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Agency calls for development of ‘collective trademarks’
Vietnam will assist business groups and associations develop trademarks to increase the value of their products, National Office of Intellectual Properties of Vietnam Deputy Director Hoang Van Tan said.
Tan said the government was especially interested in developing brand names for traditional agricultural specialties because agriculture made up a big share of the country’s exports.
Vietnam will export US$11.68 billion worth of agricultural products this year, a 17 percent increase on last year, and 19 percent of this year’s total exports, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade.
Tan said across the country, many places were famous for their traditional and agricultural products, including Thieu lychees from Bac Giang Province, Doan Hung pomelos from Phu Tho Province, Bat Trang ceramics from Hanoi, Dong Ho paintings from Bac Ninh Province, fish sauce from Phu Quoc Island, Hoa Loc sweet mangoes from Mekong Delta and flowers and strawberries from highland town of Da Lat.
Many places have also developed similar products such as Quang Nam and Nghe An provinces, both of which are known for copper products.
And one location may be famous for different products such as Tien Giang with its sweet mangoes and pomelos.
Tan, who spoke to Thanh Nien Daily on the sidelines of an intellectual property conference in Ho Chi Minh City last week, said if different locations and businesses could get together to develop collective trademarks their products would increase in value, both locally and on the world’s market.
“Local officials will help individuals and organizations register and develop trademarks,” Tan said.
Doctor Nguyen Quoc Thinh from the Vietnam University of Commerce’s branding center said local products were losing consumers’ trust because of some local businesses’ short-sighted focus on profit.
Thinh said he himself once bought fake Hoa Loc sweet mangoes.
Collective trademarks would help prevent such deception from producers and distributors, Thinh said.
Unfortunately, he said, few collective trademarks had been registered since the Intellectual Property Law was enacted in 2006.
Ten of the 46 applications for collective trademarks have been accepted over the past two years, according to the Intellectual Properties office.
The successful applicants include Phu Luong I Agricultural Cooperative for its mushrooms and mushroom alcohol, My Thanh Cooperative for its export rice, and the Cam Sanh (King Orange) Farmer Association for its Ham Yen King Orange.
But Thinh said most local trademark holders had no strategy to further develop their brands and some even don’t understand the commitments that went with being granted a trademark.
Thinh attributed these short-comings to lack of money and support from local authorities.
Chairman of consulting company Investco, Le Xuan Thao, said some holders have no clue what they should do with their trademark certificates.
For instance, the Farmers’ Association in Thai Nguyen Province has not come up with any plan to take advantage of the tea trademark certificate it was granted last year by the National Office of Intellectual Properties.
Thao said the reason was a lack of funds.
He urged the government to provide such groups with funding to assist the early stages of brand development.
Thanhnien
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