JOINT CIRCULAR No. 129/2004/TTLT-BTC-BKHCN OF DECEMBER 29, 2004 GUIDING THE APPLICATION OF MEASURES FOR BORDER CONTROL OF  INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY OVER EXPORT GOODS AND IMPORT GOODS

Pursuant to the June 29, 2001 Customs Law;

Pursuant to the July 2, 2002 Ordinance on Handling of Administrative Violations;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 77/2003/ND-CP of July 1, 2003 defining the tasks, powers and organizational structure of the Finance Ministry;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 54/2003/ND-CP of May 19, 2003 defining the functions, tasks, powers and organizational structure of the Science and Technology Ministry and Decree No. 28/2004/ND-CP of January 16, 2004 amending and supplementing a number of articles of Decree No. 54/2003/ND-CP;

Pursuant to Article 14 of the Government’s Decree No. 101/2001/ND-CP of December 31, 2001 detailing the implementation of a number of articles of the Customs Law on customs procedures, customs inspection and supervision regime;

Pursuant to Clause 6, Article 64 of the Government’s Decree No. 63/CP of October 24, 1996 detailing industrial property, which was amended and supplemented by the Government’s Decree No. 06/2001/ND-CP of February 1, 2001;

The Finance Ministry and the Science and Technology Ministry hereby jointly guide the application of measures for border control of industrial property over export goods and import goods as follows:

Section 1. GENERAL PROVISIONS

1. Interpretation of terms

The terms used in this Circular are construed as follows:

1.1. “Industrial property objects” are used to refer to inventions, utility solutions, industrial designs, semi-conductor integrated circuit layout designs, trademarks, appellations of origin of goods and other industrial property objects protected under Vietnamese law;

1.2. “Protection titles” are used to refer to invention patents, utility solution patents, industrial design patents (or certificates of industrial designs granted under the 1989 Ordinance on Protection of Industrial Property Rights), certificates of registered semi-conductor integrated circuit layout designs, certificates of registered trademarks, certificates of the right to use appellations of origin of goods;

1.3. “Documents evidencing industrial property rights” are used to refer to decisions on recognition of well-known marks, decisions on acceptance to protect trademarks registered under the Madrid Agreement, and other types of documents certifying rights over industrial property objects according to the provisions of industrial property legislation;

1.4. “Industrial property owners” are used to refer to “protection title holders,” “holders of industrial property rights under documents evidencing industrial property rights” and “lawful transferees of industrial property rights.”

1.5. “Measures for border control of industrial property” generally refer to measures to supervise and detect goods with counterfeit trademarks; to suspend customs procedures for goods showing signs of industrial property right infringement; to inspect and identify the legal status in terms of industrial property of goods for which customs procedures are suspended; to handle industrial property right-infringing goods for which customs procedures are suspended and involved parties according to the provisions of this Circular;

1.6. “Industrial property right-infringing goods” mean export goods or import goods containing infringing elements prescribed by industrial property legislation.

1.7. “Goods with counterfeit trademarks” mean export goods or import goods, including packing, labels and brand-bearing decals, which are identical or basically indistinguishable from protected trademarks of goods of the same type without trademark owners’ permission. Goods with counterfeit trademarks constitute a special case of goods infringing upon industrial property right over trademarks.

1.8. “Applicants” mean persons who file applications requesting supervision and detection of goods with counterfeit trademarks or suspension of customs procedures for export goods or import goods suspected of infringing upon industrial property rights;

1.9. “Applications” generally refer to applications requesting the supervision and detection of goods with counterfeit trademarks or applications requesting suspension of customs procedures for export goods or import goods suspected of infringing upon industrial property rights;

1.10. “Good lot owners” are used to refer collectively to importers or exporters or owners of goods lots.

1.11. “Industrial property representation service organizations” are used to refer to organizations fully satisfying the conditions for providing industrial property presentation services according to provisions of industrial property legislation.

2. Objects of application

2.1. This Circular applies to all export goods and import goods, except for goods in the cases prescribed at Point 2.2 below.

2.2. This Circular shall not apply to goods exported or imported not for business purpose, including:

a/ Humanitarian aid goods;

b/ Goods in transit;

c/ Goods temporarily imported for re-export or goods temporarily exported for re-import in service of work and daily life of Vietnamese as well as foreign organizations and individuals within the diplomatic immunity quotas;

d/ Goods being presents, donations, moveable assets within duty-free quotas, personal belongings according to the limits prescribed by the Government.

Section 2. REQUESTS FOR APPLICATION OF MEASURES FOR BORDER CONTROL OF  INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY

3. The right to file applications requesting the application of measures for border control of  industrial property

3.1. Industrial property owners have the right to file applications requesting customs offices to apply measures for border control of  industrial property;

3.2. In cases where industrial property owners are licensees, the right provided for at Point 3.1 above shall arise only if licensors fail to exercise the right to file applications within three months after licensees so request and the import or export of goods by a third party may cause damage to licensees.

3.3. The right to file applications is evidenced in the following documents:

a/ Copies of protection titles or other documents evidencing that industrial property rights are protected in Vietnam;

b/ Copies of certificates of registered license contracts related to industrial property objects and currently in the valid duration, and other documents evidencing that applicants are licensees and that licensors fail to file applications according to the provisions of Point 3.2 of this Circular.

3.4. Persons with the right to file applications requesting the application of measures for border control of industrial property shall file their applications according to the following regulations:

a/ Individuals, legal persons and other subjects of Vietnam, and foreign individuals permanently residing in Vietnam may file by themselves or authorize industrial property representation service organizations to file applications;

b/ Foreign legal persons that have representative offices in Vietnam, foreign individuals or legal persons that have production or business establishments in Vietnam may authorize their representative offices, production or business establishments in Vietnam or industrial property representation service organizations to file applications;

Foreign individuals not permanently residing in Vietnam and having no production or business establishments in Vietnam or foreign legal persons having no lawful representatives and no production or business establishments in Vietnam may only authorize industrial property representation service organizations to file applications.

4. Conditions for requesting the application of measures for border control of  industrial property

4.1. Requests for supervision and detection of goods with counterfeit trademarks shall be executed when industrial property owners of trademarks, though having no detailed information on specific export goods or import goods lots suspected to be goods with counterfeit trademarks, have detailed information which may help detect goods with counterfeit trademarks, including:

a/ Detailed description of goods with counterfeit trademarks, photos of genuine goods and goods with counterfeit trademarks, features for distinguishing genuine goods from goods with counterfeit trademarks;

b/ List of lawful exporters or importers; list of persons suspected of exporting or importing goods with counterfeit trademarks; goods sources;

c/ Export or import modes; packing methods; selling prices of genuine goods and counterfeit goods;

d/ Regular exporting or importing countries and other information related to the export or import of goods with counterfeit trademarks.

4.2. Requests for suspension of customs procedures shall be executed against specific export or import goods lots suspected to be infringing upon industrial property rights when industrial property owners have information which may help identify such export or import goods lots, including:

a/ Industrial property objects suspected of being infringed upon;

b/ Names and addresses of exporters or importers;

c/ Presumptive information on time and places for carrying out export or import procedures;

d/ Detailed descriptions or photos of goods infringing upon industrial property rights;

e/ Results of expertise of primary evidences (if any) by the agency in charge of industrial property management.

4.3. Industrial property owners that request the application of measures for border control of  industrial property must have all the conditions to ensure payment of expenses and damages incurred due to the suspension of customs procedures at their requests in cases where goods for which customs procedures are suspended are determined as having not infringed upon industrial property rights.

The above-mentioned conditions for the fulfillment of financial obligations include:

a/ Voucher of payment of escrow sum, which is equal to 20% of the goods lot’s value inscribed in the contract or at least VND 20 million (in cases where the value of the goods lot suspected of infringement is unknown), into a custody account of the customs office at the State Treasury;

b/ Guarantee warrant of a credit institution or another organization licensed to conduct some banking operations, pledging to pay all expenses and damages incurred by the goods lot owner due to the suspension of customs procedures in cases where the held-off goods are determined as having not infringed upon industrial property rights.

5. Time limits for, and scope of, requests for application of measures for border control of  industrial property

5.1. Industrial property owners may request customs offices to apply measures for border control of industrial property within one year, for goods with counterfeit trademarks, or three months, for goods suspected of infringing upon industrial property rights, after the date of application filing. The above-said time limits may be prolonged for one year, for goods with counterfeit trademarks, or two months, for goods suspected of infringing upon industrial property rights, but must not exceed the duration for protection of concerned industrial property objects. Applicants shall have to pay fees for prolongation as prescribed.

5.2. Industrial property owners may request customs offices to apply border-control measures within specific border-gates under the management by one or many customs sub-departments or customs departments of provinces or cities.

6. Applications requesting the application of measures for border control of  industrial property

6.1. An application requesting the supervision and detection of goods with counterfeit trademarks consists of the following documents:

a/ The application (made according to a set form);

b/ Documents evidencing the right to file applications according to the provisions of Point 3 of this Circular;

c/ Letter of authorization to file application (in cases where the application is filed through an industrial property representation service organization or another authorized person according to the provisions of Point 3.4 of this Circular);

d/ Information on or opinions of the agency in charge of industrial property management regarding primary evidences (if any) permitting customs offices to identify goods with counterfeit trademarks according to the provisions of Point 4.1. of this Circular.

6.2. An application requesting the suspension of customs procedures for export goods or import goods suspected of infringing upon industrial property rights consists of the following documents:

a/ The application for suspension of customs procedures (made according to a set form);

b/ Letter of authorization to file application (in cases where the application is filed through an industrial property representation service organization or another authorized person according to the provisions of Point 3.4 of this Circular);

c/ Documents evidencing the right to file applications according to the provisions of Point 3 of this Circular;

d/ Primary evidences against export goods or import goods suspected of infringing upon industrial property rights according to the provisions of Point 4.2 of this Circular.

e/ Warrants guaranteeing the fulfillment of financial obligations prescribed at Point 4.3 of this Circular (if any).

6.3. For cases where information on goods with counterfeit trademarks have been recorded at customs offices, applicants shall not have to file documents prescribed in Paragraphs b and c, Point 6.2, provided that they can point out numeral signs of already accepted applications requesting supervision and detection of goods with counterfeit trademarks.

7. Competence to receive applications requesting the application of measures for border control of  industrial property

7.1. Customs Sub-Departments are competent to receive applications if the requested application scope of control measures are within the border-gates under their respective management;

7.2. Provincial/municipal Customs Departments are competent to receive applications if the requested application scope of control measures are within the border-gates under their respective management;

7.3. The General Department of Customs is competent to receive applications if the requested application scope of control measures are within the border-gates under management by two or more provincial/municipal Customs Departments.

8. Processing of applications

8.1. Within 30 days after receiving applications requesting the supervision and detection of goods with counterfeit trademarks or within 24 working hours after receiving applications requesting the suspension of customs procedures, customs offices shall have to examine applications according to the following regulations:

a/ Heads of the customs offices where applications are received shall issue notices on acceptance of applications and acknowledge the information contained in the applications if such applications do not fall into the cases specified in Paragraphs b and c of this Point.

b/ Heads of the customs offices where applications are received shall notify errors and omissions of applications to applicants and request them to correct such errors within 30 days, for applications requesting detection of goods with counterfeit trademarks and 3 days, for applications requesting the suspension of customs procedures, counting from the date of notification, if the applications fall into the following cases:

(i) They do not fully contain the documents prescribed at Point 6 of this Circular;

(ii) They are made not according to set forms, or do not fully contain information as required;

(iii) They are not filed according to the provisions of Point 3.4 of this Circular;

(iv) They do not fully contain detailed information to help customs offices detect goods with counterfeit trademarks or goods suspected of infringing upon industrial property rights according to the provisions of Point 4.1 or 4.2 of this Circular.

c/ Heads of the customs offices where applications are received shall issue notices on refusal to accept such applications in the following cases:

(i) Application-receiving agencies are incompetent to receive applications according to the provisions of Point 7 of this Circular; or

(ii) There are grounds to affirm that applicants have no right to file applications according to the provisions of Points 3.1 and 3.2 of this Circular; or

(iii) Applications still have errors or omissions and applicants, though having been requested to correct such errors or omissions, still fail to correct them or make inadequate corrections.

8.2. At requests of industrial property owners, customs offices which have accepted applications shall have to additionally record all changes in already recorded information on the condition that the requesters pay fee therefor as prescribed.

Section 3. APPLICATION OF MEASURES FOR BORDER CONTROL OF  INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY

9. Bases, time limit for, and objects of, application of measures for border control of  industrial property

Customs offices shall base themselves on the following to apply measures prescribed in this Section:

9.1. Applications requesting supervision and detection of goods with counterfeit trademarks already recorded according to the provisions of Point 8 of this Circular, within one year after such applications are filed;

9.2. Applications requesting the suspension of customs procedures for specific export or import goods lots having features stated in such applications, and within 3 months after such applications are filed.

10. Responsibilities to apply measures for border control of  industrial property

10.1. The General Department of Customs and the Customs Departments, which have accepted applications, shall supply the Customs Sub-Departments requested to apply control measures stated in such applications with the already recorded information on goods with counterfeit trademarks and goods showing signs of industrial property right infringement, and direct the organization of application of the measures prescribed in this Chapter.

10.2. Customs Sub-Departments, which have accepted applications or received information on applications from superior agencies, shall organize inspection and detection of goods with counterfeit trademarks and goods showing signs of industrial property right infringements on the basis of already supplied information, and apply measures for border control of industrial property according to the procedures prescribed in this Chapter.

11. Inspection, detection of, and suspension of customs procedures for, goods with counterfeit trademarks and goods suspected of infringing upon industrial property rights

11.1. Basing themselves on recorded information stated in already accepted applications requesting the application of measures for border control of industrial property, Customs Sub-Departments shall have to organize the inspection and detection of goods suspected of having counterfeit trademarks and infringing upon industrial property rights.

11.2. When detecting lots of goods suspected of having counterfeit trademarks or infringing upon industrial property rights, directors of Customs Sub-Departments may suspend the customs procedures and promptly notify such in writing to applicants requesting them to submit warrants guaranteeing the fulfillment of financial obligations according to the provisions of Point 4.3 of this Circular (if they have not yet submitted them) within 3 working days after the date of notification.

a/ In cases where applicants fail to satisfy the above-said requests, the Customs Sub-Departments shall continue carrying out the customs procedures for such goods lots.

b/ In cases where applicants satisfy the above-said requests, the directors of the Customs Sub-Departments shall issue decisions on suspension of customs procedures for such goods lots and promptly send these decisions to the concerned parties.

Decisions on suspension of customs procedures must clearly identify goods lots for which customs procedures are suspended; names, addresses, fax numbers and telephone numbers of good lots’ owners and applicants; industrial property owners; reasons for, and duration of, suspension of customs procedures.

12. Duration of suspension of customs procedures

12.1. Duration of suspension of customs procedures shall be 10 days after decisions thereon are issued.

Directors of Customs Sub-Departments may issue decisions to prolong duration of suspension of customs procedures for a maximum additional duration of 10 days if applicants, within the duration of suspension of customs procedures, so request and additionally pay an escrow sum prescribed at Point 4.3.a of this Circular. In cases where declarations had been registered for acceptance, but then customs procedures have been suspended for the customs offices to inspect and verify legal status regarding industrial property, the time limit for payment of taxes (if any) shall be counted from the date of issuance of decisions on resumption of customs procedures for such goods lots.

12.2. Time for customs offices to verify legal status in terms of industrial property of goods subject to suspension of customs procedures according to the provisions of Point 14.5 of this Circular shall not be accounted into the duration prescribed at Point 12.1 above.

13. Inspection and gathering of evidences on industrial property right-infringing goods

13.1. Within the duration of suspension of customs procedures, at requests of applicants or goods lots’ owners, customs offices shall organize the inspection of goods lots subject to suspension of customs procedures by the concerned parties to gather evidences and information on such goods lots.

13.2. Evidences on goods subject to suspension of customs procedures may be gathered in forms of detailed descriptions of typical features of goods, photos of goods, samples of goods or goods packing in cases of necessity and pertinence. Evidences to be submitted to agencies competent to expertise them and settle disputes (depending on requests of concerned parties) must be sealed up by Customs Sub-Departments.

14. Determination of legal status in terms of industrial property of goods subject to suspension of customs procedures

14.1. Determination of legal status in terms of industrial property of goods subject to suspension of customs procedures means checking and conclusion on whether such goods are industrial property right-infringing goods or not, covering the determination of whether such goods:

a/ Contain infringing elements or not; and

b/ Are those already introduced into Vietnamese or foreign markets by industrial property owners or persons permitted by industrial property owners or persons with prior use right or not.

14.2. Customs offices shall carry out the procedures for determining legal status in terms of industrial property of goods subject to suspension of customs procedures if:

a/ Within the duration of suspension of customs procedures, applicants submit to Customs Sub-Departments applications requesting the handling of acts of infringing upon industrial property rights enclosed with evidences, arguments and documents or written industrial property expertise conclusions of the agency in charge of industrial property management affirming that goods subject to suspension of customs procedures are those infringing upon industrial property rights;

b/ Within 30 days after the issuance of decisions on resumption of customs procedures for the goods lots according to the provisions of Point 15.1.e of this Circular, applicants submit to Customs Sub-Departments applications requesting the handling of acts of infringing upon industrial property rights enclosed with evidences, arguments and documents or written conclusions on industrial property expertise by the agency in charge of industrial property management affirming that goods subject to customs procedure suspension are those infringing upon industrial property rights. 

14.3. The identification of infringing elements of goods must comply with the provisions of industrial property legislation

Bases for identifying infringing elements are evidences, arguments and documents supplied by applicants and goods lots’ owners.

Bases for determining whether goods subject to customs procedure suspension are those already marketed by industrial property owners, persons permitted by industrial property owners or persons with prior use right or not are evidences, arguments and documents proving such determination supplied by goods lots’ owners.

14.4. Customs Sub-Departments may request applicants to send expertise-soliciting letters to the agency in charge of State management over industrial property for its concluding opinions if they cannot determine by themselves the legal status in terms of industrial property of goods subject to customs procedure suspension on the basis of supplied evidences, arguments and documents.

All evidences, arguments and documents used by Customs Sub-Departments to make conclusions on the legal status of goods subject to customs procedure suspension, regardless of their suppliers, must be notified to other parties for their comments.

14.5. The time limit for determining legal status in terms of industrial property of goods subject to customs procedure suspension shall be 10 days counting from the date of filing the applications requesting the handling of acts infringing upon industrial property rights according to the provisions of Point 14.2 above. The time for concerned parties to add evidences, arguments and documents, or the time for soliciting expertise at the National Office of Intellectual Property or provincial/municipal Science and Technology Services at requests of Customs Sub-Departments shall not be accounted into the above-said time limit.

15. Resumption of customs procedures for goods subject to customs procedure suspension and handling of concerned parties

15.1. Directors of Customs Sub-Departments shall issue decisions on resumption of customs procedures for goods lots subject to customs procedure suspension in the following cases:

a/ Upon expiry of the duration of suspension of customs procedures set in decisions on suspension of customs procedures, Customs Sub-Departments still receive none of the following documents:

(i) Applications requesting the handling of acts of infringing upon industrial property rights of applicants, enclosed with evidences, arguments and documents or written conclusions on industrial property expertise by the agency in charge of industrial property management, which shall serve as basis for determining legal status in terms of industrial property of the goods lots subject to customs procedure suspension; or

(ii) Written certifications of competent State management agencies or courts, stating that they have received applications requesting settlement of disputes over industrial property right infringements related to goods lots subject to customs procedure suspension.

b/ Results of determination of legal status in terms of industrial property affirm that goods lots subject to customs procedure suspension are not infringing upon industrial property rights;

c/ Customs Sub-Departments receive decisions of agencies competent to settle industrial property-related disputes, which affirm that goods lots subject to customs procedure suspension are not infringing upon industrial property rights;

d/ Decisions on suspension of customs procedures are cancelled or withdrawn under complaint-settling decisions;

e/ Applicants withdraw their applications requesting suspension of customs procedures;

f/ Goods subject to customs procedure suspension are those suspected of infringing upon industrial property rights over inventions, utility solutions, industrial designs, semi-conductor integrated circuit layout designs or business secrets, and goods lots’ owners request the resumption of customs procedures (provided that goods samples must be kept for use as grounds for subsequent handling) and at the same time remit into custody accounts of customs offices at the State Treasury an escrow equal to 20% of the goods lots’ contractual value.

15.2. Customs offices shall be free from liability for suspension of customs procedures at requests of applicants and apply measures to handle concerned parties as follows:

a/ For the cases mentioned at Points 15.1.a thru 15.1.e of this Circular, customs offices shall perform the following jobs:

(i) Issuing decisions compelling applicants to pay expenses incurred to goods lots’ owners due to wrong suspension of customs procedures. Incurred expenses include charge for storing, loading, unloading and preservation of goods. Damage caused by suspension of customs procedures shall be agreed upon by the two parties or determined according to civil procedures.

(ii) Refunding escrow sums already remitted into custody accounts of customs offices or guarantee warrants of credit institutions to applicants after the latter fulfill the obligation to pay incurred expenses and damages under decisions of customs offices or agencies competent to settle disputes or complaints over industrial property related to such goods lots (if any);

(iii) Making written records of administrative violations and requesting competent agencies to issue decisions on sanctioning applicants for acts of exercising industrial property rights for unfair competition purpose according to the provisions of the legal documents guiding the handling of administrative violations in industrial property domain.

b/ For the cases mentioned at Point 15.1.f of this Circular, customs offices shall apply the following handling measures:

(i) Refunding escrow sums already remitted into custody accounts of customs offices to goods lots’ owners if:

- Upon expiry of the time limit of 30 working days after the issuance of decisions on resumption of customs procedures, applicants do not file with customs offices applications requesting the handling of acts of infringing upon industrial property rights, enclosed with evidences, arguments and documents or written conclusions on industrial property expertise by the agency in charge of industrial property management affirming that goods subject to customs procedure suspension are infringing upon industrial property rights, or fail to submit courts’ written certifications that they have received requests for settlement of disputes over industrial property infringements related to such goods lots.

- Goods subject to customs procedure suspension are not infringing upon industrial property rights.

(ii) Issuing decisions on sanctioning of administrative violations committed by goods lots’ owners according to the provisions of Points 16.1 and 17.2, Section 3 of this Circular, and refunding escrow sums or guarantee warrants of credit institutions to applicants in case of conclusions that goods subject to customs procedure suspension are infringing upon industrial property rights.

16. Handling of concerned parties in cases where goods subject to customs procedure suspension are determined as infringing upon industrial property rights

In cases where Customs Sub-Departments conclude that goods subject to customs procedure  suspension are infringing upon industrial property rights, their directors shall transfer dossiers thereof enclosed with their case handling proposals to provincial/municipal Customs Departments, so that their directors shall issue decisions on:

16.1. Sanctioning of administrative violations committed by goods lots’ owners with sanctioning forms and levels corresponding to violation acts as prescribed in documents guiding the sanctioning of administrative violations in industrial property domain;

16.2. Refunding escrow sums already remitted into custody accounts of customs offices or guarantee warrants of credit institutions to applicants.

17. Handling of industrial property right-infringing export goods or import goods

17.1. The application of measures to handle industrial property right-infringing goods must comply with the following principles:

a/ Industrial property right-infringing goods shall be handled according to the provisions of the July 2, 2002 Ordinance on Handling of Administrative Violations, the Government’s Decree No. 134/2003/ND-CP of November 14, 2003 detailing the implementation of a number of articles of the 2002 Ordinance on Handling of Administrative Violations, decrees and documents guiding the sanctioning of administrative violations in the industrial property domain;

b/ Measures of handling industrial property right-infringing export goods or import goods must ensure prompt prevention of infringing acts, preclusion of further violations and protection of legitimate rights and interests of concerned industrial property owners.

c/ Measures of compelling the exclusion of infringing elements shall be applied only to goods from which infringing elements can be removed, e.g. goods consisting of parts which contain detachable infringing elements such as detachable labels, decals, or packing and product parts which can be knocked down.

d/ Measures of compelling re-export shall be applied to goods with counterfeit trademarks if such counterfeit trademarks are removed.

e/ Measures of confiscation shall be applied to industrial property right-infringing goods if infringing elements on such goods are irremovable.

f/ Measures of distributing confiscated goods to subjects for use thereof not for business purposes (humanitarian organizations, organizations operating for social welfare, public research or educational organizations, etc.) shall be applied if industrial property owners make no sound objections.

g/ Measures of destroying confiscated goods shall be applied if such goods have no or no longer have use values; or decals, product labels or product packing contain infringing elements; or such goods fail to meet the conditions for being handled by the above-said measures.

17.2. Competence, procedures for and forms of handling industrial property right-infringing goods subject to customs procedure suspension must comply with the provisions of the July 2, 2002 Ordinance on Handling of Administrative Violations, the Government’s Decree No. 134/2003/ND-CP of November 14, 2003 detailing the implementation of a number of articles of the 2002 Ordinance on Handling of Administrative Violations, decrees and documents guiding the sanctioning of administrative violations in industrial property domain.

Section 4. IMPLEMENTATION PROVISIONS

18. Complaints

18.1. Goods lots’ owners and applicants may lodge complaints about decisions or conclusions of customs offices on the application of measures for border control of  industrial property.

18.2. Complainants and agencies competent to settle complaints must strictly comply with the order and procedures for lodging and settling complaints prescribed in the Law on Complaints and Denunciations.

19. Responsibilities of industrial property owners

19.1. Industrial property owners have the responsibility to actively supply information related to industrial property right-infringing goods to customs offices, coordinate with the National Office of Intellectual Property and the General Department of Customs in fostering relevant professional knowledge for customs officers in order to raise their capability to recognize and take initiative in inspecting and stopping industrial property right-infringing goods at border-gates.

19.2. Industrial property owners may provide support funding to customs offices for destruction of industrial property right-infringing goods if expenses therefor cannot be recovered from goods lots’ owners.

20. Responsibilities of competent agencies

20.1. The General Department of Customs under the Finance Ministry shall have to organize the application of measures for border control of industrial property according to the provisions of this Circular.

20.2. The National Office of Intellectual Property under the Science and Technology Ministry shall have to supply the General Department of Customs with information on or related to industrial property objects currently protected in Vietnam and coordinate with the General Department of Customs in providing professional instructions and organizing professional fostering courses on industrial property for customs offices directly applying measures for border control of  industrial property.

20.3. The National Office of Intellectual Property and local agencies in charge of intellectual property management shall have to conduct industrial property expertise at requests of customs offices and concerned parties according to the competence and procedures prescribed by industrial property legislation.

21. Effect

This Circular takes effect 15 days after its publication in the Official Gazette. Any problems arising in the course of implementation should be reported to the Finance Ministry and the Science and Technology Ministry for timely adjustment and supplementation.

For the Minister of Finance
Vice Minister
TRUONG CHI TRUNG

For the Minister of Science and Technology
Vice Minister
BUI MANH HAI