Vietnam to sign deals for up to $17 bln in US goods, services: prime minister

Vietnam will increase the import of high technologies and services from the U.S.

Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said on Tuesday he would sign deals for U.S. goods and services worth $15 billion to $17 billion during his visit to Washington, D.C., mainly for high technology products and for services.

“Vietnam will increase the import of high technologies and services from the United States, and on the occasion of this visit, many important deals will be made,” Phuc told a U.S. Chamber of Commerce dinner.

Phuc, who is due to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday at the end of a three-day visit to the United States, did not provide any further details of the transactions.

GE Power Chief Executive Officer Steve Bolze told the dinner that General Electric Co will sign new business worth about $6 billion with Vietnam, but also offered no details.

Phuc’s comments came after U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer expressed concern about the rapid growth of the U.S. trade deficit with Vietnam, saying this was a new challenge for the two countries and he was looking to Phuc to help address it.

“Over the last decade, our bilateral trade deficit has risen from about $7 billion to nearly $32 billion,” Lighthizer said. “This concerning growth in our trade deficit presents new challenges and shows us that there is considerable potential to improve further our important trade relationship.”

Lighthizer and other Trump administration trade officials have pledged to work to reduce U.S. bilateral trade deficits with major trading partners. The $32 billion deficit with Vietnam last year, the sixth largest U.S. trade deficit, reflects growing imports of Vietnamese semiconductors and other electronics products in addition to more traditional sectors such as footwear, apparel and furniture.

The trade issue has become a potential irritant in a relationship where Washington and Hanoi have stepped up security cooperation in recent years given shared concerns about China’s increasingly assertive behavior in East Asia.

Phuc’s meeting with Trump makes him the first Southeast Asian leader to visit the White House under the new administration.

Vietnam was disappointed when Trump ditched the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade pact, in which Hanoi was expected to be one of the main beneficiaries, and focused U.S. trade policy on reducing deficits.

Source: E.Vnexpress

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Google promises to work with Vietnam to remove 'bad' content: report

The tech giant has been asked to open a representative office and coordinate with Vietnamese authorities.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has asked that Google open a representative office in Vietnam to better manage its increasingly popular services in Vietnam, including preventing bad content on YouTube, according to a report on the government's website.

Phuc said during a meeting with Eric Schmidt, executive chairman of Google’s parent company Alphabet, in Hanoi on Friday that many of Google’s services are widely used by Vietnamese businesses and people.

He reportedly asked for more cooperation from Google to prevent and remove bad information on its video site YouTube.

According to the report, Schmidt has pledged to work with Vietnam government to filter its content, and said he will consider opening the Vietnam office.

Vietnam has the second largest number of YouTube users in the world, he was quoted as saying.

Major market

Nearly 49 million people in Vietnam, or more than half of the country’s population, are online.

A report from Think With Google, the research arm of the tech giant, last month said many Vietnamese spend their summer on searching on Google and watching YouTube.

Trailers on the site got more than 500 million views in summer 2016, up a staggering 136 percent from previous year.

Data from the company shows that last summer, YouTube views in Vietnam doubled compared to spring, with more than 60 percent from mobile.

Every day during that summer, 100 million mobile searches were made on Google – that’s even more than the population.

Toxic’ content

In March, Google Europe had to apologize for allowing ads to appear alongside offensive videos on YouTube, after big companies either pulled ads or threatened to do so.

A month later, Vietnam’s government called on all companies doing business in the country to stop advertising on YouTube, Facebook and other social media until they could find a way to end the publication of “toxic” anti-government information.

The information ministry in April confirmed that it had asked Google to block and remove 2,200 videos on YouTube that had “defamatory” content against Vietnamese leaders.

Facebook, the most popular social network in Vietnam, last month also pledged to cooperate with the Vietnamese government to block "bad" and "toxic" content.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai visited Vietnam in December 2015, joining a talk with Vietnamese businesspeople and startup community.

Source: E.vnexpress

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Retro Nokia phone hits the right buttons on return to Vietnam

Nearly two decades after being crowned the king of Vietnam's cellphone market, Nokia’s classic 3310 has made a successful return to the mobile-crazy country, proving that its charms still work.

The classic talk and text phone, which was reintroduced in a brightly colored version at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona last February, hit Vietnamese shops on Monday and has already become a phenomenon.

“It has triggered a hunt like when the iPhone first arrived in Vietnam,” said one customer who has been trawling the shops in vain for the revamped model.

Many mobile retailers in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City said they had received limited supplies that sold out in a day. An independent shop in Hanoi was sent 20 phones while a retail chain received 500 for its more than 400 outlets.

A source from the official distributor said that supplies will stabilize from next week. Many buyers have put deposits down for the phone, which costs VND1,059,000 ($46.67).

Retailers said customers are buying out of a sense of nostalgia.

The phone is a powerful reminder of Nokia’s popularity back at the start of the millenium, when the 3310 was one of the most popular models in many markets, including Vietnam.

The original 3310 sold 126 million phones, the 12th best-selling phone model in history. Nine of the top 12 selling models were produced by Nokia.

Many Vietnamese still consider the old model a benchmark for durability and battery life. The new model is designed for 22 hours of talk time and up to one month of standby time, which might heighten the phone’s appeal as a backup for smartphone users.

Analysts hailed the 3310 launch as a smart retro gambit, but one which could overshadow the Finnish company’s re-entry into the global smartphone market. Nokia has also launched four moderately priced smartphones ranging from 139 to 299 euros ($156-336).

Nokia sold its by-then ailing handset operations to Microsoft for $7 billion in 2014, leaving it with its network equipment business and a large patent portfolio.

But last year, it gave the Nokia brand a fresh start by licensing its devices brand to HMD Global, a new company led by ex-Nokia executives and backed by Chinese electronics giant Foxconn.

Industry analysts say the revived Nokia 3310 has the makings of one of the hit devices of 2017, appealing to older Nokia fans in developed markets looking for an antidote to smartphone overload, while also appealing to younger crowds in emerging markets.

Source: E.vnexpress

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Decree No. 30/2013/ND-CP on aviation business and operations

On Apr 8th, 2013, the Government issued Decree No. 30/2013/ND-CP on business air transport and general aviation operations to replace Decree 76/2007/ND-CP dated May 9th, 2007.

The new Decree regulates on conditions and procedures for granting business permits for air transport, general business aviation license for commercial purpose, registration certificate of general aviation operation for commercial purpose, the use of brand, franchise businesses in air transport business and air transport operation enterprises for commercial purposes.

According to this Decree, the age of the used aircraft imported into Vietnam is regulated as following:

a) For passenger aircraft: Not exceeding 10 years from the date of manufacture to the point of entry into Vietnam under the purchase contract, lease purchase contract; does not exceed 20 years from the date of manufacture to the expiry of the leasing contract; 25 years from the date of manufacture to the expiry of the lease contract for helicopters;

b) For cargo aircraft, postal parcels and business aviation for commercial purposes: Not exceeding 15 years from the date of manufacture to the point of entry into Vietnam under the purchase contract, lease purchase contract; not exceeding 25 years from the date of manufacture to the expiry of the lease contract;

c) The type of aircraft other than those specified above: Not exceeding 20 years from the date of manufacture to the point of entry into Vietnam under the purchase contract, lease purchase contract; does not exceed 30 years from the date of manufacture to the expiry of the lease contract.

In addition, the decree also provides for capital requirements:

1. Minimum capital requirement to establish and operate airline air transportation business:

a) Operation upto 10 aircrafts: 700 billion VND (or USD 25m) for airlines to do international air transport; 300 billion VND for airline operators in domestic air transportation;

b) Operation from 11 to 30 aircrafts: 1,000 billion VND for airlines to do international air transport; 600 billion VND for airline operators in domestic air transport ;

c) Operation from 30 aircrafts or more: 1,300 billion VND for airlines to do international air transport; 700 billion VND for airline operators in domestic air transport.

2. Minimum capital requirement for the establishment of the airline business for commercial purposes: 100 billion VND Vietnam.

This Decree shall be effective from the date of 06/01/2013.

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Nokia sues Apple for patent infringement

Apple was using Nokia's technology in its products without paying for it. 

Nokia announced Wednesday it is suing Apple in German and U.S. courts for patent infringement, claiming the U.S. tech giant was using Nokia technology in "many" products without paying for it.

Finnish Nokia, once the world's top mobile phone maker, said the two companies had signed a licensing agreement in 2011, and since then "Apple has declined subsequent offers made by Nokia to license other of its patented inventions which are used by many of Apple's products."

"After several years of negotiations trying to reach agreement to cover Apple's use of these patents, we are now taking action to defend our rights," Ilkka Rahnasto, head of Nokia's patent business, said in a statement.

The complaints, filed in three German cities and a district court in Texas, concern 32 patents for innovations related to displays, user interface, software, antennae, chipsets and video coding. Nokia said it was preparing further legal action elsewhere.

Nokia was the world's leading mobile phone maker from 1998 until 2011 when it bet on Microsoft's Windows mobile platform, which proved to be a flop. Analysts say the company failed to grasp the growing importance of smartphone apps compared to hardware.

It sold its unprofitable handset unit in 2014 for some $7.2 billion to Microsoft, which dropped the Nokia name from its Lumia smartphone handsets.

Meanwhile Nokia has concentrated on developing its mobile network equipment business by acquiring its French-American rival Alcatel-Lucent.

Including its 2013 full acquisition of joint venture Nokia Siemens Networks, Nokia said the three companies united represent more than 115 billion euros of R&D investment, with a massive portfolio of tens of thousands of patents.

The 2011 licensing deal followed years of clashes with Apple, which has also sparred with main rival Samsung over patent claims.

At the time, Apple cut the deal to settle 46 separate complaints Nokia had lodged against it for violation of intellectual property.

Source: E.vnexpress.net 2016

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Nokia, Apple bury hatchet in patent dispute

It's an upgrade in the relationship between two companies.

Nokia and Apple said Tuesday they were burying the hatchet in a bitter patent dispute with a cooperation agreement and an undisclosed cash payment by the U.S. tech giant to the Finnish group.

By settling their ongoing intellectual propertydispute, the two companies would "move the relationship... from being adversaries in court to business partners," Nokia's chief legal officer Maria Varsellona said.

Following years of clashes, Nokia and Apple originally signed a licensing agreement in 2011.

But last December, the Finnish group, once the world's top mobile phone maker, complained that Apple was using Nokia technology in many products without paying for it. And it filed lawsuits in Germany and in the United States.

Concretely, the dispute concerned 32 patents for innovations related to displays, user interface, software, antennae, chipsets and video coding.

The deal reached on Tuesday would put the two companies' relationship back on an even keel, with Nokia providing "certain network infrastructure products and services to Apple," the statement said.

Apple would "resume carrying Nokia digital health products (formerly under the Withings brand) in Apple retail and online stores, and Apple and Nokia are exploring future collaboration in digital health initiatives," it continued.

"Regular summits between top Nokia and Apple executives will ensure that the relationship works effectively and to the benefit of both parties and their customers."

Apple's chief operating officer Jeff Williams said the U.S. giant was "pleased with this resolution of our dispute and we look forward to expanding our business relationship with Nokia."

The two sides did not disclose the financial details of the deal.

But Nokia would receive "additional revenues during the term of the agreement," the Finnish group said.

The up-front cash payment would allow Nokia to "provide a comprehensive update of its capital structure optimisation programme," a restructuring plan launched in late 2015, which may now be lighter thanks to the payment by Apple.

Nokia's shares were showing a gain of more than seven percent stake on the Helsinki Stock Exchange at around 10:00 GMT, while the overall market was up by just 0.8 percent.

Source: e.vnexpress.net

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Time Limit of Trademark Protection Extension

Procedure of extending mark certificate in Vietnam

As regulation of law on intellectual property, the mark, trademark or service mark, is one of protected subjects of industrial property right. However, to be protected by law, the owner of mark shall apply protection registration dossier to competent authority prior. When the owner registers and is granted a certificate of registered mark, the owner shall have the exclusive right to label the product, service or both, right to allow others to use the mark throughout mark license contracts, right to assign the mark ownership and right to prevent breaching action from any third party.

However, a certificate of registered mark shall be valid from the grant date until the end of ten (10) years after the filing date. When the validity terminates, in order to continue being the owner of mark, the owner of Certificate shall implement the procedure of extending the protection validity of the certificate. It is important that the owner has to be aware of the time to apply dossier for a certificate extension in accordance with the law.

As regulation of law, time limit of extending mark certificate is prior or after six (06) months from the expiration date of mark certificate. If the extension is applied prior 06 months since the expiration date, the owner shall pay extension fee. If the extension is applied after 06 months since the expiration date, the owner shall pay extension fee and fine for late payment as month.

Procedure of extending mark certificate:

·         Application form (as template);

·         Original Mark Certificate (if any);

·         Power of Attorney (POA);

·         Payment voucher.

With highly professional staff and great experience in IP aspect in Vietnam, ANT Lawyers would like to support you in extending your trademark or service mark or both in Vietnam.

Source: ANTLawyers.vn

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The Benefit from Protecting Invention Patent

How to Register invention in Vietnam?

Invention protection shall bring advantages for the owner of invention including the usage and application within the duration of 20 years. As Law on intellectual property of Vietnam, an invention patent shall be valid from the grant date until the end of twenty (20) years after the filing date.

Besides, Invention patent can bring its owner the followings:

The steady position on the market: with the invention patent, the owner of the invention shall have rights to prevent others from using their invention with commercial purpose. This will reduce the competitive capacity of competitors and bring preferred position for the owner.

Right to sell and license the invention: in case owners of inventions cannot use their invention by themself, they can sell or license the use of their inventions to other people or companies. They can license only the right of use and sell all of their inventions. This does not only bring them a lot benefits but also avoid risks because of the competition on the market.

When your inventions have been commercialized and got the significant position on the market, other companies or people might tend to copy and use your invention illegally or sell other products which are similar to yours. If your inventions were not properly registered at competent authority, the competitors and violators can use your inventions without breaching of law.

Therefore, it is essential to register a new invention to protect the owner’s rights to avoid unfair competition on the market.

Source: ANTLawyers.vn

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Procedure of Invention Registration in Vietnam

How to Register Patent in Vietnam?

Invention means a technical solution in the form of a product or process which is intended to solve a problem by application of natural laws. Each invention is the result of a serious, painstaking work-study process by the inventor. However, right of industrial property shall only be established by the registration procedure, and the scope of protection is defined in the patent. Therefore, without prior registration at governmental competent authorities, right of industrial property could be violated.

With highly professional staff and great experience in IP aspect, ANT Lawyers would like to support you in registering patent in Vietnam as follow:

Required information

·         Title of invention/ utility solution;

·         Name, address and nationality of the applicant (s);

·         Name, address and nationality of the investor (s);

·         Information of priority document: Nation, number of applications and dossiers for priority right;

·         International dossiers/ or publication (if any).

Document

For dossiers applied as national application

·         01 original Power of Attorney – POA (No need for notarization). The Copy of POA shall be accepted for filling but the original shall be submitted within 03 months since the date of filling.

·          02 copies of an invention description. An invention description must consist of the section of invention description and the invention protection coverage;

·         02 Drawings, photos or description (if any);

·         01 notarized copy of document to prove prior right (only for dossiers have prior right under the Paris Convention). The document shall be submitted within 03 months since the date of filling.

For dossiers applied as PCT application.

·         03 English declaration for registration originating in Vietnam

·          02 copies of an invention description (including images, if any);

·         02 written request of protection;

·         Related documents (if any);

Dossiers can be submitted at National Office of Intellectual property or International Office or sent via post office.

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Transfer of Investment Projects in Vietnam

What steps to be taken to transfer an Investment Project in Vietnam?

Under the current Law on Investment, investors are entitled to transfer part or all of the project to another investor when satisfied the specific conditions and conducting to procedure of project adjustment under the regulation of law.

The conditions of project transfer

·         The project is not terminated in the cases as prescribed in Clause 1 Article 48 of Law on investment;

·         Investment conditions applied to foreign investors are satisfied in case the foreign investor receives a project of investment in conditional business lines;

·         Regulations of law on law, real estate trading is complied with if the project transfer is associated with transfer of land;

·         Conditions in the Certificate of investment registration or relevant regulations of law are complied with.

Preparation of dossier

·         A written request for permission for project adjustments;

·         A report on the project’s progress up to the time of transfer;

·         The project transfer contractor an other document with equivalent legal value;

·         Copies of the ID card or passport (if the investor is an individual) or Certificate of Enterprise Registration or another document with equivalent legal value (if the investor is an organization);

·         Copies of the Investment Registration Certificateor decision on investment guidelines (if any);

·         Copies of the BCC contract (for BCC projects);

·         Copies of one of the following documents of the transferee: financial statements of the last 02 years; commitment to provide financial support by the parent company, commitment to provide financial support by a financial institution, the guarantee of transferee’s financial capacity, documents describing the transferee’s financial capacity;

Order and procedure

·         Investors submit the dossier at Department of Planning and Investment (or Management of Economic Zone or High-tech Zone);

·         Within a period of 10 working days from the date of receipt the complete and valid dossier for an investment project operating under an investment license and not subject to decision of investment policy (or 28 working days from the date of receipt the complete and valid dossier for an investment project which is subject to investment decision of the provincial People’s Committee; 47 working days from the date of receipt the complete and valid dossier for the investment project subject to the decision of the Prime Minister), the competent authorities consider and decide to adjust the investment registration certificate to the investor transferring the project.

Before transferring an investment project, investors need to evaluate the legal situation, apart from the financial, personnel, and other key issues of the project, which are subject of the transfer. Therefore, to ensure effective transfer, investors often engage law firms with highly qualified lawyers in Vietnam to conduct M&A legal due diligence related to the legal documentation of the owner, capital contribution of the shareholder or member, tangible assets (land use rights, plant and machinery, equipment, etc.) and invisible assets (including industrial property rights), licenses, contracts or transactions of great value, taxes and other legal risks such as litigation or disputes which could significantly impact the project..

The transfer of an investment project is an administrative procedure with a state agencies that is only smooth when the parties reached agreements. In fact, the transfer of the investment project’s timeline depends on the appraisal and evaluation process of the parties involved in the project.

Source: ANTLawyers.vn 

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How to Terminate Representative Office in Vietnam?

Termination of operation of representative offices of foreign trader in Vietnam

Foreign Traders wishing to terminate the operation of representative office in Vietnam need to complete the procedure at Tax authorities, the Provincial Department of Industry and Trade and the procedure to return the seal at the police.

Pursuant to the provisions of the Vietnam laws, the termination of operation of representative offices of foreign traders in Vietnam at the Provincial Department of Industry and Trade shall be conducted as follows:

Preparation of dossiers for termination of operation of representative offices includes:

• Notice of termination of operation of the representative office, made according to the form set by the Ministry of Industry and Trade, signed by the competent representative of the foreign trader.
• List of creditors and unpaid debts, including tax debts and social insurance premiums;
• List of employees and their respective current interests;
• Original License for establishment of representative office.
• Documents evidencing that the representative office has fulfilled all tax and financial obligations to the State of Vietnam

The order and procedures for termination of operation of representative offices at competent agencies shall be as follows:

• The foreign trader submits a dossier for termination of operation of the representative office directly or via post or online (if applicable) to the Provincial Department of Industry and Trade (or the Management Board of Industrial parks, export processing zones, economic zones and hi-tech parks) where the representative office is licensed.
• Within three working days from the date of receipt of the file, the competent authority shall examine and request the supplement if the dossier is incomplete and invalid. Requests for supplementary records are made at most once during the process of processing applications;
• Within a time-limit of five (05) working days from the date of receipt of a complete and valid file, the competent authority shall be responsible to publish on its website the termination of operation of the representative office.
• Foreign traders shall publicly post up the termination of their operation at the representative office.

Foreign traders whose representative offices have terminated of operation shall be responsible for performing contracts, paying debts, including tax debts and settling lawful interests for laborers who have worked at the representative office in accordance with the laws.

Source: ANTLawyers

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Granting Investment Registration Certificate in Vietnam

How to obtain an Investment Registration Certificate in Vietnam?

As Vietnam integrates further into the global supply chain, foreigners are more and more encouraged to invest in Vietnam in many areas for pursuing profit.  The foreign direct investment of the foreigners is required to be registered at Vietnam state authority to protect the rights of the investor.

According to the Law on Investment 2014, investment projects of foreign investors; projects of setting up a economic organization in which foreign investors holding 51% of charter capital or more or the majority of the general partners are foreigners in a partnership; projects of BCC contract between domestic investors and foreign investors or between domestic investors and economic organization which foreign investors holding 51% of charter capital or more or the majority of the general partners are foreigners shall need to conduct the procedure of applying investment registration certificate as regulations of law.

Preparation of dossier

·         A written request for permission for execution of the investment project;

·         A copy of the ID card or passport (if the investor is an individual); a copy of the Certificate of establishment or an equivalent paper that certifies the legal status of the investor (if the investor is an organization).

·         An investment proposal that specifies: investor(s) in the project, investment objectives, investment scale, investment capital, method of capital rising, location and duration of investment, labor demand, requests for investment incentives, assessment of socio-economic effects of the project;

·         Copies of any of the following documents: financial statements of the last two years of the investor; commitment of the parent company to provide financial support; commitment of a financial institutions to provide financial support; guarantee for investor’s financial capacity; description of investor’s financial capacity;

·         Demand for land use; if the project does not use land allocated, leased out by the State, or is not permitted by the State to change land purposes, then a copy of the lease agreement or other documents certifying that the investor has the right to use the premises to execute the project shall be submitted;

·         Explanation for application of technologies to the project which specifies: names of technologies, origins, technology process diagram, primary specifications, conditions of machinery, equipment and primary technological line;

·         The business cooperation contract (BCC) (if the project is executed under a BCC).

Order and Procedure

·         Investors submit the dossier at Department of Planning and Investment (or management of economic zones, high-tech zones);

·         Within 15 working days from the date of receipt of a complete and valid dossier, the competent authority shall grant the investment registration certificate for investors.

In practice, the time duration would be lengthened due to the time for preparation of documents from investor, getting them notarized, legalized and authenticated before being accepted in Vietnam. The documents in foreign languages shall need to be translated into Vietnamese.  The actual time for processing paper at the State authority would also last longer in practice when the State authority evaluate the project plan of the investor to ensure that its investment purpose is achievable economically and in accordance to the regulations of Vietnam.  It is advised that the client engage professional law firm in Vietnam to assist with advisory and investment registration process.

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