All offices of the Intellectual Property Office of Vietnam, including the head office in Hanoi and the representative offices in Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City (the “IP Office”), are currently closed until further notice due to the COVID-19 situation. The IP Office issued a notice on March 31, 2020, to address issues related to the closure, with the following main contents:

On March 30, 2020, the Lao Department of Intellectual Property (DIP) issued Notification No. 0446/DIP Pursuant to Prime Minister’s Order No.06/PM—the latter being a general order imposing a lockdown in Laos to limit the spread of COVID-19 in the country.

Directorate General of Intellectual Property

On March 25, 2020, the IP Office of Vietnam (formerly the NOIP) issued Announcement No. 5060/TB-SHTT on Strengthening the Initiation of Measures to Prevent and Combat COVID-19.Announcement 5060 provides some measures to protect IP Office personnel in the COVID-19 situation, in particular in relation to arranging fee collection and receiving guests such as for interviews, and relating to working remotely from home. Announcement 5060 provides some important points that warrant attention by rightsholders and practitioners, namely: