Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Hoàng Minh presents the key points of the draft. VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — Amendments to the Law on Intellectual Property are crucial for Việt Nam's development in the digital era, as they facilitate commercialisation of IP rights and the growth of the digital economy, National Assembly (NA) President Trần Thanh Mẫn said on Thursday as lawmakers discussed changes during its sixth session in Hà Nội.

The NA Standing Committee on Thursday morning discussed the law's draft amendments and a draft resolution on judge protection.

Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Hoàng Minh highlighted the key changes in his summary of the IP draft, which include the simplification of administrative procedures and reduction of business conditions to facilitate IP rights registration, and an abolishment of registration procedures for contracts that transfer IP and plant variety rights.

As the Law on Investment has removed IP assessment services from the list of conditional businesses, the draft law also eliminates business conditions for providing such assessment services.

In line with this change, there will be no specific conditions prescribed for organisations or individuals as permissions to provide the services. Instead, they will now only be required to notify authorities when the businesses are already running, with specific details to be stipulated in subordinate legal documents. 

The draft law also removes regulations regarding dossiers and procedures for establishing plant variety rights, and delegates this task to the Government.

This will help to ensure consistency with the corresponding regulations on industrial property rights, which are also managed by Government decrees.

The draft also transfers the management authority over plant variety rights from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to the Ministry of Science and Technology, the main Government body behind all IP-related matters. 

Presenting an assessment of the NA's Committee on Legal and Judicial Affairs, committee chairman Phan Chí Hiếu said it generally agreed with the necessity and scope of the proposed amendments.

The committee recommended that the drafting agency continue to review a number of provisions, particularly those concerning State management of plant variety rights, to ensure there are no conflicts or overlaps.

Mẫn emphasised the importance of the IP amendments, noting that it shifts the focus from rights protection to the "assetisation and commercialisation of intellectual property rights," while helping Việt Nam adapt to the digital economy and the growth of artificial intelligence.

"The legislative amendments are linked to administrative procedure reform and comprehensive digital transformation," he said.

"A significant workforce and robust digital infrastructure, including AI and data systems, will be required to support the implementation process."

The top legislator stressed the need for prompt issuance of consistent, transparent guidelines on the commercialisation and assetisation of IP rights, particularly for intangible assets such as software, data and digital brands.

Tax, credit and accounting policies also need to be refined to enable enterprises to value, record and use IP assets for capital contributions or loan collateral, he said.

The NA Standing Committee also reviewed the draft resolution on judge protection, which was presented by Chief Justice of the Supreme People's Court Nguyễn Văn Quảng.

The draft proposed three protection categories and corresponding protection measures: the protection of judges' professional positions and the exercise of their duties and powers; the protection of their reputation, honour and dignity; and protection of their privacy and safeguarding of their information and personal data. — VNS