The market for ­pharmaceuticals in Vietnam is developing rapidly, in step with the country’s growing and aging population, rising per capita income, and increasing awareness of foreign ­brand-name drugs, which many ­Vietnamese consumers consider to be more reliable than generics and local brands. ­Naturally, Vietnam has ­become an attractive ­investment ­destination for ­foreign pharmaceutical companies eager to ­target new ­customers.

Tilleke & Gibbins has contributed to the 2019 edition of the Franchising Global Guide , a Practical Law Company publication that provides an overview of franchising around the world. The Myanmar chapter of the guide was written by Yuwadee Thean-ngarm, director of Tilleke & Gibbins’ Yangon office, and Sher Hann Chua, a consultant in the firm’s Bangkok and Yangon offices.

The possibility of invalidating a patent is clearly set out in Vietnam’s intellectual property laws. Historically, however, although thousands of patents are granted each year in Vietnam, the number of requests for invalidation has been extremely small.

Pyidaungsu Hluttaw Law No. 7/2019—Myanmar’s Patent Law—was enacted on March 11, 2019, providing a framework for the protection of inventions related to products and processes. This is the first legislation specifically addressing the protection of patents in the history of Myanmar.The law will be administered by the Directorate of Patents of the Intellectual Property Office, to be established under the Ministry of Commerce, and implementing regulations will be issued in due course.Overview