Minister of Science and Technology Huỳnh Thành Đạt speaks about the neeed to amend the Law on Intellectual Property at a workshop held on March 12 in HCM City. VNA/VNS Tiến Lực

HCM CITY -- The Law on Intellectual Property is being amended to address shortcomings in enforcement, Minister of Science and Technology Huỳnh Thành Đạt said at a workshop held on Friday in HCM City.

“The amendment will create a more sufficient legal framework for activities relating to intellectual property in the country,” Đạt said.“The amended law will help also improve the effectiveness in the implementation of international commitments."

Sam Wood, deputy consul general at the British Consulate in HCM City, said: “Intellectual property enforcement remains a business concern in Việt Nam. The inadequacy of intellectual property enforcement information and resulting lack of transparency is a barrier for foreign investors.”

“I hope that discussions in the workshop will be informative for revisions of the intellectual property law following Việt Nam commitments under international treaties,” he added.

The Intellectual Property Office of Việt Nam under the Ministry of Science and Technology, in co-operation with the Copyright Office of Việt Nam under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, and the Department of Crop Production under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development organised the workshop to collect opinions from experts of agencies and universities as well as enterprises.

Issues related to copyright and intellectual property rights were discussed.

The workshop was organised under the support of the Financial Sector and Intellectual Property Project launched in 2018 as part of the ASEAN Economic Reform Programme.

The project aims to address market inefficiencies and weaknesses that impede South East Asia’s inclusive economic growth.

Wood said that, through the project, UK best practices on intellectual property have been widely shared with Vietnamese stakeholders.

“We are working with the Government of Việt Nam in strengthening legal certainty for its intellectual property owners, ensuring that intellectual property acts as a catalyst for innovation and creativity to support economic growth by providing technical advice and capacity building in relation to legal, practical and enforcement issues,” he added.

The workshop is an expansion of UK-Việt Nam cooperation in the intellectual property area.

The amended law will focus on seven main content areas which the National Assembly has approved.

In January, a similar workshop was co-organised in Hà Nội with the participation of 150 representatives from government agencies, business associations and universities. VNS