On December 30, 2021, Vietnam’s Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) issued Decree No. 126/2021/ND-CP (Decree 126) amending several provisions of Decree No. 99/2013/ND-CP of the government dated August 29, 2013 (Decree 99), which is the primary legislation on the sanctioning of administrative violations in industrial property. Decree 126 took near-immediate effect with the new year on January 1, 2022. While the new decree offers some clear improvements that will help enforcement authorities and practitioners to deal with the infringement of industrial property rights, it has some notable shortcomings compared to a draft version of the decree that was circulated in mid-2021 Key Changes in Decree 126 While Decree 126 retains most of the regulations in Decree 99, it introduces some significant changes such as expanding the scope of regulation, increasing the level of administrative fines, and providing more specific details on violations as well as remedies. First, Decree 126 has expanded the scope of its coverage under Article 1, and added a new sub-article explicitly listing the entities that are subject to administrative sanctions, such as companies, IP agencies, and IP examiners. This new provision allows the enforcement authorities to easily detect and apply sanctions to infringers. Decree 126 has also expanded the seizure authority in many provisions. Under the previous regulations, the authorities could only confiscate material evidence and means used in the commission of administrative violations when the total value of such materials did not exceed the amount of the fine for the violation. Under Decree 126, the total value of confiscated materials may be up to twice the set fine amount. This should have a noticeable impact on enforcement efforts. While some of the provisions in Decree 99 are somewhat vague and, as a result, difficult to apply, Decree 126 has made an improvement by

This article discusses the anticipated challenges and opportunities for IP rights owners operating in the metaverse.

In this guest piece, Andy Chua, senior vice president of the Lazada IP Rights (IPR) Protection Team, reveals how Southeast Asia’s leading e-commerce platform protects IP rights online while meeting rights holders’ needs for efficiency and responsiveness. This article, which was first published in World Trademark Review, is the first in a two-part series about trademark enforcement against online counterfeits.   It is no secret that online marketplaces have experienced rapid growth due to the digitalisation of retail and related fields. This rapid development has unfortunately also created an additional avenue for bad actors to distribute counterfeit goods to largely unaware consumers—thereby causing losses and reputational damage to brands associated with these counterfeit products. As Southeast Asia’s leading e-commerce platform, Lazada has long prioritised protecting the IP rights of brands and sellers on our platforms and has invested in safeguards that ensure consumers can shop and transact with confidence on Lazada. In March 2019, Lazada established the IPR Protection Team, which is charged with the mission of developing a comprehensive IP rights protection programme at Lazada. To our knowledge, Lazada is the only e-commerce company in Southeast Asia with a team dedicated to addressing rights holders’ IP concerns. Beyond the initial setting up of the dedicated IPR Protection Team, Lazada continues to invest significantly in human resources and technology infrastructure to meet rights holders’ needs for efficiency and responsiveness. Presently, more than 30 people are employed full time and assigned to this effort. The IP rights protection programme at Lazada comprises four core components: a strict IP rights policy; merchant education; technology-driven governance; and stakeholder collaboration. Strict IP rights policy On each of the six Lazada country platforms, the IP rights policy is publicly available in the respective local language and clearly sets out the types of listings that

Intellectual property experts from Tilleke & Gibbins were engaged by ARISE+ IPR, a regional support program funded by the European Union and implemented by the European Intellectual Property Office, to craft a series of IP enforcement guides for Southeast Asian countries, aimed at raising local awareness of the importance of IP protection. The five-year, EUR 5.5 million ARISE+ IPR program supports regional integration through IP cooperation and aims to upgrade national IP systems for creation, protection, utilization, administration, and enforcement to be in line with international best practices and standards and the strategic objectives of the ASEAN Intellectual Property Rights Action Plan 2016-2025. The guides were developed by Tilleke & Gibbins’ lawyers in cooperation with the IP offices of each participating country, and cover issues related to trademarks, industrial designs, and geographical indications. Each guide was produced in a compact leaflet form in English as well as the local language, and is considered an official publication of the respective national IP office. The guides can be accessed from the ARISE+ IPR site (under “Leaflets, brochures and booklets”), or by clicking on the links below: Cambodia: English | Khmer Indonesia: English | Bahasa Indonesia Thailand: English | Thai Vietnam: English | Vietnamese