infringement in accordance with the law on intellectual property. In case of necessity, it may request the functional agency to verify and collect evidence of infringement, and request the state management agency in charge of industrial property to provide professional opinions or request the industrial property examination to determine the scope of protection and infringement factor.

4. A person competent to handle infringement may base on the commitment certifying that the goods bearing counterfeit marks or geographical indications of the industrial property rights holder, written professional opinions of the state agency in charge of industrial property rights, written examination conclusions to determine the infringing acts, but must take legal responsibility for its infringement conclusions, and decisions on sanctioning administrative violations.”.

15. To amend and supplement Article 28 as follows:

“Article 28. Refusal or stoppage of settlement of requests for infringement handling in sanctioning of administrative violations

1. Refusal to accept the request shall be applied to requests for infringement handling submitted at competent agencies, which fail to satisfy conditions for acceptance specified in Clause 1 Article 28 of Decree No. 99/2013/ND-CP.

Notices for refusal to handle infringement shall comply with regulations on receipt and review of requests for infringement handling specified in Article 25 of Decree No. 99/2013/ND-CP.

2. In case where a request for handling infringement for a same case is filed with different competent agencies, the agency that first accepts the request is competent to settle it. The rights holder shall notify other competent agencies of that acceptance.

a) Before accepting the case, if the agency receiving the request knows that another competent agency or a court has accepted the case, it shall issue a notice of refusal to accept the request.

b) After accepting the case and before inspecting, examining and handling the administrative violation, if the request-receiving agency knows that another competent agency has inspected, examined and handled the administrative violation or a court is dealing with the case, it shall issue a notice of refusal to carry out procedures for violation handling.

c) After conducting inspection and examination, if the handling agency knows that another agency has conducted inspection and examination, it shall request the latter’s coordination in the handling and agree to let either of them carry out procedures for handling administrative violation. In case another agency has administratively sanctioned the infringement but at the time of inspection and examination, another organization or individual is detected to have committed such infringement, the handling agency shall administratively handle the infringement with the aggravating circumstance of recidivism.

3. Stoppage of settlement of requests shall be applied to requests for infringement handling specified in Clause 2 Article 28 of Decree No. 99/2013/ND-CP.

a) The competent agency shall consider stopping the handling of the infringement when there are any complaints or disputes specified at Point a Clause 2 Article 28 of Decree No. 99/2013/ND-CP, falling in either of the following cases:

- When there are documents of the state management agency in charge of industrial property on acceptance or consideration of processing the request for revocation or invalidation of protection titles, or complaint about the scope of protection of industrial property rights related to the subject matter in the request;

- When there is a court's written acceptance of the infringement case, or a complaint about or a dispute on industrial property rights related to the subject matter in the request;

- When there are grounds to determine that the case involves contents related to the rights holder status or a contractual dispute between the parties on the right to use the industrial property subject matter.

b) The competent agency or person shall consider stopping the settlement of the request for infringement handling if the requester file a request for withdrawing its/his/her request for infringement handling or request for stopping the settlement of the case under Point c Clause 2 Article 28 of Decree No. 99/2013/ND-CP.

3. The notice on stopping the settlement of the case must clearly state the grounds, reasons for stoppage, and shall be sent to concerned parties and agency with dispute or complaint settlement competence.”.

Article 2. Replacing and repealing a number of articles of phrase, points, clauses and articles of the Minister of Science and Technology’s Circular No. 11/2015/TT-BKHCN dated June 26, 2015, detailing and guiding a number of articles of the Government’s Decree No. 99/2013/ND-CP of August 29, 2013, on sanctioning of administrative violations in the field of industrial property

1. To replace a number of phrases as follows:

a) To replace the phrase “Act of “concurrently acting as representatives for industrial property rights disputing parties” prescribed at Point a, Clause 2, Article 7 of Decree No. 99/2013/ND-CP shall be understood as either of the following:” with the phrase “Act of concurrently acting as representatives for industrial property rights disputing parties prescribed at Point a, Clause 2, Article 7 of Decree No. 99/2013/ND-CP shall be understood as either of the following:” in the first paragraph of Clause 1 of Article 8;

b) To replace the phrase “examination-soliciting” with the phrase “examination-requesting” at Point a Clause 1 Article 9;

c) To replace the phrase “Articles 5 and 8 of revised Decree No. 105/2006/ND-CP and the following guidance:” with the phrase “Articles 72 and 74 of Decree No. 65/2023/ND-CP and the following guidance:” in the first paragraph of Article 11;

d) To replace the phrase “Articles 5 and 10 of revised Decree No. 105/2006/ND-CP and the following guidance:” with the phrase “Articles 72 and 76 of Decree No. 65/2023/ND-CP and the following guidance:” in the first paragraph of Article 12;

dd) To replace the phrase “a product/product part” with the phrase “a product/part to be assembled into a complex product” in Clauses 1, 2 and 3 of Article 12;

e) To replace the phrase “industrial design patent” with the phrase “industrial design patent, decision on acceptance of protection of the internationally registered industrial design or excerpt from the National Register of Industrial Property” in Clause 4 of Article 12;

g) To replace the phrase “Articles 5 and 11 of revised Decree No. 105/2006/ND-CP and the following guidance:” with the phrase “Articles 72 and 77 of Decree No. 65/2023/ND-CP and the following guidance:” in the first paragraph of Article 13;

h) To replace the phrase “Grounds for assessing confusability of a sign with a protected mark include:” with the phrase “The assessment of confusability of a sign with a protected mark shall be based on the following grounds:” in the first paragraph of Clause 1 of Article 13;

i) To replace the phrase “mark registration certificate or certificate of internationally registered mark protectable in Vietnam or the Official Gazette of international registration of marks of the World Intellectual Property Organization” with the phrase “mark registration certificate or the confirmation of the internationally registered mark protected in Vietnam or excerpt from the National Register of Industrial Property” in Clause 2 of Article 13;

k) To replace the phrase “Articles 5 and 13 of revised Decree No. 105/2006/ND-CP and the following guidance:” with the phrase “Articles 72 and 79 of Decree No. 65/2023/ND-CP and the following guidance:” in the first paragraph of Article 14;

l) To replace the phrase “Articles 5 and 12 of revised Decree No. 105/2006/ND-CP and the following guidance:” with the phrase “Articles 72 and 78 of Decree No. 65/2023/ND-CP and the following guidance:” in the first paragraph of Article 15;

m) To replace the phrase “request handling” with the phrase “propose to handle” at Point a Clause 1 of Article 19;

m) To replace the phrase “enterprise” with the phrase “business subject” at Point b Clause 1 of Article 19;

o) To replace the phrase “of the Law on Intellectual Property” with the phrase “Law on Intellectual Property” at Points a and b Clause 1 of Article 19;

p) To replace the phrase “websites” with the phrase “websites, digital booths on e-commerce platform, social networking sites” in Article 21;

q) To replace the phrase “request for violation handling” with the phrase “request for infringement handling” in Clause 4 of Article 23;

r) To replace the phrase “request for handling” with the phrase “request for infringement handling” in Clause 5 of Article 23;

2. To repeal Article 2; Article5; Clause 2 Article 8; Clauses 3 and 4 Article 14; Point c Clause 2 Article 15; Article 17; Clause 1 Article 23; Article 25; Article 26; Article 27; Article 29 and Article 30.

Article 3. Responsibility for implementation organization

1. Heads of the units of the Ministry of Science and Technology, heads of concerned agencies and organizations, and related individuals shall implement this Circular.

2. Any problems arising in the course of implementation should be promptly reported to the Ministry of Science and Technology for study and settlement.

Article 4. Effect

1. This Circular takes effect from November 15, 2024.

2. In the case any legal document referred to in this Circular is amended, supplemented or replaced, the newest one shall prevail./.