Ministry launches campaign to raise intellectual property awareness

The Ministry of Science and Technology launched a month-long campaign on March 31 to commemorate the World Intellectual Property Day (April 26) with the support of the Software Alliance (BSA).

The campaign is aimed at improving public understanding of intellectual property laws to enhance the recognition, application, development and protection of intellectual property rights; promote research and innovation, apply science and technology for greater productivity and socioeconomic development in Viet Nam, and help the society be well-prepared for Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) accession.

Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Tran Viet Thanh makes a speech at the launching ceremony of an one-month campaign to commemorate the World Intellectual Property Day (April 26). — Photo vietnamnet.vn

From March 31 to April 30, the ministry will organise a series of activities to enhance public awareness about intellectual property, such as contests for university students and conferences for businesses.

Speaking at the launch ceremony, Deputy Minister Tran Viet Thanh, said educational and training activities will be held during the next one month, and an inspection of the implementation on legal regulations will also continue to be carried out in May and the ensuing months.

Attending the ceremony, Roland Chan, senior director of BSA's Compliance Program in Asia Pacific, said the Alliance appreciated the strong efforts and remarkable initial progress made by Vietnamese governmental agencies in intellectual property right protection over the recent years, especially in relation to computer software.

"There is no doubt that software has changed the world. Viet Nam is one of the greatest beneficiaries and a global symbol for what an economy can achieve through technology. I am confident that the one-month campaign will advance further awareness of intellectual property. This is a time for Vietnamese businesses to pay for what they use and manage what they have," Chan said.

During the 2013 to 2014 period, inspectors and monitors at ministries, and for local authorities imposed fines in more than 32,000 cases, worth VND139 billion (US$6.61 million) for counterfeit, sub-standard goods, and intellectual property infringements.

Last year, inspectors from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism had conducted checks at 82 enterprises for compliance with current computer software ownership laws and fined violating companies a total of VND1.57 billion (more than $74,000). — VNS

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Domain name registrations must follow market mechanisms

Individuals, enterprises and organisations will be allowed to decide the fees for domain name registration, as the government is set to only charge fees for the use of domain names.

Under the previous system, the government had charged fees for domain name registrations and paid commissions to vendors.

The announcement was made by Deputy Minister of Information and Communications Le Nam Thang. As reported on local technology pageICTnews.vn, the ministry will issue new mechanisms on fees for domain name registrations.

The Deputy Minister asked the ministry's Vietnam Internet Network Information Centre (VNNIC) to cooperate with related authorities to research the management of domain names when the government starts charging only for domain name usage. 

"When the government stops charging fees for domain name registrations, domain names for sale will follow the market mechanisms. The issue was addressed at various conferences in which the ministry participated last year," Thang said.

According to statistics from VNNIC, more than 100,000 new domain names ending in ".vn" were registered from the beginning of 2014 to mid-December, raising its total number to more than 297,000. This was a 12.3 per cent increase compared with figures from the same period in 2013.

The domain name ".vn" last year ranked seventh among the top 22 most registered national domain names, according to a list published by the Asia Pacific Top Level Domain Association.

Regarding Vietnamese domain names, by the end of December 15, 2014, 83,330 new domain names were registered, raising the country's total number to more than 983,000 names. More than 17.5 per cent of the total number were actively used. — VNS

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