Nguyen Thi Tuyet Nga
Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology and Education
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| Four-star OCOP-certified fish sauce produced by JiJi Ninh Thuan Food & Spice Co. Ltd. (Khanh Hoa province) sold on an e-commerce platform__Photo: VNA |
Amid the global shift toward a digital economy, intellectual property plays a key role as a driver boosting innovation and sustainable growth. According to the 2024 Global Innovation Index (GII) report published by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), Vietnam ranked 44th out of 142, continuing to be in the group of low- to medium-income countries with innovation performance surpassing that of developed countries.[1] This result not only shows progress in innovative capability but also highlights the requirement to improve the institutional framework, especially in intellectual property management.
Though the Intellectual Property Law was revised in 2022 and Vietnam has acceded to various treaties such as TRIPS, CPTPP and EVFTA, limitations still exist, such as cumbersome registration procedures, unclear mechanisms for intellectual property valuation and exploitation, and non-transparent handling of violations in the digital environment. In such circumstances, the improvement of intellectual property management policies not only aims to address such inadequacies but also represents a strategic requirement to ensure the legal system’s adaptability to the digital context while realizing the orientations set out by the Party for the development of a knowledge-based economy and innovation.
Necessity to strengthen intellectual property policy in the digital economy
In the context of comprehensive digitalization, intellectual property is no longer restricted in traditional forms but expanded to new areas such as software, big data, digital content, AI-generated products, or new technologies for the establishment of property rights such as blockchain and non-fungible tokens (NFT). These changes pose legal problems such as determination of owners for content created by AI, valuation and protection of digital assets as well as handling of violations in the digital environment. If the intellectual property management system is not reformed in time, the capability to protect legitimate interests will be reduced and the innovation environment will be weakened.
Improving intellectual property policy is a step to translate into practice the Party’s major guidelines on the development of a knowledge-based economy and international integration. In Resolution 11-NQ/TW (2017), the Party Central Committee requested the improvement of institutions on intellectual property toward encouraging innovation, ensuring transparency and reliability. The 13th National Party Congress’s Political Report (2021) clearly determined the orientations for the improvement of the legal framework on intellectual property, enhancing property rights protection and enforcement. The Politburo’s Resolution 52-NQ/TW (2019) on the Fourth Industrial Revolution also emphasized the necessity to protect and efficiently and rationally exploit intellectual property created by Vietnam, encouraging the commercialization and transfer of intellectual property rights, especially for domestic inventions. These orientations have been institutionalized in the intellectual property strategy toward 2030 under the Prime Minister’s Decision 1068/QD-TTg dated August 11, 2019, aiming to make Vietnam a nation leading ASEAN in innovative capability and intellectual property protection through solutions on improvement of institutions, valuation mechanism and efficient exploitation of intellectual property rights.
Intellectual property policy plays a foundational role in boosting innovation and raising labor productivity - the key element determining national competitiveness in the context of the digital economy. Intellectual property now is not only a protection tool but also a strategic economic resource, bringing about high values for cultural industry, information technology, hi-tech agriculture and knowledge-based fields. Though Vietnam has been recognized by international opinions as a nation with innovation performance surpassing the level of developed countries, limitations in institution, administration capability and mechanism for exploiting intellectual property remain major bottlenecks in the national innovation ecosystem.
Intellectual property management in the digital economy
In recent years, the system of policies on intellectual property management in Vietnam has seen important developments, step by step adapting to the requirements of the digital economy and to extensive and intensive international integration.
Regarding institutional building, Vietnam has demonstrated considerable efforts through amending the 2022 Law on Intellectual Property. This is an important landmark, aiming to revise regulations for conformity with reality and commitments in new-generation free trade agreements like CPTPP and EVFTA. The revised law aims to modernize the intellectual property rights protection system, promoting the commercialization of intellectual property and ensuring the effective enforcement of rights in the digital environment.
Regarding the modernization of management infrastructure, the Intellectual Property Office of Vietnam has actively applied information technology to activities of application processing, search and publication of industrial property. Specifically, WIPO IPAS (Intellectual Property Administration System) and level-4 online public service system have been developed, thus helping simplify the process and raise transparency. In 2023, the Office received 156,413 applications of various kinds, up 11 percent over 2022, and handled 125,778 applications, including 74,130 applications for registration of industrial property rights establishment (up 13.2 percent) and 51,648 applications and other requests (up 6.6 percent).[2]
Regarding international integration, Vietnam has become a member of various treaties on intellectual property, such as the Paris and Berne Conventions, the TRIPS Agreement, Madrid Agreement, Hague Convention, etc. These commitments have not only created a comprehensive legal framework for intellectual property protection but also spurred Vietnam to raise its institutional capability in the era of the digital economy. Particularly, the intellectual property provisions in new FTAs have required Vietnam to adjust many legal aspects such as protection of non-traditional trademarks (sound and scent marks), pharmaceutical data, and handling of violations in the cyber environment.
However, limitations remain in the system of Vietnam’s intellectual property policies, thus hindering the efficacy of intellectual property enforcement and exploitation in the context of digital economic development.
Limitations in the legal framework
Though Vietnam has amended the Intellectual Property Law, aiming to approach international standards, inconsistencies between this law and other relevant laws such as the Science and Technology Law, the Enterprise Law, the Public Property Law or the Law on Technology Transfer still exist. This has led to difficulties in determining ownership rights to intellectual property originating from the state budget, where the boundary between the roles of authors, sponsoring units and financing agencies has not been clarified. Intellectual property valuation without a standard framework and uniform methods has become another bottleneck, thus preventing intellectual property from being considered capable of operating in the capital market or being efficiently used in investment, capital contribution or as secured collateral. Research institutes and public universities, where intellectual property is generated, have struggled to find detailed guidance for commercialization or transfer of intellectual property rights in a transparent and efficient manner.
Limited capability to enforce rights
Although the legal system has prescribed fairly adequate remedies for handling violations, from administrative to criminal measures, most cases of violation only result in administratively sanctions, lacking the deterrent effect and failing to prevent recidivism. In the digital environment, violations have become increasingly sophisticated - from illegal software copying and counterfeit labeling on e-commerce platforms to illegal exploitation of digital content on social networks. However, management bodies still face difficulties due to a lack of professional human resources and digital supervision instruments as well as close coordination among concerned parties. Especially, the role and responsibilities of intermediaries in preventing and removing infringing content have not yet been clearly defined, thus leading to loopholes in handling cross-border violations.
Limited technology application in management
Though Vietnam has deployed a number of technical systems such as WIPO IPAS or online public services in the field of intellectual property, most of them remain at a basic administrative level. Such applications as AI, blockchain or big data have not yet been integrated into strategic functions like property valuation, automatic violation detection or violation risk forecasting. In addition, the current intellectual property database has not been connected with other systems such as customs, tax and market surveillance and court, thus causing difficulties in interdisciplinary coordination. More importantly, Vietnam’s legal framework is not flexible enough to regulate new forms of intellectual property such as NFT, digital content or intellectual products created by AI, which are growing fast but remain fraught with legal risks, if not controlled in a timely manner.
Social awareness and intellectual property management capability remain insufficient, thus creating a bottleneck to boosting innovation
While the digital economy requires enterprises to exploit intellectual property as a competitive advantage, many enterprises, particularly medium and small ones, have not yet incorporated intellectual property into their development strategies. The protection remains reluctant and commercialization remains limited. Meanwhile, management staff, particularly at the local level, remain professionally unqualified, thus leading to a practical gap between policies and enforcement, and to lower efficiency in supporting enterprises.
Solutions to enhance intellectual property management
To improve the legal framework for intellectual property toward consistency, transparency and adaptability to the digital economy
This is one of the urgent requirements at present. It demands the comprehensive review and revision of the Intellectual Property Law and other relevant laws such as the Enterprise Law, the Science and Technology Law, the Public Investment Law, etc., aiming to ensure uniformity in rights establishment, valuation, commercialization, and the handling of intellectual property violations. At the same time, it is necessary to elaborate separate legal provisions to regulate new types of intellectual property arising from technological advances, including big data, digital assets, and AI-generated content based on blockchain technology. It is also a need to issue detailed guidance on the valuation of intangible property, especially in the environment of digitalization, with a view to efficiently serving economic activities such as enterprise equitization, capital contribution for investment, transfer or use as collateral.
To modernize intellectual property infrastructure and management
In the context of rapid development of the digital economy, the modernization of intellectual property infrastructure and management systems becomes the key element, aiming to heighten the enforcement effect and facilitate the exploitation and commercialization of intellectual property. It is foremost necessary to further invest in upgrading the level-4 online public service system in the field of industrial property while improving and expanding the WIPO IPAS platform for carrying out the complete process of application submission, appraisal, certificate issuance and inquiry into the status of complete, public and transparent online registration.
Besides, building connected databases between the Intellectual Property Office of Vietnam and such agencies as tax, customs, court, market surveillance a need is essential in order to enhance supervisory capacity, violation-handling coordination and support for valuation of intellectual property in the entire value chains. Particularly, in the context of increasingly sophisticated violations of intellectual property in the digital environment, Vietnam should apply blockchain technology to the grant and management of intellectual property certificates. This solution not only helps combat counterfeits, and ensure the certification and traceability of intellectual property but also creates a foundation for the development of electronic intellectual property transactions in a transparent and reliable manner. The modernization of the management system toward complete digitalization with data as the center is a strategic step for Vietnam to catch up with the global trend, step by step building an efficient, synchronous and sustainable intellectual property ecosystem.
To develop intellectual property human resources and raise social awareness of intellectual property
This is a key pillar to ensure efficient policy enforcement in the context of the rapid development of the digital economy. It is first necessary to develop regular, intensive, updated training programs for managerial officials in government bodies as well as enterprises, especially startup and technology enterprises. The training contents should focus on skills for intellectual property administration, evaluation, commercialization and technology transfer processes in the digitalization context.
In addition, regular education programs on intellectual property in the system of universities and post-graduate and vocational training institutions should be formulated, especially in the domains of technology, law, computer science, business administration and innovation. The early provision of intellectual property knowledge right at the training stage will help develop a mindset of respect, protection and reasonable exploitation of intellectual property in the process of startup and economic development.
In parallel with regular training, the dissemination of knowledge on intellectual property should be stepped up through mass media, social networks, exclusive television programs and e-learning. These forms not only help raise the community awareness of the role of intellectual property in developing the knowledge-based economy but also promote the active participation of the public and enterprises in innovation, protection registration and exploitation of intellectual property, thereby step by step forming a society attaching importance to innovation, laying a sustainable foundation for the knowledge-based economy in Vietnam.
To support commercialization of intellectual property and build an innovation ecosystem
This is a key factor that boosts knowledge transfer and increases the added value and efficient contributions of intellectual property to the development of the digital economy. It is primarily necessary to deploy policies to encourage the commercialization of research outcomes and inventions, including assisting enterprises in the intellectual property registration in domestic and international markets. This support will cover not only the registration costs but also legal consultancy, training in intellectual property administration skills and market connectivity.
In addition, it is necessary to develop such intermediate institutions as intellectual property evaluation centers, technology incubators and financial assistance funds for exploitation of intellectual property at universities, research institutes and hi-tech parks. These centers will act as a bridge between scientists and enterprises, helping materialize innovation ideas through support for pricing and valuation, capital raising, business model development and commercialization promotion.
It is essential to connect with international innovation networks, taking the utmost advantage of opportunities from treaties and free trade agreements in the field of intellectual property rights transfer. These cooperation frameworks not only expand the legal space for intellectual property protection and exploitation but also help Vietnam approach international standards, enhancing the capacity of the national innovation ecosystem. This is an important foundation for converting intellectual property into specific economic values, contributing to boosting sustainable growth and development of knowledge-based society.
Conclusion
In the context of rapid digital economic development, intellectual property is not only a legal tool to protect the interests of creators but also a strategic resource, promoting innovation, enhancing productivity and increasing national competitiveness. Hence, the improvement of intellectual property management policies is not only of immediate urgency but also long-term strategic significance for Vietnam’s sustainable development and international integration goals. Though important steps have been made in amending the legal framework, modernizing management infrastructure and expanding international cooperation, Vietnam’s intellectual property system still faces many challenges ranging from the lack of institutional synchrony and limited technological application to weak enforcement capacity and uneven social awareness. Without comprehensive and prompt reforms, these bottlenecks will continue obstructing the process of exploiting, commercializing and developing intellectual property in the digital environment with increasingly complex developments and fierce competition. So, the synchronous and effective application of the four central groups of solutions: legal improvement, technological modernization, human resource development, and innovation ecosystem building, constitutes a prerequisite for Vietnam to fully leverage the value of intellectual property, gradually enhancing its position in the global economy.-
Source: https://www.quanlynhanuoc.vn/2025/06/30/hoan-thien-chinh-sach-so-huu-tri-tue-trong-nen-kinh-te-so-o-viet-nam-hien-nay/
[1] World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) (2024, Global Innovation Index 2024 Unlocking the promise of social entrepreneurship https//www.wipo.int/edocs/en/wipo-pub-2000-2004-en-gu-2024.pdf.
[2] The Intellectual Property Office of Vietnam, 2023 annual report.
