On June 14 (local time), Commissioner Shen Changyu of China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) led a delegation and paid a working visit to Vietnam, where he had meetings with Deputy Minister Pham Cong Tac for the Ministry of Science and Technology of Thailand (MOST) and Director General Dinh Huu Phi of National Office of Intellectual Property of Vietnam (NOIP), a department under MOST.

During the meeting with MOST, Shen Changyu remarked that Chinese and Vietnamese peoples shared profound traditional friendships, and had learnt from and joined hands with each other in the promotion of reform and the construction of socialism, in which way facilitated the significant development of China-Vietnam relations. Since the formal building of IP cooperation in 2006, the cooperation between China and Vietnam had made positive achievements under the frameworks of “the Belt and Road”, “China-ASEAN” and “Lancang - Mekong River” as well as at the bilateral level. China was willing to deepen the cooperation with Vietnam in all fields of IP, and join hands with Vietnam to promote the development of IP in both countries. Pham Cong Tac, remarked that China and Vietnam had similar political systems, and enjoyed cultural affinity and close economics and trade relations; Vietnam attached great importance to the cooperation with China in the IP field, and hoped to hold regular high-level meetings with China, strengthen the exchange of personnel and information, and learn from the successful experiences of China.

During the meeting with NOIP, Shen Changyu remarked that CNIPA and NOIP were established at similar times and had many similarities in their perspective developments. Chinese government had realized the integrated management of patent, trademark, geographical indication and layout designs of integrated circuit in the institutional reform, providing a great opportunity for the two offices to extend the field of cooperation. Dinh Huu Phi expressed that NOIP had also carried out a large-scale restructuring of institutions and personnel, in which it strived to improve the IP system and legal system, formulated national IP strategy, and took various measures to promote the construction of examination capability as well as the quality and efficiency of examination; NOIP hoped to strengthen exchanges of experience and practical cooperation with CNIPA. The two sides briefed each other on their latest developments, and reached consensus on the expansion of bilateral cooperation, IP cooperation along the “Belt and Road”, and “China-ASEAN” IP cooperation. After the meeting, the heads of CNIPA and NOIP signed the updated memorandum of understanding for cooperation.

On the afternoon of June 14, the delegation held a seminar on China’s IP protection system at NOIP, and introduced in details to the relevant government departments, enterprises and agencies of Vietnam on the systems and practices of protection of patent, trademark and geographical indication in China.

During the visit, Shen Changyu and the delegation exchanged views with the Embassy of China in Vietnam on China-Vietnam diplomatic relations, trade and economic exchanges, and the IP protection of Chinese-funded enterprises. The delegation also visited the branch of NOIP in Ho Chi Minh City and the Department of Science and Technology in Ho Chi Minh City to learn in details the local IP work in Vietnam. (Translated from CNIPA Website Chinese Version)