Circular No. 01/2008/TT-BKHCN guiding the issuance and revocation of Industrial Property Appraiser Cards and Certificates of Organizations Meeting Conditions for Industrial Property Appraisal Activities

CIRCULAR

GUIDELINES FOR THE ISSUE AND REVOCATION OF INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY ASSESSOR CARDS AND CERTIFICATES OF ORGANIZATIONS MEETING THE REQUIREMENTS FOR CONDUCTING INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY ASSESSMENT ACTIVITIES

Pursuant to Decree No. 54/2003/NĐ-CP of May 19, 2003 of the Government stipulating the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Science and Technology and Decree No. 28/2004/NĐ-CP of January 16, 2004 of the Government amending and supplementing certain Articles of Decree No. 54/2003/NĐ-CP;
Pursuant to Decree No. 105/2006/NĐ-CP of September 22, 2006 of the Government detailing and guiding the implementation of certain Articles of the Law on Intellectual Property regarding the protection of intellectual property rights and state management of intellectual property;
The Ministry of Science and Technology guides the issuance and revocation of Industrial Property Assessor Cards and Certificates of Organizations Meeting the Requirements for Conducting Industrial Property Assessment Activities (hereinafter referred to as "Industrial Property Assessment") as follows:

I. CONDITIONS AND FORMS OF INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY ASSESSMENT ACTIVITIES

The field of industrial property assessment specified in Point b Clause 2 Article 39 of Decree No. 105/2006/NĐ-CP includes the following specialties:

a) Patent and integrated circuit layout design assessment;

b) Industrial design assessment;

c) Trademark and geographical indication assessment;

d) Other industrial property rights assessment.

The conditions for issuing Industrial Property Assessor Cards (hereinafter referred to as "Assessor Cards") specified in Clause 3 Article 44 of Decree No. 105/2006/NĐ-CP are understood as follows:

a) The condition of having a university degree in the assessment specialty means holding a bachelor's or postgraduate degree in engineering, physical sciences, chemistry, or biology for patent and integrated circuit layout design assessment; holding a bachelor's or postgraduate degree in any field for other assessment specialties.

b) The moral character condition means not being administratively sanctioned for violating laws on industrial property or professional ethics, and not being under criminal investigation or having been convicted without having had the criminal record expunged.

c) The industrial property business qualification condition means obtaining a Certificate of Qualification for Industrial Property Assessment Business as stipulated in Point c Clause 6 Section II of this Circular.

Scientific and technological organizations and enterprises may conduct industrial property assessment activities when fully meeting the conditions stipulated in Clause 2 and Clause 3 Article 42 of Decree No. 105/2006/NĐ-CP, where "Business Registration License for Assessment in Accordance with Current Laws" refers to the Certificate of Qualification for Industrial Property Assessment Organization issued according to the procedures stipulated in Clause 3 Section IV of this Circular (hereinafter referred to as "Certificate of Qualification for Assessment Organization").

4. Forms of industrial property assessment activities

Individuals who obtain Assessor Cards can only choose one of the two forms of activity stipulated in Clause 1 Article 44 of Decree No. 105/2006/NĐ-CP. In cases where individuals choose to conduct activities under the name of an industrial property assessment organization, assessors must be recorded in the list of assessors belonging to the organization according to the procedures for issuing the Certificate of Qualification for Assessment Organization and such form of activity must be recorded in the list of industrial property assessors as stipulated in Point 6 Section III of this Circular.

II. INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY ASSESSMENT BUSINESS QUALIFICATION CHECK

1. Content of qualification check and subjects exempt from industrial property assessment business qualification check

b) Intellectual property law is a mandatory examination subject for all assessment specialties.

Individuals who have continuously worked for at least 15 years in drafting and guiding the implementation of regulatory documents on industrial property, industrial property assessment, dispute resolution, complaints, accusations, and inspections on industrial property at state management agencies on industrial property, researching and teaching industrial property law at legally established research and training organizations are exempt from the intellectual property law examination.

c) Specialized assessment subjects include patent (including utility models) and integrated circuit layout design assessment, industrial design assessment, trademark and geographical indication (including goods origin names) assessment, and other industrial property rights assessment, which are examined for corresponding assessment specialties.

Individuals who have continuously worked for at least 15 years in explaining and guiding the implementation of legal provisions, establishing regulations, directly implementing or reviewing the results of examinations (testing) of patent application contents (including utility models), industrial design application contents, trademark application contents, or geographical indication application contents (including goods origin names) at national or international industrial property agencies are exempt from the corresponding specialized assessment subject examination.

2. Industrial Property Assessment Business Qualification Examination Board

a) The Minister of Science and Technology issues a decision to establish the Industrial Property Assessment Business Qualification Examination Board (hereinafter referred to as "Examination Board") based on the proposal of the Director of the National Office of Intellectual Property. The Chairman of the Examination Board is the Director of the National Office of Intellectual Property; members of the Examination Board include those with experience and prestige in the field of industrial property.

b) The Council has the duty to establish a bank of examination questions (including answers and grading scales), organize examination sessions, and evaluate examination results in accordance with Clauses 3, 5, and 6 of Section II of this Circular.

c) The Council may use the seal of the Intellectual Property Office to facilitate the professional examination supervision work.

d) The Intellectual Property Office serves as the assisting agency for the Council, responsible for tasks stipulated in Clauses 3 and 5 of Section II of this Circular and other tasks assigned by the Chairman of the Council.

c) The content of the inspection includes: understanding of legal normative documents, standards, and operational procedures in the fields registered for practice: preservation, restoration, repair, sterilization, deacidification, mold removal, digitization of archival documents; research, consultation, application of science and

a) The Intellectual Property Office shall announce on its electronic news page and in a central daily newspaper for three consecutive issues about the organization of the professional examination for industrial property appraisal, specifying the conditions for participating in the examination, procedures for submitting applications, examination content, time, and location.

b) The examination must be organized within three months from the date when at least five people have registered for the examination and their registration forms have been accepted according to Point a of Clause 5 of Section II of this Circular.

c) Examination questions are randomly selected by the Chairman of the Council from the bank of examination questions specified in Point b of Clause 2 of Section II of this Circular.

4. Application Documents for Participation in the Examination

The application documents for participation in the examination include the following materials:

a) An application form for registering for the professional examination for industrial property appraisal, prepared according to the model prescribed in Appendix I of this Circular;

b) A certified copy of the university or postgraduate degree certificate;

c) A confirmation letter of work experience, if the applicant requests exemption from certain examination subjects as stipulated in Points b and c of Clause 1 of Section II of this Circular (issued by the organization where the applicant worked);

d) Two photographs measuring 3x4 cm;

đ) Proof of payment of fees.

5. Competence and Procedures for Reviewing Application Documents for Participation in the Examination

The Intellectual Property Office is the authority receiving application documents for participation in the examination. Within fifteen days from the date of receipt of the documents, the Director of the Intellectual Property Office is responsible for reviewing the documents according to the following regulations:

a) In cases where the documents contain all required materials as stipulated in Clause 4 of Section II of this Circular and the applicant meets the conditions for participating in the examination, the Director of the Intellectual Property Office will issue a notification accepting the documents, indicating the examination plan that has been determined or not yet determined due to insufficient number of applicants as stipulated in Point b of Clause 3 of Section II of this Circular.

b) In cases where the documents are incomplete or the applicant does not meet the conditions for participating in the examination, the Director of the Intellectual Property Office will issue a notification of the intention to reject the acceptance of the documents, specifying the reasons and setting a deadline of one month from the date of issuance of the notification for the applicant to correct deficiencies or submit objections. If the applicant fails to correct deficiencies or objections within the set period, or if corrections are unsatisfactory, or objections are not reasonable, the Director of the Intellectual Property Office will issue a formal notification rejecting the acceptance of the documents, specifying the reasons for rejection.

6. Evaluation of Examination Results

a) Examination papers are graded by the Council based on the answers and grading scales of the examination questions. The examination results are approved by the Chairman of the Council.

b) Individuals who achieve a passing grade or are exempted from certain examination subjects are considered to have met the requirements for those subjects.

c) Within two months from the date of the examination, the Chairman of the Council will notify the examination results to the participants and issue a Certificate of Qualification for Industrial Property Appraisal according to the model prescribed in Appendix V of this Circular to those who meet the requirements for all examination subjects, indicating the corresponding appraisal specialty and setting the validity period of the Certificate (to be submitted as part of the application for an Appraiser Card) at one year from the date of issuance.

d) Within fifteen days from the date of issuing the examination result notification, participants have the right to request the Council to review the examination papers and must pay the review fee as prescribed. The review process follows the same principles as the initial grading.

III. COMPETENCE AND PROCEDURES FOR ISSUING AND REVOKING THE APPRAISER CARD

1. Competence for Issuing, Reissuing, Revoking the Appraiser Card, Establishing and Announcing the List of Industrial Property Appraisers

The Director of the Intellectual Property Office has the competence to issue, reissue, revoke the Appraiser Card, establish, and announce the list of industrial property appraisers according to the procedures stipulated in Clauses 3, 4, 5, and 6 of Section III of this Circular.

The Intellectual Property Office is the authority receiving and reviewing applications for issuing, reissuing, and revoking the Appraiser Card according to the provisions of Clauses 2, 3, and 4 of Section III of this Circular.

2. Application Documents for Issuing the Appraiser Card

The application documents for issuing the Appraiser Card include the following materials:

a) An application form for issuing the Appraiser Card, prepared according to the model prescribed in Appendix II of this Circular;

b) The original or certified copy of the Certificate of Qualification for Industrial Property Appraisal issued by the Chairman of the Council according to Point c of Clause 6 of Section II of this Circular;

c) Copy of the Identity Card;

d) Two photographs measuring 3x4 cm;

đ) Proof of payment of fees.

3. Procedures for Issuing the Appraiser Card

Within one month from the date of receipt of the documents, the Intellectual Property Office will review the documents according to the following regulations:

a) In cases where the documents comply with the provisions of Clause 2 of Section III of this Circular and the applicant meets the conditions stipulated in Clause 2 of Section I of this Circular, the Director of the Intellectual Property Office will issue a decision to grant the Appraiser Card, indicating the full name, permanent address, ID card number, and appraisal specialty of the person granted the Card.

b) In case the application file is incomplete or the person requesting the Expert Card does not meet the conditions stipulated in Clause 2 Section I of this Circular, the Director of the National Office of Intellectual Property shall issue a notice of intent to refuse acceptance of the application, specifying the reasons and setting a deadline of one month from the date of issuance of the notice for the applicant to correct the deficiencies or submit objections. If, upon expiration of the set deadline, the applicant fails to correct the deficiencies or the corrections made do not meet the requirements, or if there are no objections submitted or the objections submitted are not valid, the Director of the National Office of Intellectual Property shall issue a decision to refuse issuance of the Expert Card, specifying the reasons for refusal.

c) The Expert Card shall be issued according to the model prescribed in Appendix IV of this Circular.

4. Reissuance of the Appraiser Card

a) Upon request of the expert, the Director of the National Office of Intellectual Property shall issue a decision to reissue the Expert Card in cases where the Expert Card is lost, damaged, or faulty (torn, dirty, faded...), to the extent that it cannot be used; or when there is a change in the information recorded on the Expert Card as provided for in Point a Clause 3 Section III of this Circular.

b) The expert has the obligation to request the National Office of Intellectual Property to reissue the Expert Card to record the changes mentioned above.

c) The provisions of Clause 2 and Clause 3 Section III of this Circular also apply to the procedure for reissuing the Expert Card; the deadline for the National Office of Intellectual Property to examine the application file is fifteen days from the date of receipt of the application file.

d) In case the Expert Card is faulty due to the fault of the National Office of Intellectual Property, the National Office of Intellectual Property shall be responsible for issuing a new Expert Card free of charge within five days from the date of receipt of the request of the cardholder.

The Director of the National Office of Intellectual Property shall issue a decision to revoke the Expert Card in the following cases:

a) There is evidence confirming that the Expert Card was issued contrary to the provisions of the law;

b) The holder of the Expert Card no longer meets the conditions stipulated in Clause 3 Article 44 of Decree No. 105/2006/NĐ-CP and Clause 2 Section I of this Circular;

c) The holder of the Expert Card has been deprived of the right to use the Expert Card indefinitely by the competent authority pursuant to Clause 2 Article 8 of Decree No. 106/2006/NĐ-CP dated September 22, 2006 of the Government on administrative penalties for violations related to intellectual property rights;

d) The holder of the Expert Card ceases to engage in expert activities.

6. Establishing and publishing the List of Intellectual Property Experts, notifying changes related to the Expert Card.

a) The National Office of Intellectual Property shall establish the List of Intellectual Property Experts, recording and deleting the names of experts from the List of Intellectual Property Experts based on decisions to issue, reissue, and revoke Expert Cards, recording the form of activity of the expert consistent with the List of Intellectual Property Expert Organizations prescribed in Point 6 Section IV of this Circular. The List of Intellectual Property Experts shall be published in the Official Gazette of Intellectual Property and on the website of the National Office of Intellectual Property along with the aforementioned List of Intellectual Property Expert Organizations.

b) The National Office of Intellectual Property shall notify the Department of Science and Technology of changes related to the Expert Card of experts working for local Intellectual Property Expert Organizations to serve the issuance, reissuance, and revocation of Certificates of Intellectual Property Expert Organizations at the local level.

IV. AUTHORITY AND PROCEDURES FOR ISSUANCE, REVOCATION OF CERTIFICATES OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY EXPERT ORGANIZATIONS

a) The Director of the National Office of Intellectual Property has the authority to issue, reissue, and revoke Certificates of Intellectual Property Expert Organizations, and to establish and publish the List of Intellectual Property Expert Organizations in accordance with the procedures prescribed in Clauses 3, 4, 5, and 6 Section IV of this Circular for organizations registered to operate science and technology activities at the Ministry of Science and Technology.

b) The Director of the Department of Science and Technology has the authority to issue, reissue, and revoke Certificates of Intellectual Property Expert Organizations in accordance with the procedures prescribed in Clauses 3, 4, and 5 Section IV of this Circular for organizations registered to operate science and technology activities at the Department of Science and Technology.

c) The National Office of Intellectual Property and the Department of Science and Technology are the agencies responsible for receiving and examining applications for Certificates of Intellectual Property Expert Organizations in accordance with the respective authorities prescribed in Points a and b above.

2. Application File for Issuance of Certificate of Intellectual Property Expert Organization

The application file for issuance of the Certificate of Intellectual Property Expert Organization includes the following documents:

a) Application form for issuance of the Certificate of Intellectual Property Expert Organization, prepared according to the model prescribed in Appendix III of this Circular;

c) A certified copy of the employment decision or labor contract between the organization and the intellectual property expert working for the organization;

d) Proof of payment of fees and charges.

3. Procedure for Issuance of Certificate of Intellectual Property Expert Organization

Within one month from the date of receipt of the application file, the National Office of Intellectual Property and the Department of Science and Technology shall examine the application file in accordance with the following provisions:

a) In case the application file meets the requirements stipulated in Clause 2 Section IV of this Circular and the organization meets the conditions stipulated in Clause 3 Section I of this Circular, the Director of the National Office of Intellectual Property and the Director of the Department of Science and Technology shall issue a decision to grant the Certificate of Intellectual Property Expert Organization, specifying the full name, trade name, address of the organization, and the field of expertise of the organization corresponding to the field of expertise of the experts belonging to the organization, and the List of Intellectual Property Experts who are members of the organization.

b) In case the file is incomplete or the organization does not meet the Conditions stipulated in Clause 3 Section I of this Circular, the Director of the National Office of Intellectual Property, the Director of the Department of Science and Technology shall issue a notice of intent to refuse acceptance of the file, stating the reasons and setting a deadline of one month from the date of issuance of the notice for the organization to submit a corrected file or provide objections. When the set deadline expires and the organization's submitted file has not been corrected or the corrections have not met the requirements, or there are no objections or objections that are not reasonable, the Director of the National Office of Intellectual Property, the Director of the Department of Science and Technology shall issue a decision to refuse issuance of the Organization Certification, stating the reasons for refusal.

c) The Organization Certification is made according to the model prescribed in Appendix 6 of this Circular.

4. Reissuance of the Appraisal Organization Certificate

a) Upon request of the organization, the Director of the National Office of Intellectual Property, the Director of the Department of Science and Technology shall issue a decision to reissue the Organization Certification in cases where the Certification is lost, damaged, or deteriorated (torn, dirty, faded...), to the extent that it cannot be used; or there are changes related to the information recorded in the Certification as provided for in Point a Clause 3 Section IV of this Circular.

b) The organization has the obligation to complete the procedures to request the issuing authority to reissue the Certification to record the changes mentioned in Point a of this clause.

c) The provisions of Clause 2 and Clause 3 Section IV of this Circular also apply to the procedure for reissuing the Organization Certification; specifically, the time limit for the National Office of Intellectual Property, the Department of Science and Technology to review the file is 15 days from the date of receipt of the file.

d) In case the Organization Certification is damaged due to the National Office of Intellectual Property, the Department of Science and Technology having issued the Certification, then the issuing authority is responsible for reissuing the Certification free of charge within 5 days from the date of receiving the request of the organization.

5. Revocation of the Appraisal Organization Certificate

The Director of the National Office of Intellectual Property, the Director of the Department of Science and Technology shall issue a decision to revoke the Organization Certification in the following cases:

a) There is evidence confirming that the Certification was issued contrary to the provisions of the law;

b) The organization no longer meets the Conditions stipulated in Clause 3 Section I of this Circular;

c) The organization ceases its appraisal activities.

6. Establishing and publishing the List of Appraisal Organizations for Industrial Property Rights, notifying changes related to the Organization Certification.

a) The National Office of Intellectual Property shall establish the List of Appraisal Organizations for Industrial Property Rights, recording, deleting the name of the appraisal organization in the List of Appraisal Organizations for Industrial Property Rights according to the Decision on issuance, reissuance, revocation of the Organization Certification and publish on the Official Gazette of Industrial Property Rights, the website of the National Office of Intellectual Property.

b) The Department of Science and Technology shall notify the National Office of Intellectual Property all information about the issuance, reissuance, revocation of the Organization Certification to serve the establishment of the List of Appraisal Organizations for Industrial Property Rights as provided for in Point a of this clause.

V. IMPLEMENTATION

1. Complaints and denunciations

The complaints and their resolution; the denunciations and their resolution concerning violations of the law related to the implementation of the procedures for issuance, reissuance, revocation of the Appraiser Card and the Organization Certification shall be carried out in accordance with the provisions of the law on complaints and denunciations.

2. Fees and charges

The collection, payment, management, and use of fees and charges for professional inspection of appraisal, examination of files, issuance, reissuance of the Appraiser Card and the Organization Certification stipulated in this Circular shall temporarily be implemented according to the corresponding provisions for industrial property representation services under Circular No. 132/2004/TT-BTC dated December 30, 2004 of the Ministry of Finance guiding the system of collection, payment, management, and use of fees and charges for industrial property rights until other regulations are issued.

3. Effective date

This Circular shall take effect 15 days after its publication in the Official Gazette.

During the implementation process, if there are difficulties or obstacles, please reflect them to the Ministry of Science and Technology for research and resolution.