General Guidelines on the Substantive Examination of Industrial Designs of ASEAN Countries
The National Office of Intellectual Property (Ministry of Science and Technology) has introduced the Common Guidelines on the Substantive Examination of Industrial Designs of ASEAN countries within the framework of the ASEAN-EU Cooperation Project on Intellectual Property Rights Protection (ECAPIII).
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General Guidelines on the Substantive Examination of Industrial Designs of ASEAN Countries
Within the framework of the ASEAN-EU Cooperation Project on the Protection of Intellectual Property Rights (ECAPIII), which aims to improve the quality, consistency and transparency of the work done by ASEAN IP offices with For the appraisal and registration of industrial designs, the ECAP Project Steering Committee has approved a plan to organize the development of "General Guidelines" for application by intellectual property (IP) offices of ASEAN countries.
All ASEAN countries have been and are in the process of approving Industrial Design legislation (in the form of a separate law or chapter or clause in the law) as well as numerous sub-laws, including implementing regulations and other supporting administrative decisions.
The project to develop a Common Guide to the Substantive Examination of Industrial Designs of the ASEAN region is partly hindered by the many differences that exist among the member countries.
Differences in the laws of different countries will lead to the need for internalization if any changes are made. However, the development of General Guidelines for the whole region could encourage harmonization of industrial design examination standards and applicable conditions in the region. These general principles are intended to supplement guidance to support the industrial design examination criteria applied by the ASEAN regional IP offices.
This general guide can be used as a practical training tool for industrial design examiners and as a reference for specialized consultants and industrial property representatives.
In fact, industrial designs can also receive protection in ASEAN Member States through copyright law, the extent to which industrial designs are recognized as “works” or “works of fine art application". This may be due to compliance with international standards under the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works of 1886, as amended in 1971, and from provisions in national copyright law protecting works of applied art. However, these general principles do not address the protection of designs or works of applied art that are not registered under copyright law, or have expired. While much of what is covered in the national laws and practices of ASEAN Member States is consistent with the general principles in the Guidelines, there are still some discrepancies regarding the a specific problem.
Using the guidelines as a reference will contribute to unifying standards and criteria for industrial design appraisal in ASEAN member countries. Industrial design registrations are still subject to national laws and regulations of ASEAN Member States.
ctngoc
National Office of Intellectual Property of Vietnam