Procedures for amending patent/utility solution applications

Before the Intellectual Property Office issues a Decision to refuse to accept a valid application, a Decision to refuse to grant a protection certificate or a Decision to grant a protection certificate, the applicant may proactively or upon request of the Intellectual Property Office amend the application.

1. Application amendment dossier includes:

(i) Application form for amendment of industrial property registration application, typed according to form No. 04 Appendix II of Decree 65/2023/ND-CP (Attached form).

(ii) Legal documents proving the amendment [For the request to amend the content of the patent/utility solution application, the applicant must submit the corresponding amended document with a detailed explanation of the amended content compared to the original submitted document, specifically: Part or all of the description, summary of the invention/utility solution for the patent/utility solution application. At the same time, the amendment must not expand the scope (volume) of protection disclosed in the description for the patent/utility solution application];

(iii) Power of attorney (if request for amendment of application is submitted through an industrial property representative service organization);

(iv) Fee for examining request for application amendment (VND 160,000/01 content of request for amendment), Publication fee (VND 120,000/01 request for amendment in case the patent application has a Decision accepting a valid application).

- Requests for amendments to applications submitted after the Notice of Intent to Grant a Protection Certificate and payment of fees and charges in the case of amending information related to the nature of the subject matter stated in the application (specifically, the description of the invention/utility solution) must be re-examined and the content examination fee must be collected according to the independent protection request (VND 720,000/01 point of independent protection request).

- Time limit for processing requests for amendments to patent/utility solution applications: 06 months (with content examination); 10 days (with formal examination)

2. Application form:

Applicants can choose to submit a paper application or submit an online application via the Intellectual Property Office's online public service portal, specifically:

(i) Paper application form

Applicants may submit requests for amendments directly or via postal service to one of the application receiving points of the Intellectual Property Office, specifically:

- Head office of the Intellectual Property Office, address: 386 Nguyen Trai, Thanh Xuan district, Hanoi city.

- Representative office of the Department of Intellectual Property in Ho Chi Minh City, address: No. 31 Han Thuyen, Ben Nghe Ward, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City.

- Representative office of the Department of Intellectual Property in Da Nang city, address: 3rd floor, 135 Minh Mang, Khue My ward, Ngu Hanh Son district, Da Nang city.

In case of submitting a request for amendment of an application by post, the applicant must transfer money via postal service, then photocopy the Money Transfer Receipt and send it with the application to one of the above-mentioned application receiving points of the Intellectual Property Office to prove the amount of money paid.

(Note: When transferring fees to one of the above application receiving points of the Intellectual Property Office, the applicant must send the application via post to the corresponding application receiving point).

(ii) Online application form

- Conditions for submitting an application online: Applicants need to have a digital certificate and digital signature, register an account on the Online Application Receiving System and have their account approved by the Intellectual Property Office to carry out IP registration transactions.

- Online application submission procedure: The applicant must declare and submit a request for amendment of the application on the Online Application Receiving System of the National Office of Intellectual Property. After completing the declaration and submitting the application on the Online Application Receiving System, the System will send the applicant a Confirmation of Online Document Submission. Within 01 month from the date of submitting the online application, the applicant must go to one of the application receiving points of the National Office of Intellectual Property on working days during transaction hours to present the Confirmation of Online Document Submission and accompanying documents (if any) and pay the prescribed fees/charges. If the documents and fees/charges are complete as prescribed, the officer receiving the application will issue an application number to the Declaration on the Online Application Receiving System. If the documents and fees/charges are not complete as prescribed, the application will be rejected. In case the Applicant fails to complete the application procedure as prescribed, the online document will be cancelled and a Notice of Online Document Cancellation will be sent to the Applicant on the Online Application Receiving System.

[Article 115 of the Law on Intellectual Property; Article 119.4 of the Law on Intellectual Property; Article 16.3.d of Decree 65/2023/ND-CP]