Socialist Republic of Vietnam

Ho Chi Minh City, Oct. 17 (VNA) -- International intellectual property standards and experiences in the protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights in the implementation of the Viet Nam-U.S. Bilateral Trade Agreement were the topic of a seminar held in Ho Chi Minh City this morning.

The seminar on intellectual property law, policy and management was part of a technical assistance programme carried out through the Star-Viet Nam project funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

Over 100 participants heard reports on the role of intellectual property in the knowledge-based economy and in the Viet Nam-U.S. Bilateral Trade Agreement, the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, and other international conventions on intellectual property.

The Vietnamese Industrial Property Department affirmed that the effective enforcement of intellectual property rights needs more efforts exerted by the government, ministries and sectors and other relevant agencies so special attention should be paid to the training of the staff involving in the enforcement of intellectual property rights.

The department proposed the government to issue two important documents relating to the issue this year. They are inter-ministeral circular between the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Ministry of Trade on the settlement of trade disputes in the market, and the supplement of the Enterprise Law on business registration. These documents aim to prevent violations of industrial property possibly caused by coincidence of trade labels.

Earlier, Vietnamese and U.S. intellectual property experts worked with more than 100 judges and representatives of the People's Courts in southern provinces to exchange views on solving urgent problems in the implementation of intellectual property rights in Viet Nam.—