In early May, the Vietnamese government stepped up its explanation and implementation messaging around Decree No. 134/2026/ND-CP, which took effect on 9 April 2026. The decree amends Decree No. 17/2023/ND-CP and gives more detailed treatment to AI-assisted creation, the use of protected text and data for AI training, rights-reservation mechanisms, and the responsibilities of intermediary services and digital content platforms. For generative AI providers, content platforms and businesses using AI-generated material, the compliance question is moving beyond a simple AI label.The practical...
Vietnam’s response to the U.S. Section 301 intellectual-property investigation is now moving on a compressed clock. On April 30, 2026, USTR identified Vietnam as the only Priority Foreign Country in its Special 301 Report. On May 29, it formally opened a Section 301 investigation, and written comments are due by July 2 at 11:59 p.m. EDT. By mid-June, IP Vietnam had publicly pushed forward the legal-service-provider selection and follow-up guidance for the government’s defense work, a sign that the matter has moved beyond general positioning and into a final evidence-and-arguments sprint.The...
July 2 marks the deadline for public comments in the USTR’s Section 301 investigation into Vietnam’s protection and enforcement of intellectual property. The investigation is aimed at familiar pain points: online piracy, counterfeit goods, and unauthorised software use. What matters for businesses, however, is not only the U.S. filing deadline. It is that Vietnam is trying to show, in the same window, that enforcement is becoming more forceful on the ground.At the same time, a second track is moving faster. As the amended IP law and its implementing rules begin to operate, examination...
On 6 July 2026, the Intellectual Property Office of Vietnam issued updated implementation guidance for trademark cancellation actions based on three consecutive years of non-use. The revised approach lowers the applicant’s initial evidentiary burden: once a basic market investigation shows no trace of genuine commercial use across relevant goods, services and sales channels, the proceeding is expected to move more quickly toward requiring the proprietor to explain and prove use. Rather than a complete reversal of the burden of proof, the change is better understood as a stronger evidentiary...
At its 3 July mid-year review meeting, the Vietnam IP Office reported 89,816 industrial property applications received in the first half of 2026, up 20.7% year on year. It processed 115,819 matters, an increase of 15%, and issued 39,981 protection certificates, while the online filing rate remained close to 80%. Processing growth despite the sharp rise in incoming work suggests that recent operational changes are beginning to improve output rather than merely shift work between stages.The more consequential reform may be administrative: the number of approval procedures was cut from 57 to...
