On May 30, 2014, the Department of
Science and Technology of Soc Trang province in collaboration with the National
Office of Intellectual Property (“NOIP”) held a training course on enforcement
of industrial property for more than 40 enforcement officers in the province. The lecturers from the NOIP provided the
participants with the basic knowledge of intellectual property law,
methodology, experience in assessing, determining the acts of IPR infringement
together with the enforcement measures such as administrative measures, civil, criminal
and border control. With over 20 years experiences on
behalf of the famous brands as Honda, Adidas, Bosch, Pfizer, Kotex, Shiseido,
etc... in the enforcement of IP rights in Vietnam, Pham & Associates added that,
in practice, the authorities often encountered difficulties in finding the IP
holder or its representative to verify the suspected goods in accordance with
the laws. Currently, administrative measures are
the most preferred method to prevent the IPR infringement. However, the
sanctions of these measures are not strong enough deterrent. Meanwhile, civil
remedies are rare to use.