UPDATEOn August 31, 2018, the Office of Insurance Commission passed the draft notification referred to in this article into law without substantial amendments, effective September 1, 2018. The key changes discussed in the document below are now in force.

Under Vietnamese law, if a logo is capable of distinguishing the goods or services of its holder from those of others, it can qualify for trademark protection. If the logo is created personally by the author without copying others’ works and is fixed in a material form, it is also copyrightable as a work of applied art (assuming it meets the minimum creativity threshold).

David Beckstead, a consultant in Tilleke & Gibbins’ corporate and commercial group and a member of the firm’s regional energy and infrastructure practice, has authored an article on “Lessons from Thailand on the Importance of Devising and Implementing Detailed Decommissioning Regimes” for the Oil, Gas & Energy Law Intelligence Journal.  The peer-reviewed academic journal covers laws related to oil, gas, and energy and has been published by Maris BV since 2003.David’s article covers the following topics:

On April 20, 2018, the Lao Prime Minister’s Office issued Notification No. 560/PMO which raises the minimum salary in Laos from LAK 900,000 (approximately USD 110) to LAK 1,100,000 (approx. USD 133) per person/per month. The minimum salary increase will become effective as of May 1, 2018.This salary increase has been scheduled for a long time, but was delayed by discussions between different stakeholders over the value of the increase. This notification brings to an end the extensive debate on this topic between the relevant ministries. 

Introduction

It is expected that a new Law on Cyber-Security will be debated and adopted at the May 2018 session of Vietnam’s National Assembly. A draft of the new law (“Draft Law”) was debated at the last session of the National Assembly, and various conference committee meetings and consultative workshops have been held over recent months to iron out some of its key points.

On April 13, 2018, the Ministry of Health (MOH) of Vietnam and the World Health Organization held a conference to introduce the main contents of the Draft Law on Preventing and Combatting Harmful Effects of Alcohol and Beer (the “Draft Law”). The Draft Law contains six chapters with 22 articles and is aimed at preventing and reducing harmful effects from alcohol and beer. The provisions introduce various measures geared toward reducing sales and controlling the production and quality of alcohol and beer supplied to the public.

Multi-level marketing (MLM) activities are allowed under the law in Vietnam. However, in recent years, a few MLM companies in Vietnam have been accused of not being fair to customers, not fulfilling tax obligations, and/or at times trading in low-quality products. A report from the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT) showed that from June 2015 to November 2016, the MOIT inspected and initiated investigations into 65 MLM companies and imposed fines totaling VND 11 billion (approximately USD 485,000) for violations.