"Multi-K" for Class 01. Fertilizers is accepted for registration in its entirety

Applied-for mark "Multi-K" of  application No. 4-2009-18583 for Class 01. Fertilizer, under the name of Haifa Chemicals Ltd. (Israel) was rejected registration by the National Office of Intellectual Property (NOIP - Decision No. 17634 /QD-SHTT dated June 30, 2011) on the ground that the applied-for mark is descriptive as specified at Point a, Clause 2, Article 74 of the IP Law. The applicant appealed this decision of NOIP (1st appeal) but the latter maintained its decision of refusal (Decision on settlement of appeal No. 567/QD-SHTT on February 25, 2016).

A further appeal (2nd appeal) against the NOIP’s decision was filed to the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST), accompanied by additional documents/evidence and the following argument:

(i) Haifa Chemicals Ltd is a multinational corporation, founded in 1966, based in Israel, is one of the world's leading suppliers of potassium nitrate products for agriculture and industry. , especially phosphate fertilizers and nutrients for plants. Haifa Chemicals Ltd's operations are in more than 100 countries, with 12 branches and 3 factories;

(ii) The "Multi-K" trademark has been used by the applicant since 1988 in Israel and has been registered in more than 50 countries around the world. Fertilizer products bearing the "Multi-K" trademark have been imported into Vietnam since 1990, used continuously until now;

(iii) Fertilizers bearing the "Multi-K" trademark have been introduced and recommended to use on some specialized agriculture, plant protection magazines and advertised for sale on popular commercial websites, such as sendo.vn, vatgia.com, 5giay.vn, shoppe.vn;

(iv) The volume of "Multi-K" branded products consumed in the market increased impressively, in 2015 was 1705 tons, in 2016 was 2998 tons, and

(v) The applicant requests the trademark to be protected in its entirety, the protection for the element "Multi" and "K" is disclaimed when standing alone.

Holding that the applicant's arguments are grounded, the MOST issued Decision No. 3602/QD-BKHCN on May 22, 2019 canceling the NOIP's previous decisions of refusal and requested the NOIP to implement the procedures for registration of  the trademark "Multi-K".