Nghị định 46/2024/NĐ-CP sửa đổi Nghị định 99/2013/NĐ-CP quy định xử phạt vi phạm hành chính trong lĩnh vực sở hữu công nghiệp đã được sửa đổi theo Nghị định 126/2021/NĐ-CP

GOVERNMENT OF VIETNAM -------	SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM Independence – Freedom – Happiness ----------------
No. 46/2024/ND-CP	Hanoi, May 4, 2024

 

DECREE

AMENDMENTS TO DECREE NO. 99/2013/ND-CP DATED AUGUST 29, 2013 OF THE GOVERNMENT OF VIETNAM ON ADMINISTRATIVE SANCTIONS IN INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY, AMENDED BY DECREE NO. 126/2021/ND-CP DATED DECEMBER 30, 2021 OF THE GOVERNMENT OF VIETNAM

Pursuant to the Law on Organization of the Government of Vietnam dated June 19, 2015; the Law on Amendments to the Law on Organization of the Government of Vietnam and the Law on Organization of the Local Government of Vietnam dated November 22, 2019;

Pursuant to the Law on Penalties for Administrative Violations dated June 20, 2012; Law on Amendments to the Law on Penalties for Administrative Violations dated November 13, 2020;

Pursuant to the Law on Intellectual Property dated November 29, 2005; the Law on amendments to the Law on Intellectual Property dated June 19, 2009; the Law on  amendments to the Law on  Insurance Business and the Law on Intellectual Property dated June 14, 2019, and the Law on amendments to the Law on Intellectual Property dated June 16, 2022;

Pursuant to the Law on Information Technology dated June 29, 2006; 

Pursuant to the Competition Law dated June 12, 2018;

Pursuant to the Law on Enterprises dated June 17, 2020;

At the request of the Minister of Science and Technology of Vietnam;

The Government of Vietnam hereby promulgates a Decree on amendments to Decree No. 99/2013/ND-CP dated August 29, 2013 of the Government of Vietnam on administrative sanctions in industrial property, amended by Decree No. 126/2021/ND-CP dated December 30, 2021 of the Government of Vietnam.

Article 1. Amendments to Decree No. 99/2013/ND-CP dated August 29, 2013 of the Government of Vietnam on administrative sanctions in industrial property, amended by Decree No. 126/2021/ND-CP dated December 30, 2021 of the Government of Vietnam

1. Amendments to Clause 1 Article 1:

“1. This Decree provides for acts of administrative violations; sanctioning forms and levels, remedial measures; entities subject to sanctions; competence to formulate administrative violation reports, competence to impose sanctions against administrative violations, competence to apply remedial measures, competence to accept written requests for acts of infringing on industrial property rights, specific fines by each position; procedures for handling acts of infringing on industrial property rights; enforcement of decisions on sanctions for administrative violations and remedial measures in industrial property.”.

2. Amendments to Clause 4 Article 1a:

“4. Entities subject to administrative sanctions being branches, representative offices, business locations of juridical persons and organizations shall comply with the Decree of the Government of Vietnam on elaboration on several articles and implementation measures of the Law on Administrative Violation Handling.”.

3. Amendments to Article 3:

a) Amendments to Point c Clause 2:

“c) Partial or whole suspension of production, trading, or services for 1 to 3 months from the effective date of the sanctioning decision.”.

b) Amendments to Points a, b, and c Clause 3:

“a) Compulsory removal of violating elements on goods or means of trading; compulsory return of domain names; compulsory recovery of domain names; compulsory change of enterprise names and removal of violating elements in enterprise names;

b) Compulsory distribution or use for non-commercial purposes of goods bearing counterfeit marks or geographical indications;

c) Compulsory expulsion from Vietnamese territory or re-export of goods subject to import or transit bearing counterfeit marks or geographical indications; means, materials, and ingredients imported for production and trading of goods bearing counterfeit marks or geographical indications after the removal of violating elements on violating goods;”.

c) Amendments to Point dd Clause 3:

“dd) Compulsory additions of industrial property indications;”.

d) Amendments to Points g and h Clause 3:

“g) Compulsory restoration of the initial state;

h) Compulsory remittance of illegal earnings from administrative violations if such illegal earnings are justifiably determined; compulsory remittance of an amount equal to the value of the exhibit or mean of administrative violation which has been sold, dispersed, or destroyed contrary to the law if such sale, dispersion, or destruction is justifiably determined; compulsory provision of compensations if there are grounds to determine that the prices of the transfer of rights to use inventions, utility solutions, industrial designs, or layout designs are infringed within the respective use scope and duration;”.

dd) Clause 4 is added: 

“4. Compulsory distribution or use for non-commercial purposes of goods bearing counterfeit marks or geographical indications prescribed in Point b Clause 3 of this Article shall meet the conditions prescribed in the Decree on elaboration on several articles and implementation measures of the Law on Intellectual Property regarding industrial property, protection of industrial property rights and rights to plant varieties, and state management of intellectual property.”.

4. Article 3a is added after Article 3:

“Article 3a. Application of measures to prevent and ensure the handling of administrative violations

1. The application of measures to prevent and ensure the handling of administrative violations shall comply with the Fourth Part of the Law on Administrative Violation Handling and this Decree.

2. The confiscation of domain names shall comply with Clause 1 Article 125 of the Law on Administrative Violation Handling to handle administrative violations prescribed in Point a Clause 16 Article 14 of this Decree.

3. Competent authorities and persons may request the Ministry of Information and Communications of Vietnam (Vietnam Internet Network Information Center) and the Domain Name Registrars to cooperate, provide specialized feedback, and maintain the states of concerned domain names before implementing measures to confiscate exhibits and means used for administrative violations.

4. The Ministry of Information and Communications of Vietnam (Vietnam Internet Network Information Center) and Domain Name Registrars shall cooperate with competent authorities and persons in confiscating domain names, providing specialized feedback, and maintaining the states of domain names.”.

5. Amendments to Article 4: 

“Article 4. Valuation of exhibits and means used for violations used for determination of fines and competence to impose sanctions

1. Grounds to evaluate exhibits and means of administrative violations prescribed in this Decree shall be applied based on one of the grounds prescribed in Points a, b, and c Clause 2 Article 60 of the Law on Administrative Violation Handling by order of priority.

2. If it is impossible to apply the grounds prescribed in Clause 1 of this Article to evaluate exhibits and means used for violations to use as grounds to determine mines and competence to impose sanctions, competent persons in charge of the case shall decide to confiscate the exhibits and means used for violations and establish a Valuation Council according to Clause 3 Article 60 of the Law on Administrative Violation Handling. 

3. The principle of the valuation of infringing goods shall comply with the principle prescribed in the Decree on elaboration on several articles and implementation measures of the Law on Intellectual Property regarding industrial property, protection of industrial property rights and rights to plant varieties, and state management of intellectual property.”.

6. Amendments to the title and several Points of Article 6:

a) Amendments to the title of the Article: 

“Article 6. Violations against regulations on indications on protection of industrial property rights and transfer of rights to use industrial property subject matters”.

b) Amendments to Point c Clause 1:

“c) Failing to formulate a written contract after receiving transferred rights to use marks in case of using transferred marks on goods or packaging of goods; providing wrongful indications or no indication on goods produced under contracts to use industrial property subject matters.”.

c) Amendments to Point a Clause 2:

“a) Compulsory removal of violating elements on goods and means of trading regarding acts of violations prescribed in Points a and b Clause 1 of this Article and acts of providing wrongful indications on goods produced under contracts to use industrial property subject matters prescribed in Point c Clause 1 of this Article;”.

d) Amendments to Point c Clause 2:

“c) Compulsory addition of indications on goods produced under contracts to use industrial property subject matters regarding acts of failing to provide indications prescribed in Point c Clause 1 of this Article.”.

7. Amendments to a number of Points and Clauses of Article 7 are as follows:

c) Points dd and e are added after Point d Clause 1:

“dd) Failing to notify amounts and fees relevant to procedures for establishing and protecting industrial property rights for clients;

e) Deceiving clients in the conclusion and implementation of contracts of services of industrial property representatives but not liable to criminal prosecutions or forcing clients in the conclusion and implementation of contracts of industrial property representation services.”.

b) Amendments to Point c Clause 2:

“c) Failing to provide or inaccurately and insufficiently providing notifications and requests of state competent authorities of the establishment, dispute settlement, and handling of violations concerning industrial property within the requested time limit for the represented party, excluding cases of objective obstacles and force majeure;”.

c) Amendments to Point a Clause 3:

“a) Trading or practicing industrial property representation services without meeting the conditions for trading and practice prescribed in Article 154 and Article 155 of the Law on Intellectual Property;”.

d) Amendments to Clause 5:

“5. Additional sanctions:

a) Stripping off rights to use industrial property representation service practicing certificates for 1 to 2 months regarding violating individuals or partially suspending the trading of industrial property representation services for 1 to 2 months regarding violating organizations for violations prescribed in Points a, b, c, d, dd, g, and i Clause 2 of this Article from the effective date of the sanctioning decisions;

b) Confiscating rights to use industrial property representation service practicing certificates for 2 to 3 months regarding violating individuals or wholly suspending the trading of industrial property representation services for 2 to 3 months regarding violating organizations for violations prescribed in Clause 4 of this Article from the effective date of the sanctioning decisions;

8. Amendments to Article 9: 

“Article 9. Violations against regulations on sealing and confiscation of exhibits and means used for violations during investigation and inspection

1. A fine ranging from 2.000.000 VND to 5.000.000 VND for acts of failing to ensure the initial state or unsealing exhibits or means used for violations subject to sealing or confiscation.

2. A fine ranging from 5.000.000 VND to 10.000.000 VND for acts of altering exhibits or means subject to investigation, inspection, confiscation, or sealing but have yet to sell, disperse, or destroy them.

3. A fine ranging from 15.000.000 VND to 30.000.000 VND for acts of selling, dispersing, or destroying exhibits or means subject to investigation, inspection, sealing, or confiscation.

4. Remedial measures:

a) Compulsory restoration of the initial state of exhibits or means used for violations that have been altered regarding violations prescribed in Clause 2 of this Article;

b) Compulsory remittance of an amount equal to the value of exhibits or means used for violations that have been sold, dispersed, or destroyed regarding violations prescribed in Clause 3 of this Article.”.

9. Amendments to Article 10:

a) Amendments to Point a Clause 1:

“a) Selling; providing quotations; storing for sale; transporting (excluding transit) goods infringing on rights to inventions, utility solutions, and layout designs or products produced from infringement on rights to inventions and utility solutions;”.

b) Clause 13a is added after Clause 13:

“13a. A fine ranging from 20.000.000 VND to 30.000.000 VND for acts of using inventions, utility solutions, or layout designs without paying compensations according to regulations on provisional rights prescribed in Article 131 of the Law on Intellectual Property.”.

c) Amendments to Points a and b Clause 15:

“a) Compulsory removal of violating elements and destruction of violating elements regarding violations prescribed in this Article;

b) Compulsory destruction of exhibits and means used for violations in case of failure to remove violating elements regarding violations prescribed in this Article;”.

d) Point dd is added to Clause 15:

“dd) Compulsory compensations equivalent to the price of the transfer of rights to infringed inventions, utility solutions, or layout designs within the respective use scope and duration for violations prescribed in Clause 13a of this Article.”.

10. Amendments to Clause 11:

a) Amendments to Point a Clause 1:

“a) Selling; providing quotations; storing for sale; transporting (excluding transit) goods and services infringing on rights to marks, trade names, geographical indications, or industrial designs;”.

b) Clause 14a is added after Clause 14:

“14a. A fine ranging from 20.000.000 VND to 30.000.000 VND for acts of using industrial designs without paying compensations according to regulations on provisional rights prescribed in Article 131 of the Law on Industrial Property.”.

c) Amendments to Point d Clause 17:

“d) Compulsory change of enterprise names and removal of violating elements in enterprise names regarding violations prescribed in Clauses 1 through Clause 15 of this Article;”.

d) Point e is added to Clause 17:

“e) Compulsory compensations equivalent to the price of the transfer of rights to infringed industrial designs within the respective use scope and duration for violations prescribed in Clause 14a of this Article.”.

11. Amendments to the title and Points and Clauses of Article 12:

a) Amendments to the title of the Article: 

“Article 12. Production, import, trading, quotation provision, storage for sale, display for sale, and transportation of goods bearing counterfeit marks or geographical indications not liable for criminal prosecutions”.

b) Amendments to Point a Clause 1:

“a) Selling; providing quotations; storing for sale; transporting (including transit) goods bearing counterfeit marks or geographical indications;”.

c) Amendments to Clause 12:

“a) Confiscation of exhibits and means used for violations prescribed in this Article, excluding cases of applying remedial measures prescribed in Points a, b, or c Clause 13 of this Article;

b) Partial or whole suspension of production, trading, or services from 1 to 3 months for acts of producing, importing, or ordering, assigning, or hiring others to conduct the production or import prescribed in this Article.”. 

d) Amendments to Clause 13:

“a) Compulsory destruction of goods bearing counterfeit marks or geographical indications; materials, ingredients, and means used mainly for producing and trading goods bearing counterfeit marks or geographical indications regarding violations prescribed in this Article, excluding cases of applying remedial measures prescribed in Point b or Point c of this Clause;

b) Compulsory distribution or use for non-commercial purposes of goods bearing counterfeit marks or geographical indications regarding violations prescribed in this Article, excluding cases of applying remedial measures prescribed in Point c of this Clause;

c) Compulsory expulsion from Vietnamese territory or re-export of goods subject to import or transit bearing counterfeit marks or geographical indications; imported means, materials, and ingredients used mainly for producing and trading goods bearing counterfeit marks or geographical indications after the removal of violating elements regarding acts of importing, transiting, or ordering, assigning, or hiring others to conduct the import and transit prescribed in this Article;

d) Compulsory remittance of illegal earnings from violations prescribed in Clauses 1 through 10 of this Article.”.

12. Amendments to the title and Points of Article 13:

a) Amendments to the title of the Article: 

“Article 13. Production, import, trading, provision, storage for sale, display for sale, and transportation of stamps, labels, and goods bearing counterfeit marks or geographical indications”.

b) Amendments to Point a Clause 1:

“a) Selling; providing; storing for sale; displaying for sale; transporting (including transit) stamps, labels, packaging, and goods bearing counterfeit marks or geographical indications;”.

13. Amendments to Clause 14:

a) Amendments to Point a Clause 1:

“a) Selling; storing for sale of goods or services with commercial indications on goods, packaging of goods, or services, thereby misleading business entities, trading activities, or commercial origin of goods and services or origin, production methods, functions, quality, quantity, or other characteristics of goods and services, or conditions for providing goods and services;”.

b) Clause 15a is added after Clause 15:

“15a. A fine ranging from 50.000.000 VND to 100.000.000 VND for acts of infringing on rights to business secrets according to Article 127 of the Law on Intellectual Property.”.

c) Amendments to Point a Clause 16:

“a) Appropriating or using identical or similar domain names causing confusion over the protected marks or trade names of others or geographical indications not entitled to use for malicious purposes or taking advantage of the reputation and prestige of the mentioned marks, trade names, or geographical indications for illegal earnings;”.

14. Amendments to the title and Clauses of Article 15:

a) Amendments to the title of the Article: 

“Article 15. Determination of sanctioning competence”.

b) Amendments to Clauses 3, 4, and 5:

“3. Market Surveillance Authorities are competent to impose sanctions on the following violations:

a) Violations prescribed in Article 12 and Article 13 of this Decree in production, trading, quotation provision, transportation, storage, and display of goods in domestic markets;

b) Violations prescribed in Articles 6, 9, 11, and 14 of this Decree in trading, quotation provision, transportation, storage, and display of goods in domestic markets.  During the handling of violations prescribed in Point b Clause 3 of this Article, if the facilities producing those goods are identified, Market Surveillance Authorities may continue to handle such violations at the production facilities.

4. Customs Authorities are competent to impose sanctions on violations prescribed in Articles 6, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, and 14 of this Decree in goods import, transit, and transportation in areas of customs operations.

5. Public Security Authorities are competent to impose sanctions on violations prescribed in Clause 4 Article 8 and Articles 9, 12, and 13 of this Decree.”.

15. Amendments to Clause 2 Article 21a:

“2. Persons in People’s Public Security Forces performing official work and tasks; officials and public employees in authorities prescribed in Articles 16 through 21 of this Decree performing official work and tasks.”.

16. Amendments to the title of Chapter IV:

“Chapter IV. PROCEDURES FOR HANDLING OF INFRINGEMENT ON INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY RIGHTS”

17. Amendments to Article 22:

“Article 22. Grounds to verify administrative violations of infringement on industrial property rights

1. The verification of administrative violations of infringement on industrial property rights shall be carried out when there is one of the following grounds:

a) Requests for handling of infringement on rights of holders of industrial property rights;

b) Results of the inspection or examination of authorities competent to impose administrative sanctions;

c) Requests from organizations and individuals that suffer damage or are likely to be damaged due to unfair competition activities in industrial property

d) Information provided by organizations and individuals detecting infringement on industrial property rights that causes damage to consumers or society or violations concerning goods, stamps, labels, and items bearing counterfeit marks or geographical indications.

2. Holders of industrial property rights prescribed in Point a Clause 1 of this Article include:

a) Holders of industrial property rights that suffer damage caused by infringement, including organizations authorized to manage protected geographical indications in Vietnam;

b) Persons entitled to use industrial property subject matters that suffer damage caused by infringement if holders of industrial property rights do not restrict their rights to request handling of violations.

3. Authorities competent to impose sanctions prescribed in Point b Clause 1 of this Article shall proactively inspect, examine, detect, and cooperate with holders of industrial property rights in verifying administrative violations concerning:

a) Goods, stamps, labels, packaging, and other items bearing counterfeit marks or geographical indications;

b) Violating goods and services concerning food, food products, pharmaceutical products, cosmetics, livestock feed, fertilizers, veterinary drugs, plant protection drugs, building materials, means of transport, substances used in health care, agriculture, and environment, and other products determined by competent persons while conducting periodic or irregular inspection and examination tasks.”.

18. Amendments to Article 23:

“Article 23. Authorization of requests for handling of infringement on industrial property rights

1. Holders of industrial property rights prescribed in Clause 2 Article 22 of this Decree shall submit applications for handling of infringement on industrial property rights in person or authorize heads of their representative offices, branches, or agents or their industrial property representatives in Vietnam to carry out the submission.

2. The authorization shall be made into letters of attorney or authorization contracts.

A letter of attorney shall contain the full names and addresses of the authorizing party and the authorized party; authorization scope; authorization time limit; formulation date of the letter; signatures and seals (if any) of the authorizing party; signatures and seals (if any) of the authorized party in case of an authorization contract. 

A letter of attorney of a Vietnamese organization or individual shall bear the signature of the legal representative of the authorizing party and the seal of confirmation of the authorizing party (if the seal is legally registered). 

A letter or attorney of a foreign organization or individual shall be certified by a notary, local authority, or consular office or certified by other legal forms according to the law of where it is formulated. 

3. A letter of attorney enclosed with the application for handling of infringement shall be an original copy. A letter of attorney in a foreign language shall be enclosed with a Vietnamese translation certified by the local authority or with a specific declaration and confirmation of the industrial property representative, which is the authorized party.

If a copy of a letter of attorney refers to the original copy of such a letter is included in a previous application submitted to the same infringement handling authority, it shall be considered valid, provided that the applicant specifies the specific number of the submitted application and the original copy of the letter of attorney is valid and consistent with the contents of the authorization.

4. A letter of attorney that is valid in procedures for establishing rights according to Article 107 of the Law on Intellectual Property with specified authorization contents, including procedures for enforcing and protecting industrial property rights in Vietnam, shall also be legally valid in procedures for requesting handling of infringement according to this Decree. 

5. The authorization time limit shall be determined according to the time limit prescribed in the letter of attorney.   If a letter of attorney does not specify the time limit, the authorization time limit shall be determined according to Clause 3 Article 107 of the Law on Intellectual Property.”.

19. Amendments to Article 25:

“Article 25. Receipt and assessment of applications for infringement handling in administrative violation handling

1. Applications for infringement handling and documents and proof enclosed with such applications shall comply with Articles 89, 90, 91, and 92 of the Decree on elaboration on several articles and implementation measures of the Law on Intellectual Property regarding industrial property, protection of industrial property rights and rights to plant varieties, and state management of intellectual property.  Regarding cases of submitting applications to many same-level authorities, such applications shall specify the receiving authorities.

When applying for the handling of infringement on industrial property rights according to Point a Clause 1 Article 211 of the Law on Intellectual Property, the applicant shall specify the nature and severity of the violation in the application for infringement handling and provide relevant documents and proof. 

2. An application for the handling of infringement on industrial property rights shall be submitted to infringement handling authorities prescribed in Clause 3 Article 200 of the Law on Intellectual Property. After receiving the application for infringement handling, the receiving authority shall determine the competence to handle infringement on rights, if the request is within the jurisdiction of another authority, the receiving authority shall instruct the applicant to submit the application to a competent authority or transfer it to such competent authority for settlement within 10 days from the date of receipt of the application.

3. A competent authority shall assess the application for infringement handling in compliance with the following regulations:

a) Within 10 working days from the date of receipt of the application for infringement handling, the processing authority shall assess the validity of the application and its enclosed documents and proof; 

b) If the documents and proof provided by the applicant are inadequate, the processing authority shall request the applicant to provide additional documents and/or proof or explanations within 30 days from the date of the request;

c) The processing authority may request the party requested for infringement handling to provide information, proof, and presentations within 30 days from the date of the request according to the regulations on the rights to provide explanations prescribed in the Law on Administrative Violation Handling; request for specialized feedback from industrial property authorities or request for industrial property appraisal to clarify circumstances of the case;

d) Within 30 days from the date of receipt of the adequate and qualified application, the processing authority shall issue a document on the acceptance of the case and notify the applicant of the intended handling time, procedures, and measures and request the cooperation and support from the holder of the industrial property rights in the inspection, examination, verification, and handling of infringement on rights.

4. In case of any complaint or dispute over registration rights, ownership, rights to request infringement handling, protection conditions, or protection scope of relevant industrial property rights after the application for infringement handling is accepted, the accepting authority shall: 

a) Request concerned parties to carry out the procedure for requesting for the settlement of complaints, denunciations, and disputes at competent authorities within 10 days from the arising date of the dispute;

b) Request industrial property authorities to clarify the legal states of industrial property rights subject to complaints, denunciations, or disputes.  Industrial property authorities shall provide documents on the clarification of the legal states of industrial property rights subject to complaints, denunciations, or disputes within 10 days after being requested.

Within 30 days after the receipt of the written responses from industrial property authorities, the accepting authority shall notify the applicant of the conduct of infringement handling procedures or refusal of the request for the handling of infringement on industrial property rights.

5. Rights and responsibilities of the party requested for infringement handling:

a) During the settlement of a case, the party requested for handling may, proactively or at the request of a competent person, provide information, documents, proof, or presentations and work with the competent authority to settle the case in case of disagreement with the requesting party; 

b) The party requested for handling may authorize another organization or individual meeting the conditions prescribed in Article 23 of this Decree to be its representative for the performance of work prescribed in Point a of this Clause;

c) The party requested for handling may, to prove that its acts - being processes do not infringe on rights to inventions or utility solutions, prove that the products assumed to be produced from the processes infringing on inventions or utility solutions are, in fact, not produced from processes of protected inventions or utility solutions and meet the respective conditions prescribed in Clause 4 Article 203 of the Law on Intellectual Property;

6. Responsibilities of the party requested for infringement handling shall comply with the Decree on elaboration on several articles and implementation measures of the Law on Intellectual Property regarding industrial property, protection of industrial property rights and rights to plant varieties, and state management of intellectual property.”.

20. Amendments to Article 28: 

“Article 28. Refusal and suspension of processing of applications for infringement handling in administrative violation handling

1. A processing authority shall refuse to accept an application in the following cases:

a) The application for infringement handling is submitted during complaints or disputes over registration rights, ownership, rights to request infringement handling, protection conditions, or protection scope of industrial property rights;

b) The applicant fails to meet the requirements of the processing authority regarding presentations and additions of proof to prove the status of the holder of industrial property rights and infringement during the time limit prescribed in Point b Clause 3 Article 25 of this Decree;

c) The prescriptive period for administrative sanctions expires. In case of eligibility for applying remedial measures, comply with the law on administrative violation handling;

d) Verification results of the processing authority deny the infringement described in the application for infringement handling;

dd) There are conclusions, decisions, or notifications of competent authorities of inadequate grounds to conduct infringement handling procedures;

e) Acts requested for handling in the application are not administrative violations according to this Decree;

g) The application has been accepted by another authority for processing in case the application is submitted to many same-level authorities for processing.

2. A person accepting an application for infringement handling shall suspend the processing of such an application in the following cases:

a) There are complaints or disputes after the acceptance of the application and settlement results of competent authorities are required according to Clause 4 Article 25 of this Decree;

b) Grounds to identify infringement acts after the acceptance of the application are inadequate;

c) The applicant withdraws the application in writing or requests to stop the case handling in writing, excluding the case prescribed in Clause 3 of this Article. 

3. If there are grounds to identify that infringement acts are administrative violations, the competent person shall continue to conduct the procedure for imposing administrative sanctions on such violations even if he/she receives written requests for application withdrawal or termination of the case handling prescribed in Point c Clause 2 of this Article.”.

21. Amendments to Article 31:

a) Amendments to Clause 2:

“2. Regarding remedial measures of compulsory change of enterprise names or removal of violating elements in enterprise names

a) In case competent persons issue decisions on administrative sanctions or application of remedial measures with the compulsory change of enterprise names or removal of violating elements in enterprise names as remedial measures, the sanctioning authorities shall send such decisions to concerned parties and Business Registration Authorities for acknowledgment.  Within 60 days from the effective date of decisions on administrative sanctions or application of remedial measures, violating enterprises shall change their names or remove violating elements in such names;

b) In case violating enterprises fail to carry out the procedure for changing enterprise names or removing violating elements in enterprise names, the implementation shall be coerced.  Within 10 working days from the expiry date of the decisions prescribed in Point a of this Clause, sanctioning authorities shall send written notifications to Business Registration Authorities for cooperation in handling.

Within 5 working days from the date of receipt of the notifications of sanctioning authorities, Business Registration Authorities shall issue notifications requesting enterprises to provide explanation reports and handle them according to Point c Clause 1 Article 216 of the Law on Enterprises;

c) Responsibilities and cooperation in handling enterprise names infringing on industrial property rights:

Holders of industrial property rights shall adequately provide documents as per regulation and cooperate with competent authorities in handling enterprise names infringing on industrial property rights.

Business Registration Authorities where enterprises are headquartered shall receive and process requests for enterprise name changes according to requests from sanctioning authorities or holders of industrial property rights; request enterprises to provide explanation reports according to the Law on Enterprises when receiving notifications from sanctioning authorities.”.

b) Amendments to Clause 3:

“3. Compulsory return of domain names as remedial measures

a) In case of applying compulsory return of domain names as remedial measures, organizations and individuals shall carry out the procedure for returning domain names at domain name management authorities within 30 days from the effective date of decisions on administrative sanctions or application of remedial measures;

b) After the above time limit, violating organizations and individuals that fail to comply shall be subject to coerced recovery of domain names;

c) Domain name management authorities and Domain Name Registrars shall recover domain names to implement coercive decisions prescribed in Point b of this Clause. 

Domain Name Registrars shall notify domain name users of the recovery, recover domain names, and send written reports to domain name management authorities after completing the recovery.”.

c) Clauses 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 are added:

“5. Regarding decisions on administrative sanctions requiring the application of compulsory expulsion from Vietnamese territory or re-export of exhibits and means used for administrative violations as remedial measures, violating organizations or individuals that fail to comply with such decisions shall be coerced into destroying exhibits and means used for administrative violations. 

6. Compulsory distribution or use for non-commercial purposes of goods bearing counterfeit marks or geographical indications as remedial measures shall be implemented as follows:

Violating organizations and individuals shall distribute or use goods bearing counterfeit marks or geographical indications for non-commercial purposes as prescribed by the law; if such organizations and individuals fail to comply, the implementation shall be coerced. 

7. Compulsory additions of industrial property indications as remedial measures shall be implemented as follows:

Violating organizations and individuals shall add industrial property indications to goods, packaging, and labels of goods according to the law; if they fail to comply, the implementation shall be coerced.

8. Compulsory return of altered or falsified documents and papers to competent authorities and persons issuing such documents as remedial measures shall be implemented as follows:

Violating organizations and individuals shall return altered or falsified documents to competent authorities or persons issuing such documents as prescribed by the law; if they fail to comply, the implementation shall be coerced.

9. Compulsory compensations equivalent to the price of the transfer of rights to infringed inventions, utility solutions, industrial designs, or layout designs within the respective use scope and duration as remedial measures shall be implemented as follows:

Violating organizations and individuals shall pay compensations equivalent to the price of the transfer of rights to infringed inventions, utility solutions, industrial designs, or layout designs to owners of such inventions, utility solutions, industrial designs, or layout designs; if they fail to comply, the implementation shall be coerced.”.

Article 2. Addition, replacement, and annulment of phrases, points, clauses, and articles of Decree No. 99/2013/ND-CP dated August 29, 2013 of the Government of Vietnam on administrative sanctions in industrial property, amended by Decree No. 126/2021/ND-CP dated December 30, 2021 of the Government of Vietnam

1. The “và các hoạt động khác làm ra” phrase is added after the “đóng gói” phrase in Point a Clause 13 Article 10, Point a Clause 13 Article 11, and Point a Clause 10 Article 12.

2. The “buộc thay đổi thông tin tên miền hoặc trả lại tên miền” phrase is replaced with “buộc trả lại tên miền” phrase in Point c Clause 18 Article 14; the “Trưởng phòng Cảnh sát điều tra tội phạm về tham nhũng, kinh tế, buôn lậu thuộc Công an cấp tỉnh” is replaced with the “Trưởng phòng Cảnh sát điều tra tội phạm về tham nhũng, kinh tế, buôn lậu, môi trường thuộc Công an cấp tỉnh” phrase in Clause 2 Article 20. 

3. The following shall be annulled: Point e Clause 3 Article 3, Point b Clause 2 Article 6; Point h Clause 2 Article 7; Point C Clause 15 Article 10; Clause 16, Point c Clause 17 Article 11; Point a Clause 15, Clause 17 Article 14; Clause 4 Article 20; Article 24; Article 26; Article 27; Point d Clause 2 Article 28.

Article 3. Implementation responsibilities

1. The Ministry of Science and Technology of Vietnam shall provide guidelines on the implementation of this Decree.

2. Ministers, Directors of ministerial agencies, Directors of governmental agencies, and Presidents of People’s Committees of provinces and centrally affiliated cities shall implement this Decree.

Article 4. Implementation provision

1. This Decree comes into force as of July 1, 2024.

2. Transitional provision:

Regarding administrative violations in industrial property that are committed before and detected after the effective date of this Decree or are subject to assessment or settlement, Decrees of the Government of Vietnam on administrative sanctions effective at the time of commission of such violations shall prevail, excluding cases where this Decree does not stipulate liability or provide lighter liability for committed violations, for which this Decree shall prevail for handling.

Regarding sanctioning decisions issued or completed before the effective date of this Decree, if sanctioned organizations and individuals still have complaints, apply Decree No. 99/2013/ND-CP dated August 29, 2013 of the Government of Vietnam, amended by Decree No. 126/2021/ND-CP dated December 30, 2021 of the Government of Vietnam for assessment and settlement.

 

ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT PP. PRIME MINISTER DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER Tran Luu Quang