Myanmar has finally enacted its long-awaited Trademark Law and Industrial Design Law on January 30, 2019, and its Patent Law was also signed into law on March 11, 2019. The Copyright Bill is expected to be enacted into law soon. A summary of the provisions of the new Trademark Law, Industrial Designs Law and Patent Law is provided below:Trademark Law

On April 29, 2019, Managing Intellectual Property (MIP) published an article diving into expected changes to the intellectual property (IP) landscape in Myanmar in light of its recently-enacted Trademark Law.

During the early months of 2019, the Vietnam IP field enjoyed a rare burst of public attention. First there was the wide reaction to the IP changes ushered in by CPTPP, which took effect on 14 January 2019. Then the spotlight moved to two high-profile copyright lawsuits related to derivative works, when the People’s Court of Ho Chi Minh City’s District 1 returned a verdict in a 12-year-old case on 18 February 2019, and the People’s Court of Hanoi issued its decision on a similar case on 20 March 2019.

Due to significant changes to the intellectual property (IP) landscape, the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) indeed poses major challenges to Vietnam in implementing its obligations. Most of the obligations aim to enhance protection for IP proprietors. This will have a particular impact on the life science sectors, benefitting foreign pharmaceutical and agrochemical companies but reducing opportunities, at least in the short-term, for Vietnamese companies.