Circular No. 13/2010/TT-BKHCN amending and supplementing certain provisions of Circular No. 17/2009/TT-BKHCN dated June 18, 2009, and Circular No. 01/2007/TT-BKHCN dated February 14, 2007.

CIRCULAR

Amending and supplementing certain provisions of Circular No. 17/2009/TT-BKHCN dated June 18, 2009 and Circular No. 01/2007/TT-BKHCN dated February 14, 2007

________________________________________________

Pursuant to Decree No. 28/2008/NĐ-CP dated March 14, 2008 of the Government stipulating the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Science and Technology;

Pursuant to Resolution No. 25/NQ-CP dated June 2, 2010 of the Government on simplifying 258 administrative procedures within the scope of management functions of Ministries and sectors;

Pursuant to the Law on Product Quality dated November 21, 2007 and Decree No. 132/2008/NĐ-CP dated December 31, 2008 of the Government detailing and guiding implementation of certain articles of the Law on Product Quality;

Pursuant to the Intellectual Property Law dated November 29, 2005, the Law amending and supplementing certain articles of the Intellectual Property Law dated June 19, 2009 (hereinafter referred to collectively as the Intellectual Property Law), and Decree No. 103/2006/NĐ-CP dated September 22, 2006 of the Government detailing and guiding implementation of certain articles of the Intellectual Property Law on industrial property;

The Minister of Science and Technology amends and supplements certain provisions of Circular No. 17/2009/TT-BKHCN dated June 18, 2009 guiding state inspection of the quality of imported goods under the management responsibility of the Ministry of Science and Technology and Circular No. 01/2007/TT-BKHCN dated February 14, 2007 guiding implementation of Decree No. 103/2006/NĐ-CP dated September 22, 2006 of the Government detailing and guiding implementation of certain articles of the Intellectual Property Law on industrial property as follows:

Article 1. Amending and supplementing Clause 3, Article 6 of Circular No. 17/2009/TT-BKHCN as follows:

"3. A certified copy of the quality certificate (present the original for verification, except in cases where the certified copy has been notarized)."

1. Amending and supplementing Points 56, 57, and 58 of Circular No. 01/2007/TT-BKHCN as follows:

"56. Recording industrial property representatives

56.1. To officially carry out business activities or practice as an industrial property representative service provider, organizations and individuals meeting the conditions for business and practice must complete registration in the National Register of Industrial Property Representatives according to Clause 1, Article 156 of the Intellectual Property Law, this point, and pay the prescribed fee.

56.2. The application dossier for recording an organization providing industrial property representation services in the National Register of Industrial Property Representatives shall be signed by the organization meeting the conditions stipulated in Article 154 of the Intellectual Property Law and shall include the following one set of documents:

a) Two copies of the Application Form for Recording an Organization Providing Industrial Property Representation Services, filled out according to Model 03-YCGN specified in Appendix E of this Circular, with full information about the organization and the representative of the organization holding a professional qualification certificate;

b) A certified copy of the business registration certificate or activity registration certificate of the organization (present the original for verification, except in cases where the certified copy has been notarized);

c) A certified copy of the employment decision or labor contract of the organization with the individual holding a professional qualification certificate who acts as the authorized representative of the organization and a certified copy of the authorization document from the head of the organization (present the original for verification, except in cases where the certified copy has been notarized);

d) A certified copy of the payment receipt (in case of payment through postal service or direct deposit into the account of the National Office of Intellectual Property).

56.3. The application dossier for recording an individual industrial property representative in the National Register of Industrial Property Representatives shall be signed by the individual meeting the conditions stipulated in Article 155 of the Intellectual Property Law and shall include the following one set of documents:

a) Two copies of the Application Form for Recording an Individual Industrial Property Representative, filled out according to Model 03-YCGN specified in Appendix E of this Circular, with full information about the individual and the organization providing industrial property representation services where the individual practices;

b) A certified copy of the employment decision or labor contract of the organization providing industrial property representation services with the individual (present the original for verification, except in cases where the certified copy has been notarized);

c) A certified copy of the payment receipt (in case of payment through postal service or direct deposit into the account of the National Office of Intellectual Property).

56.4. Within fifteen days from the date of receiving the application dossier for recording an organization providing industrial property representation services or an individual industrial property representative, the National Office of Intellectual Property will conduct the examination of the dossier according to a procedure similar to that for issuing a professional qualification certificate for industrial property representation services as stipulated in Point 53.3 of this Circular.

57. Recording changes in industrial property representatives

57.1. An organization providing industrial property representation services or an individual industrial property representative has the right to request the National Office of Intellectual Property to record changes related to information already recorded in the National Register of Industrial Property Representatives according to this point and must pay the prescribed fee.

57.2. The application dossier for recording changes in industrial property representatives includes the following one set of documents:

a) Two copies of the Application Form for Recording Changes in an Organization Providing Industrial Property Representation Services or an Individual Industrial Property Representative, filled out according to Model 04-YCSĐ specified in Appendix E of this Circular;

c) Documents specified in Point 56.2 c) of this Circular in case of changes in the individual holding a professional qualification certificate who acts as the authorized representative of the organization providing industrial property representation services;

d) A certified copy of the payment receipt (in case of payment through postal service or direct deposit into the account of the National Office of Intellectual Property).

57.3. The procedure for processing the application dossier for recording changes in an organization providing industrial property representation services or an individual industrial property representative is carried out similarly to the procedure stipulated in Point 56.4 of this Circular.

58. Deleting the name of an industrial property representative

58.1. In cases provided for in Clause 2, Article 156 of the Intellectual Property Law, the National Office of Intellectual Property shall issue a decision to remove the name of the service organization representing industrial property rights and the individual representing industrial property rights from the National Register of Representatives of Industrial Property Rights; and publish the removal in the Official Gazette on Industrial Property within two months from the date of issuance of the decision.

58.2. Any organization or individual has the right to request the National Office of Intellectual Property to remove the name of the service organization representing industrial property rights and the individual representing industrial property rights if there is evidence confirming that the organization or individual no longer meets the conditions for conducting business or practicing the service of representing industrial property rights.

58.3. The representative of industrial property rights must complete the procedures to remove their name from the National Register of Representatives of Industrial Property Rights when ceasing activities at the service organization representing industrial property rights, and must re-complete the registration procedures in the National Register of Representatives of Industrial Property Rights when resuming activities at another service organization representing industrial property rights.

2. Replace the forms 03-YCGN and 04-YCSĐ in Appendix E of Circular No. 01/2007/TT-BKHCN with the forms prescribed in the Appendix of this Circular.

3. Amend Point 21.3.b of Circular No. 01/2007/TT-BKHCN as follows:

"b) On the basis of considering the opinions of all parties, the National Office of Intellectual Property shall issue a decision to terminate or revoke partially or entirely the validity of the intellectual property certificate or notify the refusal to terminate or revoke the validity of the intellectual property certificate according to the provisions of Clause 4, Article 95 and Clause 4, Article 96 of the Intellectual Property Law.

The time limit for issuing the decision and notification mentioned herein is three months, starting from the end of the two-month period specified in Point 21.3.a if the holder of the certificate does not provide comments or from the date of receipt of the comments of the holder of the certificate. This time limit may be extended by up to three additional months if the holder of the certificate has different opinions from the applicant requesting termination or revocation of the validity of the certificate.

In case the holder of the certificate requests the termination or revocation of the validity of the certificate, the time limit mentioned above is ten working days from the date of receipt of the request. The time required to perform other necessary procedures related to the processing of the request for termination or revocation of the validity of the certificate shall not be included in the aforementioned time limit."

4. Amend Point 8.2 of Circular No. 01/2007/TT-BKHCN as follows:

"8.2. Collection of fees and charges

a) When receiving an application or request to proceed with any other procedure, the National Office of Intellectual Property requires the applicant to pay the fees and charges as prescribed (issue a payment notice). The National Office of Intellectual Property issues two copies of the fee and charge receipt as proof of payment, clearly indicating the amounts and types of fees and charges collected, one copy issued to the applicant and one copy retained in the application file for the purpose of examining the formality of the application.

b) In case of paying fees and charges through postal services or directly into the account of the National Office of Intellectual Property, the applicant must submit a copy of the payment receipt together with the application file.

c) If the fees and charges have not been paid in full as prescribed, the National Office of Intellectual Property shall notify the applicant."

5. Replace the provisions at Points 7.1.a(iii), 18.3.c(iv), 20.1.c(viii), 20.3.c(iv), 21.2.b(v), 22.2.b(vi), 47.1.g, 47.2.e, 49.2.a(vi), 50.2.d, 52.2.d, 53.2.d, 59.2.b(v), 64.2.c of Circular No. 01/2007/TT-BKHCN with the following provision:

"A copy of the payment receipt (in case of paying fees and charges through postal services or directly into the account of the National Office of Intellectual Property)."

Article 3. Effectiveness

This Circular takes effect 45 days from the date of issuance./.