Partner Kien Trung Trinh, from Tilleke & Gibbins’ Hanoi office, authored the Vietnam chapter of Practical Law’s Employment and Employee Benefits Global Guide 2018. The latest edition of the popular handbook provides a comparative overview of labor law in 30 jurisdictions worldwide, from China to Gibraltar. Tilleke & Gibbins also contributed the Myanmar chapter of the guide.

Vietnam’s Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT) is considering issuing a circular to amend Circular No. 47/2014/TT-BCT of 2014 on the management of e-commerce websites, and Circular 59/2015/TT-BCT of 2015 on the management of e-commerce activities via mobile applications. It is expected that the amendments will be issued in the coming months.The proposed amendments in the draft circular seem to be aimed at eliminating vague language and narrowing the subjects of notification and registration requirements in certain e-commerce activities, specifically:

Tilleke & Gibbins has contributed to the 2018 edition of the Practical Law Patent Litigation Global Guide, which provides a high-level overview of patent disputes in 33 jurisdictions worldwide. The Thailand chapter of the guide was coauthored by Nandana Indananda, partner, Piyawat Kayasit, attorney-at-law, and Siraprapha Rungpry, consultant. Tilleke & Gibbins also contributed the Vietnam chapter of the guide.

Lawyers from Tilleke & Gibbins and its associate firm TGVN have written the Vietnam chapter for the 2018 edition of the Practical Law Patent Litigation Global Guide. The latest edition, in Practical Law’s signature Q&A format, provides an overview of how patent disputes are handled in 32 jurisdictions worldwide. Tilleke & Gibbins also contributed the Thailand chapter of the guide.

David Duncan, a consultant in Tilleke & Gibbins’ corporate and commercial group, has contributed the Thailand chapter in the eleventh edition of Marketing Private Funds and Discretionary Account Services, published by Deacons, the Lex Mundi member firm for Hong Kong. The publication provides a Q&A-style overview of restrictions on cross-border capital raising and marketing activities for asset managers in 16 jurisdictions, and covers the following topics:

The People’s Court of Ho Chi Minh City was recently requested to overturn an arbitral decision by the Vietnam International Arbitration Center (VIAC) relating to a non-competition clause. In the end, however, the court ruled that VIAC’s decision was correct, thus upholding a non-compete clause signed between a company and its employee. The decision represents one of the first times in Vietnam in which the enforcement of a non-compete clause was tested. Although it is not a legally binding precedent, it does show that non-compete clauses can potentially be upheld in Vietnam.

On June 12, 2018, the Ministry of Justice, the Supreme People’s Procuracy, and the Supreme People’s Court of Vietnam issued Joint Circular No. 07/2018/TTLT-BTP-VKSNDTC-TANDTC, on coordination in the enforcement of court decisions on bankruptcy. Joint Circular 07 comes into force on August 1, 2018.