Successfully appealed, "A Animal, image" still maintained protection as a whole with  “Animal” protected separately.

Trademark Application No. 4-2012-04179 - "A Animal, design” (combined mark) of Universal Protein Supplements Corporation d/b/a Universal Nutrition, located at 3 Terminal Road, New Brunswick, New Jersey 08901, United States of America, represented by Pham & Assocites law firm, for the products "Dietary supplements, namely dietary food supplements, dietary supplements, food supplements, herbal supplements, meal replacements and dietary supplement drink mixes, mineral nutritional supplements, mineral supplements, nutritional supplements, nutritional supplement drink mixes, vitamin and mineral supplements, vitamin supplements, meal replacements in bar-forms" in Class 06 was granted TM Registration No.312343, whereby the trademark is protected as a whole, not protecting the wordings "A" and "Animal" separately.

The applicant appealed the above decision, claiming separate protection for the specific wording “Animal” on the grounds that this word is not descriptive and has acquired distinctiveness through use, namely as follows: 

(i) The combed mark "A Animal, design" was registered and used by the trademark owner in 1977 in New Brunswick, New Jersey, and has since expanded to nearly 60 other countries around the world, including Vietnam (since 2010); evidence of this continued development can be verified. In fact, "A Animal, design" has acquired distinctiveness through use; 
(ii) For Vietnamese consumers who do not know English, an “Animal” is just a foreign word like any other foreign word, spelled in a certain way. For those who know English (and of course the British) “Animal” does not describe the goods/products, quality, properties, ingredients, uses, values, etc. of products bearing the trademark in Group 06 as listed above, therefore it [Animal] cannot be considered a sign that is not distinctive and cannot be registable as stipulated in Article 74.2.c of the Vietnam’s IP Law; 
(iii) "A Animal, design" has been accepted for registration in the US and nearly 80 other countries, including EU countries; 

Reviewing the case, the IP Vietnam found that the trademark “A Animal, design” has been widely used in many countries, including Vietnam, and the complainant’s argument about the distinctiveness acquired through use of the word “Animal” is well-founded.

On that basis, the IP Vietnam issued Decision No. 150577/QD-SHTT dated July 25, 2025 to protect the trademark “A Animal, design” as a whole, not protecting the word  “A” separately./.