ANT Lawyers, as a reliable English speaking law firm in Vietnam, we focus on providing possible solutions that best meet the needs of legal and business clients. We help customers achieve their goals while protecting their interests, minimizing risks, and complying with the law.
The common thread in everything our law firm does is our ability to combine both commercial and legal perspectives. This means our clients can rest assured that, whatever the case or transaction, our lawyers at the law firm in Vietnam have the experience to deliver legal advice and service that works in a commercial context.
The resolution of commercial disputes is a crucial aspect of the legal system, as it ensures that commerce can proceed smoothly and that parties can seek redress and enforcement of contracts.
Methods of resolving such disputes vary, including negotiation, mediation, arbitration, and, where necessary, litigation.
The objective in any commercial dispute resolution is not only to settle the case at hand but also to maintain a professional and cooperative relationship between the parties involved.
Commercial disputes, when resolved effectively, contribute to a stable and predictable business environment. This stability is essential for fostering confidence among investors and facilitating international as well as domestic trade.
In Vietnam, as in other market economies, the role of legal frameworks and institutions in handling commercial disputes is vital for the health and growth of the economy.
Vietnam lawyers, arbitrators, and judges specializing in commercial law play a critical role in interpreting contracts, applying the law, and ensuring that justice is served, which, in turn, upholds the principles of fair trade and competition that are essential to any thriving market economy.
Dispute Resolution with the Help of Arbitration Lawyers in Vietnam
Dispute Resolution Through Arbitration
Dispute resolution methods are litigation, negotiation, mediation and arbitration. Handling disputes requires the skills from litigation law firm with dispute lawyers in Vietnam whom bring in experience and knowledge to provide resolutions to complex cross-border issues, commercial and civil disputes. If the agreement between parties refer to arbitration as a method of dispute resolution, then it is suggested to engage arbitration lawyers in Vietnam for advice and representation.
Litigation at court or dispute through arbitration
In Vietnam, most of contracts refer to litigation at court as a method of dispute resolution. The overload of works the court might make dispute resolution taking over a long period of time, discouraging disputants to use litigation at court. Thing has changed over the last 10 years or so after the introduction of Law on Arbitration. In the current business environment, many lawyers have been introduced to arbitration as an effective ways to resolve disputes whom in term refer clients to use arbitration clause in the contract.
ANT Lawyers is a law firm in Vietnam with offices in Hanoi, Danang and Ho Chi Minh City. We are an exclusive Vietnam law firm member of Prae Legal, a global law firm network spanning 5 continents and 150 countries through which we have built up relationship with lawyers from all parts of the world. This cooperation allow ANT Lawyers to handle cases involving matters of international nature involving foreigners.
English speaking law firm in Vietnam
ANT Lawyers, as a reliable English speaking law firm in Vietnam, we focus on providing possible solutions that best meet the needs of legal and business clients. We help customers achieve their goals while protecting their interests, minimizing risks, and complying with the law.
The law firm works with corporate and individual clients from across the sectors and offers a true spectrum of legal expertise, both contentious and non-contentious. Highly professional staff and great experience enables us to advise on various matters from the precedent-setting to the purely procedural.
The common thread in everything our law firm does is our ability to combine both commercial and legal perspectives. This means our clients can rest assured that, whatever the case or transaction, our lawyers at the law firm in Vietnam have the experience to deliver legal advice and service that works in a commercial context.
Our lawyers offer client with particular services that guide clients throughout investment, commercial transaction, M&A, civil transaction, property sales and purchase, IP registration, and dispute resolution procedures.
We help clients to overcome cultural barriers and achievie their strategic and financial results, anh in the meantime ensure best interest protection, risk minimization, and regulatory compliance.
Tell us how we can be of service and one of our team members will contact you. Email: ant@antlawyers.vn, Tel: +84 28 730 86 529
ANT Lawyers, as a reliable English speaking law firm in Vietnam, we focus on providing possible solutions that best meet the needs of legal and business clients. We help customers achieve their goals while protecting their interests, minimizing risks, and complying with the law.
The common thread in everything our law firm does is our ability to combine both commercial and legal perspectives. This means our clients can rest assured that, whatever the case or transaction, our lawyers at the law firm in Vietnam have the experience to deliver legal advice and service that works in a commercial context.
Investors could choose different forms depending on the needs and capacity on the ability to raise capital and sharing the risk in business as well as the management and operating costs. Each form will have its own organizational structure, operating mechanism, rights and obligations specified under Law on Enterprise 2014.
Currently, Limited Liability Company (“LTD”) and Joint Stock Company (“JSC”) are two popular enterprise forms operating in Vietnam.
What is the difference between these two forms of companies?
I. Organizational Structure
Number of members/shareholders:
LTD
-Single member LTD: Having only one member (member can be an organization or an individual);
-Multi members LTD: Having at least 2 members and not exceed 50 members (member can be an organization or an individual).
JSC
Joint Stock Company has at least 3 shareholders and not limit the maximum number.
Management structure
LTD
-Single member LTD
Single member LTD owner by an organization shall be organized under two models: Company president, Director/General director and Supervisor; (OR) Members Council, Director/General director and Supervisor.
Single member LTD owner by an individual shall be organized as follows: Company president, Director/General director.
-Multi members LTD
Multi members shall be organized by: LTD Council members, Chairman of the Members Council and Director/General director;
Multi members LTD having 11 members or more shall establish the Board of Supervisors.
JSC
JSC can be organized under two models: General Meeting of Shareholders, Board of Directors, Board of Supervisors and Director/General director; (OR) General Meeting of Shareholders, Board of Directors (Board of Internal Supervisors under Board of Directors) and Director/General director.
II. Capital Contribution
Raising capital
LTD
-Single member LTD: Owner increases charter capital
-Multi members LTD: Members increase their charter capital, or increasing the number of capital contributors
JSC
Different from LTD, JSC can raise its capital by various methods as follows: Selling shares to existing shareholders; Selling shares individually to non-shareholders; Issuing shares on the stock market.
Transfer of contributed capital
LTD
-Single member LTD: Owner transfers a part of contributed capital to other persons and this could lead to changes of the type of business or other procedures if all capital is transferred (for instance in a M&A deal).
-Multi members LTD: Offer the stakes to other members in proportion to their stakes in the company under the same conditions; The stakes could only be transferred to other persons if the members do not buy or do not buy completely within 30 days from the offering date.
JSC
The shareholders of JSC are free for transfer their contributed capital after 03 years from the establishment.
Having said that, LTD is a type of enterprise that the capital contribution is not the only link between the members of the company but they are also linked together by relationship. They may be acquaintances and trust each other to jointly contribute capital to establish an enterprise. Therefore, the management of the LTD is as complicated as JSC. With the larger the number of shareholders, the level of capital mobilization, voting power to decide on issues of the company based on the ratio of capital contribution of each shareholder, the management and operation of the JSC is more complex.
The ability to raise capital of a JSC is higher than a LTD. Because, JSC can issue shares to the public in the form of securities. When the stocks are listed on stock exchange, the information of company’s business operations must be public and more transparent.
The procedure to set up a company in form of an LTD or a JSC has not much differences.
ANT Lawyers is a law firm in Vietnam with English speaking lawyers, located in the business centers of Hanoi, Danang and Ho Chi Minh City to provide convenient access to our clients. With highly professional staff and great experience in foreign investment, we would like to support you to set up joint stock company in Vietnam.
Benefits of Setting Up Company in Ho Chi Minh City
Ho Chi Minh City is considered as Vietnam’s economic hub. During the long history of foundation and development, the city’s economy is growing constantly and motivating the development of the country.
Setting up company in Vietnam
The city is therefore considered as a potential investment environment for domestic investors as well as foreign investors. The investment through establishing companies and conducting business activities in Ho Chi Minh city certainly promises to achieve multiple benefits. These benefits come from the following reasons.
First, Ho Chi Minh City has strategic location advantage in Vietnam. Southeast Asia Region, Ho Chi Minh City is 1,700 km south of Hanoi, 297 km east of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, 881 km east of Bangkok, Thailand.
Food, glass, textiles, paper products, plastics, chemicals, building materials and machinery are produced here. Ho Chi Minh City accounts for 20% of total gross domestic product (GDP), 30% of industrial production and 40% of export products of Vietnam. The city also accounts for 33% of the national budget and 60% of foreign investment flows into the region. In the past few years, the economy have been grown at a rate greater than 10% (6% to 8% nationally).
Second, Ho Chi Minh City is home of well – qualified, abundant and young human resources.
With a population of more than 8 million, accounting for more than 10% of the total Vietnamese population, Ho Chi Minh City itself has potential employment market to make any business investment. The work force in Ho Chi Minh City was estimated to reach 4.7 million people in 2012, making up more than 50% of the total population of the city. The percentage of trained labor increased from 40% in 2005 to 55% in 2010 and was forecast to reach 70% in 2015. The percentage of labor source holding postgraduate degree is also increasing year by year and most of them tend to stay in the city after holding degrees. Ho Chi Minh City is also home to more than 80 universities and colleges, vocational schools with over 400,000 students providing an abundant trained work force.
With the above – mentioned abundant labor force, any companies set up in Ho Chi Minh City can easily recruit suitable employees in a short time..
Third, the city has modern and high infrastructure system. Namely, when setting up company in Vietnam, the owners will benefit from the modern and comprehensive infrastructure system.
Tan Son Nhat Airport is the largest airport in the country with the capacity to accommodate 20 million people a year. From Tan Son Nhat Airport, there are 50 routes to other countries all over the world such as China, Japan, Korea, Singapore, European countries, etc.
Saigon Port serves as a gateway to the Mekong River Delta, the South China Sea (83 km away from the sea) and the Asia continent. The port has a total area of 500,000 m2 with 5 terminals meeting the international standards, and it handles about 8.3 million tons of cargo annually. Throughout the history of foundation and development of Saigon, Saigon Port plays an important role in making Ho Chi Minh City a flourishing trading center. It accounts for a fifth of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product and almost a third of its industrial production.
Ho Chi Minh City is also home to industrial zones. According to the statistics of Cushman & Wakefield, the city has 18 industrial parks that are operating with a total area of 3635 ha. When investing in such industrial zones in Vietnam, enterprises can benefit from various incentive policies such as low rate tax or other incentive policies.
Telecommunication and information technology in the city is modern. The system of post and telecommunication in Ho Chi Minh meets international standard, providing fast, reliable and high quality services such as ADSL, rapid data transfer, wide broadband MAN. The Internet service in Ho Chi Minh city is also among the cheapest in the world.
Besides, the city is also considered the best working conditions. Enterprise will not be fear that it is not enough place for working. The city with the system of offices provide ideal working environment for all investors.
With highly professional staff and great experience in business in Vietnam, ANT Lawyers would like to support you in establish company in Vietnam.
What is the effect of an international patent application?
What is the effect of an international patent application?
In general terms, your international patent application, provided that it complies with the minimum requirements for obtaining an international filing date, has the effect of a national patent application (and certain regional patent applications) in or for all PCT Contracting States. Moreover, if you comply with certain formal requirements set out in the Treaty and Regulations, which are binding on all of the PCT Contracting States, subsequent adaptation to varying national (or regional) formal requirements (and the cost associated therewith) will not be necessary.
If you are looking for experienced IP services in Vietnam to help you with your PCT Patent Application in Vietnam, you should visit ANTLawyers. Our Patent attorneys have experience with the PCT Patent process and will work closely with you as you apply for your PCT in Vietnam.
Set up Business in Phu Quoc
Why Investors Should Set up Business in Phu Quoc?
The improvement in infrastructure system along with the preferential policies have stimulated investors to come to set up business in Phu Quoc and do company.
Phu Quoc, an island in Kien Giang of Vietnam is in the top of three islands having tourism potential in Southeast Asia comparable to Phuket in Thailand and Bali in Indonesia. Phu Quoc has become a magnet for attracting huge investment flows from foreign investors in the area of real estate, entertainment, casinos, restaurant or food and beverage service business.
Phu Quoc has temperate weather throughout the year. There are also fresh and friendly forest – sea ecology and the modern transport system on the island with international airport and international hospital. Moreover, many infrastructure projects and international schools are under construction, which are necessary and favorable conditions to invite and attract investors to the Pearl Island for doing business.
Capital inflows to Phu Quoc have really exploded after the “knots” in investment were removed. The new airport went into operation that can welcome larger aircraft and serve more flights, in which there are more international direct flights from China, Singapore, Russia and Cambodia. The 51km long radial route on the island has been basically completed; the road around the island and the branch roads are also being deployed. The power grid was pulled from the mainland to the island, replacing the very high cost gasoline power in the past.
The real estate and tourism consultants all agree that Phu Quoc fully convergent elements of an attractive beach for tourist with year-round sunshine, many beautiful beaches such as Long Beach, Truong Beach, Khem Beach and immense virgin forest. Moreover, Phu Quoc has a strategic location with just 1-2 hours flight to the key tourism markets in Southeast Asia.
Both investment and tourism in Phu Quoc have entered the acceleration phase. By the end of July 2015, Phu Quoc has attracted nearly 200 investment projects, including 136 projects that are being implemented in the area of over 5,100 ha with total registered capitals of 6.5 billion USD. Just one part of those projects become reality then it will make Phu Quoc to become a leading tourist destination in Vietnam, ahead of Da Nang and Nha Trang, competing with the top destinations in the area as Phuket and Bali.
Some of the largest Vietnam corporations such as Vingroup, Sun Group, CEO Group, BIM Group are implementing the huge projects that could alter the appearance of the island. In which the giant in real estate sector – Vingroup has invested projects as: Vinpearl Resort on an area of 300 ha in Long Beach, the combining of golf course and safari zoo on an area of more than 2,000 ha, and the 80 ha commercial complex.
The improvement in infrastructure system along with the preferential business and legal environments i.e. favourable land rental rates, corporate income tax, exemption of visa for foreign tourists make Phu Quoc island of Kien Giang, Vietnam a new attractive place for investment.
ANT Lawyers, a law firm in Vietnam could offer service to set-up company in Vietnam. We assist clients needing legal service in obtaining investment certificate, business registration certificate, or other licensing procedures.
Dispute Attorneys in Hanoi
ANT Lawyers law firm could assist clients on dispute resolution matters throughout Vietnam from office in Hanoi.
Dispute attorney in Hanoi
We have dispute attorneys in Hanoi with qualification and experience to assist client to resolve dispute in Vietnam.
We have been representing clients in dispute in various sectors i.e. dispute in international trade, dispute in commercial transactions, dispute in partnership or shareholder agreement, dispute in property sales and purchase, dispute in intellectual property, dispute in finance, dispute in maritime matters.
Our expertise, experience, and understanding of Vietnam culture allow us to offer client a suitable and flexible solutions to the matters, taking into consideration of commercial perspective of the issues the client face, and take the client throughout the stages of litigation proceeding at Vietnam national or provincial courts, and arbitration centers.
If possible, we advise client on alternative dispute resolution, including mediation, which our lawyers are well trained and certified internationally in US and EU with adaption of skills to Vietnam cultures to help client resolve conflicts without formal proceeding to save cost, time and maintain the relationship between disputed parties.
Our dispute resolution practice at ANT Lawyers helps our clients with the following:
Negotiation: reviewing relevant contracts and documents, advising possible courses of action and negotiating with relevant parties before initiating the legal proceeding.
Litigation and legal representation: representing clients before Vietnamese courts and other Vietnamese authorities.
Arbitration: advising on choice of arbitration, drafting arbitration clause, and representing clients for recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitral awards.
Alternative proceedings: certain alternatives may be available for dispute resolution in Vietnam.
ANT Lawyers - a dispute law firm in Vietnam with international standard, local expertise and strong international network. We focus on customers’ needs and provide clients with a high quality legal advice and services.
You could learn more about ANT Lawyers Dispute Practice or contact our dispute attorney in Hanoi, for advice via email ant@antlawyers.vn or call our office at (+84) 24 730 86 529.
New Regulations of Intellectual Property Law in 2022
Intellectual property is currently playing a very important role in Vietnam and other countries around the world. With the participation in Trade Agreements and market expansion, the regulations on intellectual property have had many positive changes towards the protection and promotion of intellectual property rights and in line with the general trend of countries.
Intellectual property rights are the rights of organizations or individuals to trademarks, inventions, designs or other forms of creation. Currently, intellectual property rights are recognized as an asset class, which can constitute corporate assets. Popular groups of intellectual property today include: (i) Copyright; (ii) Inventions; (iii) Industrial design; (iv) Trademarks. These are objects created by thinking, mental labor, cognitive activities of people and protected by law.
Currently, intellectual property rights are governed by the 2005 Intellectual Property Law, which was amended and supplemented in 2009, and 2019. These are efforts in changing Vietnam’s legal system in raise awareness and perfect the legal system on intellectual property of Vietnam. Up to now, the Intellectual Property Law has created a legal corridor for organizations and individuals to establish and protect intellectual property rights, contributing to encouraging creative activities, and enhancing the value of intellectual property, wisdom. However, after 17 years since its promulgation, the Law on Intellectual Property has also arisen problems, inadequacies and incompatibility to ensure the implementation of commitments on intellectual property in trade agreements to which Vietnam is a member.
To implement the above guidelines and policies, the National Office of Intellectual has coordinated with relevant agencies to change and supplement regulations on intellectual property accordingly. Accordingly, the content of amendments to the Intellectual Property Law focuses on importnt groups of policies with about 100 amended and supplemented articles. Therefore, obstacles and inadequacies such as regulations on licensing of patents, industrial designs, layout designs and plant varieties are the result of scientific and technological tasks using the state budget; regulations relating to procedures for registration and establishment of intellectual property rights and validity of protection titles; regulations on security control for inventions before registration abroad; on compensation to patent owners for delays in marketing authorization of pharmaceutical products; on sound trademark protection; on geographical indication management; on liability for copyright and related rights for enterprises providing intermediary services.
In addition to the Draft of Intellectual Property Law, the Draft Circular is also proposed to stipulate economic – technical norms for a number of public services funded by the state budget, including training and retraining services on Intellectual Property, the service of confirming the validity of international registration of trademarks protected in Vietnam.
Moreover, the National Office of Intellectual also implemented the reform and modernization of the information technology system, reducing the burden of administrative procedures, internal processes to handle administrative procedures; actively review and evaluate administrative procedures and develop a plan for decentralization and simplification of administrative procedures in the field of intellectual property; organize the collection of fees and charges via commercial bank accounts and issue receipts of electronic fees and charges. In addition, the information synchronization for the Government’s National Public Service Portal is also interested in development.
The new Draft Law on Intellectual Property has many additions and adjustments in accordance with practical requirements and is expected to take effect, which will help solve problems that still exist. However, in order to ensure that the enforcement of intellectual property rights is effective and meets the set requirements, businesses need to pay attention and comply well with legal regulations.
If the client needs any other information or requires for further advice, our IP attorney in Vietnam at ANT Lawyers, the IP agent in Vietnam will be available for service.
Trademark infringement in Vietnam
How to Handle Trademark Infringement in Vietnam?
Counterfeit destroys businesses, business environments, markets as well as the image of the country. Handling trademark infringement in Vietnam has been practically challenging.
Vietnam government has been trying to curb the counterfeits however the results are limited. The counterfeit business generates huge profits due to the gap price anywhere in the world. Almost goods which is either popular or luxury, high or low-value of either domestic or foreign brands are being counterfeited, imitated in Vietnam. Falsification of household goods, food, cosmetics, shoes and items of higher value such as bags, watches, glasses, etc… may be found all over Vietnam. For effective anti-counterfeit, we need a close cooperation among the authority agencies in inspection, control of production, import and circulation in the market. The Southern Department of Goods Quality Control in Vietnam in one of its regular inspections when cooperating with competent agencies in Ho Chi Minh City found after checking 79 stores with 416 items including: oil, helmets, toys, electronic devices that 33.89% of goods of unsatisfactorily labeled, 14.5% unsatisfactory quality. Where the consumers buy counterfeit goods, they could and should report to State authorities, Anti-Counterfeit and Brand Protection Association as an effort to contribute to curbing counterfeit in Vietnam. The international brands being infringed could request assistance from local law firm in Vietnam.
We have dispute attorneys in Hanoi, Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City with qualification and experience to assist client to resolve dispute in Vietnam.
We have been representing clients in dispute in various sectors i.e. dispute in international trade, dispute in commercial transactions, dispute in partnership or shareholder agreement, dispute in property sales and purchase, dispute in intellectual property, dispute in real estate, dispute in banking and finance, dispute in maritime matters...
Our expertise, experience, and understanding of Vietnam culture allow us to offer client a suitable and flexible solutions to the matters, taking into consideration of commercial perspective of the issues the client face, and take the client throughout the stages of litigation proceeding at Vietnam national or provincial courts, and arbitration centers.
If possible, we advise client on alternative dispute resolution, including mediation, which our lawyers are well trained and certified internationally in US and EU with adaption of skills to Vietnam cultures to help client resolve conflicts without formal proceeding to save cost, time and maintain the relationship between disputed parties.
Our dispute resolution practice at ANT Lawyers helps our clients with the following:
Negotiation: reviewing relevant contracts and documents, advising possible courses of action and negotiating with relevant parties before initiating the legal proceeding.
Litigation and legal representation: representing clients before Vietnamese courts and other Vietnamese authorities.
Arbitration: advising on choice of arbitration, drafting arbitration clause, and representing clients for recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitral awards.
Alternative proceedings: certain alternatives may be available for dispute resolution in Vietnam.
ANT Lawyers - a dispute law firm in Vietnam with international standard, local expertise and strong international network. We focus on customers’ needs and provide clients with a high quality legal advice and services.
You could learn more about ANT Lawyers Dispute Practice or contact our dispute lawyers in Hanoi, dispute lawyers in Da Nang and dispute lawyers in Ho Chi Minh city for advice via email ant@antlawyers.vn or call our office at (+84) 24 730 86 529.
What Are New in Real Estate Trading Business in Vietnam From 2021?
What Are New in Real Estate Trading Business in Vietnam From 2021?
The Law on Investment 2020 takes effect from January 1, 2021 with many new highlights, including the amendment of conditions for real estate business in the Law on Real Estate Trading 2014.
Specifically, amending regulations on real estate business conditions in the Law on Real Estate Trading 2014 as follows: “Any organizations and individuals trading in real estate must set up enterprises or cooperatives (hereinafter referred to as an enterprise), except for the case specified in Clause 2 of this Article. ”
Clause 1, Article 10 of the 2014 Law on Real Estate Business stipulates that “Any organizations or individuals wish to conduct real estate trading shall set up enterprises or cooperatives (hereinafter referred to as enterprises) and have legal capital not smaller than VND 20 billion, excluding cases prescribed in Clause 2 of this Article.”
In addition, the Law on Investment 2020 also amends regulations on the competence to permit the transfer of all or a portion of real estate projects. For real estate projects approved by investors or granted an investment registration certificate in accordance with the Law on Investment, the competence and procedures for the transfer of all or a portion of the project comply with regulations of the Law on Investment. For real estate projects not falling into the above cases, the competence to permit the transfer of all or a portion of real estate projects is as follows: Provincial People’s Committee decides to allow the transfer of all or a portion of the real estate projects for projects decided by the provincial People’s Committee to invest; The Prime Minister shall decide to permit the transfer of all or a portion of real estate project to projects for which the investment is decided by the Prime Minister.
In case organizations, households or individuals sell, transfer, lease, or lease purchase real estate on a small scale, rarely, it is not required for real estate enterprise to be set up, but they must declare and pay taxes according to the provisions of law.
ANT Lawyers - a real estate dispute law firm in Vietnam with international standard, local expertise and strong international network. We focus on customers’ needs and provide clients with a high quality legal advice and services. For advice or service request, please contact us via email ant@antlawyers.vn, or call us +84 24 730 86 529.
The Dispute Settlement Mechanism of WTO
How Does Dispute Settlement Mechanism of WTO Work?
The dispute settlement mechanism of the World Trade Organization (WTO) is a succession of the dispute settlement rules that has been effective for nearly 50 years in the history of GATT 1947. The basic objective of this dispute resolution mechanism is to achieve a positive solution to the dispute. Vietnam is member of WTO therefore it could refer to dispute settlement mechanism of WTO in dispute against other country member.
When a dispute arises at the WTO, the parties will first conduct consultations to come up with a mutually agreed solution to resolve the case (Consultation – the stage of mediation), as usual in each case there is the participation of third parties (who are members of significant interest and desire to participate in the dispute resolution process), if they feel a significant interest in the case and should be considered by the panel. In the case of an unsuccessful inquiry, a panel of 3 to 5 members will be established and tasked with examining a particular issue in dispute on the basis of WTO rules cited by the claimant’s country.
After the establishment of a panel to review the complaint, the first thing that the panel needs to do is to set a timetable for its proceedings (Article 12.3 of the DSU). The panel procedure usually covers the contents set forth in Article 12 and Annex 3 of the DSU, including certain flexibility to ensure the quality of the report without delaying the proceedings. Setting a timetable helps the parties understand the contents and deadlines for each dispute, helping them be more proactive in presenting evidence, bases and arguments in their submitted documents.
After the hearings take place, the panel will enter the internal discussion phase (deliberation), to review the assessment of relevant legal, practical issues in accordance with the provisions of the WTO, the deliberation must be kept secret. These reports were drafted without the presence of the parties to the dispute, but only according to the content of the information provided and the comments made earlier. Individual opinions of jurors presented in a panel report shall not include the names of speakers of such opinions.
After the final report will be sent to the parties to the dispute within 2 weeks after the panel has concluded the mid-term review. Normally, every report of the panel has very large content, to facilitate the study of review by the appellate body and to quote case law, the report must show the table of contents and paragraphs which are separate numbered in the order of the report. If there is no appeal, the dispute resolution process will immediately go to the implementation stage after the DSB adopts a panel report. If there is an appeal, the case will be reviewed at the Appellate level.
It is important for Vietnam as member of WTO to be aware of the dispute settlement mechanism and fully prepared when having dispute against other country members in international trade dispute matters.
ANT Lawyers – A Law firm in Vietnam has law offices in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang. The lawyers at each law offices in Vietnam have consistently made valuable and important contributions to our profession through the cases we handled on daily basis to facilitate business transaction or represented our clients to access justice.
ANT Lawyers works with corporate and individual clients from across the sectors and offers a true spectrum of legal expertise, both contentious and non-contentious. The range of our experience enables us to advise on various matters from the precedent-setting to the purely procedural.
The common thread in everything we do is our ability to combine both commercial and legal perspectives. This means our clients can rest assured that, whatever the case or transaction, our lawyers have the experience to deliver legal advice and service that works in a commercial context.
Our English speaking lawyers at Ho Chi Minh City office offer client with particular services that guide clients throughout investment, commercial transaction, M&A, civil transaction, property sales and purchase, IP registration, and dispute resolution procedures.
Please contact us to book your time in advanced to let us provide our best service.
Call our office at (+84) 28 730 86 529 , send us email ant@antlawyers.vn or visit our English speaking law firms in Ho Chi Minh City at ANT Lawyers HCMC Branch, 7th Floor, Me Linh Point Tower, 2 Ngo Duc Ke Str., District 1, HCMC.
Let ANT Lawyers help your business in Vietnam
Conditions of Setting up Import and Export Company in Vietnam
Conditions of Setting up Import and Export Company in Vietnam
If a foreign-invested company wishes to apply for export/import or distribution rights, it has to submit the below listed documentation to the competent authorities:
1. Export/Import rights:
The foreign investors who invest to exercise right to export, right to import must follow procedures for grant of investment certificates; the foreign-invested enterprises in Vietnam which supplement the operational business activities for exercise of right to export, right to import must follow procedures for adjustment of investment certificates:
a. Dossier of verification for grant or adjustment of investment certificate as prescribed by law on investment;
b. A written explanation about the satisfaction of conditions in exercise of goods trading and directly related activities;
c. Documents proving the financial capability and experiences of investor in exercise of right to export and right to import;
d. Vouchers of tax agencies on performing the enterprise income tax liability within two consecutive years in the case the foreign-invested enterprises wish to supplement the exercise of right to export, right to import.
2. Trading activities/Distribution
The foreign investors with investment projects on exercise of goods trading and directly related activities in association with the setting up of enterprises must follow procedures for grant of investment certificates.
a. A dossier comprises:
i) Dossier of verification for grant of investment certificate as prescribed by law on investment;
ii) A written explanation about the satisfaction of conditions in exercise of goods trading and directly related activities according to the form MD-6 promulgated together with this Circular;
iii) Documents proving the financial capability and experiences of investor in exercise of business operation of goods trading and directly related activities.
b. After having acceptance opinion of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the competent state agencies shall grant investment certificate. The investment certificate shall concurrently be business license. Although not stipulated in the law, before granting an investment certificate with these business lines, the authorities usually consider application on case by case basis, taking into account market stability, population density in the area where the company is located and the consistency of the investment project with the master plan of the said area.
For these business lines the competent authorities must obtain the approval of the Ministry of Industry and Trade before issuing the investment certificate.
3. License for setting up retail establishments
If a foreign-invested enterprise wishes to set up a retail establishment in addition to the first retail establishment, it must follow procedures for license for setting up retail establishment, a dossier comprises:
a. Dossier of verification for grant or adjustment of investment certificate as prescribed by law on investment;
b. Dossier of license for setting up retail establishments, comprising:
i) Application for license to set up retail establishment;
ii) A written explanation about the satisfaction of conditions of setting retail establishments as per the law;
iii) Document of provincial People’s Committee that approves the working result of the Council of checking the economic demand to consider the conformity of setting up of a retail establishment in addition to the first retail establishment.
iv) Report on exercise of goods trading and directly related activities of licensed projects;
v)Vouchers, which are issued by tax agencies, about exercise of enterprise income tax liability in two adjacent years.
After having acceptance of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the competent state agency shall grant the license for the setting up of retail establishments.
Can Foreign Invested Enterprises Distribute Pharmaceutical Products in Vietnam?
Currently, with the complicated developments of the Covid-19 epidemic in the world in general and in Vietnam in particular, the research, production and import of Covid-19 vaccines are the matter that everyone is concerned about. On February 24th, 2021, the first batch of vaccine approved for import was transported to Vietnam by the Vietnam Vaccine Joint Stock Company.
Facing this situation, a number of foreign enterprises have expressed their opinions on the limitations imposed on foreign-invested enterprises in the field of distribution of pharmaceutical products in Vietnam. Vietnam has reserved no commitment to open the distribution of pharmaceutical products service market and has not committed to opening the distribution of pharmaceutical products service market under any trade agreement or international treaty up to the moment, because the pharmaceutical sector is sensitive, directly related to access to drugs and people’s health.
According to the provisions of the law, “distribution of pharmaceutical products” means the division, movement and storage of pharmaceutical products from the warehouse of the manufacturer/importer of such products or from a distributor to the end user thereof or to a distribution point or between distribution points by means of various transport methods. For distribution services, in the WTO Commitments, it is clear that pharmaceutical distribution services are excluded from the scope of commitments for all modes of supply. In addition, Appendix 03 of Circular 24/2016/TT- publicizing roadmaps for goods trade and goods trading directly related activities of foreign-invested enterprises in Vietnam, it is also recognized that pharmaceutical products are on the list of goods not entitled to distribution.
Regarding this issue, the Drug Administration of Vietnam expressed the following viewpoint: “The suspension of allowing foreign-invested enterprises in Vietnam to provide drug storage and transportation services is to prevent the distribution of disguised drugs in Vietnam, contributing to health security and towards the professionalization of the medicine distribution system in Vietnam.”
Point c, Clause 10, Article 91 of Decree 54/2017/ND-CP, effective from May 8, 2017, provides for cases ineligible to distribute drugs as follows:
“10. The entities that are entitled to import but not entitled to distribute drugs and medicinal ingredients in Vietnam must do activities related to distribution of drugs and medicinal ingredients in Vietnam except for drugs and medicinal ingredients they manufacture in Vietnam, including:
c) Providing drug/medicinal ingredient transport or storage services.”
According to this content, foreign-invested enterprises in Vietnam are not allowed to transport and preserve drugs, except for drugs and medicinal ingredients manufactured by that enterprise in Vietnam. It can be seen that the restriction on the right to distribute drugs to foreign-invested enterprises is aimed at ensuring health security, being proactive in drug supply and distribution, towards to professionalize the domestic drug distribution system as a foundation to support the development of the domestic pharmaceutical industry and contributing to better control of drug prices in the market.
ANT Lawyers – a law firm in Vietnam with international standard, local expertise and strong international network. We focus on customers’ needs and provide clients with a high quality legal advice and services. For advice or services request, please contact us via email ant@antlawyers.vn, or call us +84 24 730 86 529.
What are Tools Allow a Business to Protect Intellectual Property?
The Tools Allow a Business to Protect Intellectual Property
Intellectual property is something you have created. It is not just an idea. It must have a content. It can be material such as a design or immaterial such as a software.
Intellectual Property Rights in Vietnam
To protect intellectual property in a business, different tools can be used depending on your type of creation. There are two mainly different types of protections: automatic protection and protection you have to apply for.
1.Two types of automatic protections : Copyright and Design right
For these both protections you don’t to do any application or pay any fee. Copyright and Design right prevent people from using your work without your permission.
Copyright:
Copyright protection encompasses art, photography, web content, films, music…
To inform that your idea is protected you can mark your work with the following :
If your country has signed international agreements, your work can be protected overseas. Usually the protection lasts around 25 years for photographs and 50 years for the other types of work.
Design right:
Design right protects the shape and configuration of your object. To benefit from this right you will have to prove the date of creation. This protection lasts 10 years once it is sold and 15 years from its creation.
2. Application for protection : Trade marks, patents, registered designs
With the following protections you have the right to take a legal action against someone who uses your creation or invention without your permission.
Trade marks:
Logos, jingles and product names can be protected by Trademarks. The protection lasts 10 years. However it is renewable.
Patents:
A patent is an effective protection for your invention. However the process is time-consuming and very expensive. For instance your invention can be an artistic work, a playing game or a diagnosis. To benefit from this protection, your invention has to be new.
Registered designs:
By registering your design you protect its appearance, decoration or shape. The protection lasts up to 25 years (you have to renew it every 5 years).
At last, to protect your intellectual property you can also sign an non-disclosure agreement. In the contract you share confidential information that can include intellectual property. The second party is not allowed to disclose this information.
Source: Quora
ANT Lawyers, a law firm with a team of experienced lawyers, IP consultants and IP services in Vietnam in the field of Intellectual Property will help customers implement procedures for registering intellectual property rights in Vietnam the most effective way.
How to Obtain Business Registration Certificate in Vietnam
How to Obtain Business Registration Certificate in Vietnam?
Every organization and individual wishing to set up a foreign owned company in Vietnam shall need to meet some specifics conditions as promulgated under the Law on Investment and Law on Enterprise. In specific areas being considered as conditional investment, the investor shall also need to consult with the law governing the area of investment. Once the investment registration certificate is completed, the investor has the obligation to apply for enterprise registration.
The procedure to register for a certificate of enterprise registration of a joint stock company or limited liability with two or more members are herein mentioned:
Dossiers:
i) Application form for enterprise registration
ii) The company’s charter.
iii) A list of founding shareholders and shareholders being foreign investors/ a list of capital contribution members.
iv) Valid copies of:
Copies of the ID card or other ID papers of founding shareholders and foreign investors/members being individuals; list of authorized representatives of foreign shareholders being organizations.
Decision on establishment, certificate of business registration, or an equivalent document of the organization and the letter of authorization; the ID card or other ID papers of the authorized representatives of founding shareholders and foreign investors being organizations.
If shareholders are foreign organizations, the copy of the certificate of business registration or an equivalent document must be notarized, legalized and authenticated.
The Certificate of Investment registration of the foreign investors as prescribed by the Law on Investment.
State Authority: Business registration office of the province where the enterprise’s headquarters is situated.
Period: within 03 working days from the full receipt of the dossiers
Result: Business registration office shall issue the certificate of enterprise registration or if the application is not satisfactory, business registration office shall inform the applicant of necessary revisions and supplementation to company.
In general, Vietnam government encourages foreign direct investment. If the investor faces challenges at state authority, whom do not issue notification or request of supplementation to the application for enterprise registration, the investor cold lodge a complaint as prescribed by regulations of law on complaints and denunciation to the state authority to protect its right in doing business and investment in Vietnam. A law firm in Vietnam with expertise in both business registration and dispute resolution could assist the investor in the process.
The enterprise is entitled to do business from the issuance date of the certificate of enterprise registration. For conditional business lines, enterprises are entitled to engage in conditional business lines if they satisfy all conditions and are capable to maintain fulfillment of such conditions throughout their operation.
With highly professional staff and great experience in investment in Vietnam, ANT Lawyers would like to support you to register business registration certificate in Vietnam
A labor dispute is a dispute over rights, obligations and interests arising between parties in employment relationship. Labor disputes include individual labor disputes between employees and employers, and collective labor disputes between labor collectives and employers. When a labor dispute occurs, the competent agency, organization or individual will settle it on the basis of the measures and principles of labor dispute settlement prescribed in Chapter XIV of the Labor Code 2012.
Measures for resolving labor disputes include: negotiation, grassroots conciliation, settlement of individuals and organizations competent to settle labor disputes.
For individual labor dispute resolution, labor conciliator, People’s Court is an individual or organization competent to resolve disputes. Labor conciliator; Chairman of the district People’s Committee; The People’s Court is competent to resolve collective labor disputes over labor rights and conciliators; The Labor Arbitration Council is competent to settle collective labor disputes about benefits.
Negotiation is a method of resolving a dispute in which the parties to a dispute deal directly with each other in order to reach an agreement on the settlement of the dispute. In fact, this is the most widely used solution. During the negotiation process, the parties will discuss issues related to the dispute, and propose solutions to resolve that dispute. The decision is made on the basis of agreement between the parties themselves and is not the result of any external pressure.
Unlike negotiation, conciliation is a method of resolving disputes involving third parties but not third parties make decisions but only support and guide the parties to negotiate. Under the provisions of Clause 1, Article 201 of the Labor Code 2012, individual labor disputes must go through the conciliation procedure of a labor conciliator before requesting a court to settle them, except for labor disputes on disciplinary measures in the form of dismissal or disputes over the unilateral termination of the labor contract; compensation for damages, benefits when terminating a labor contract; between domestic servants and employers; on social insurance in accordance with the law on social insurance, on health insurance in accordance with the law on health insurance; on compensation for damages between laborers and enterprises and non-business units that send laborers to work abroad under contracts. If the two parties reach an agreement, the labor conciliator shall make a record of successful conciliation. On the contrary, the two parties cannot reach an agreement, and the labor conciliator issues a conciliation plan for the two parties to consider and if the two parties accept the conciliation plan, the labor conciliator shall make a record of successful conciliation. In case the two parties do not accept the conciliation plan or a disputing party has been duly summoned for the second time but still absent without plausible reasons, the labor conciliator shall make a record of unsuccessful conciliation.
Dispute resolution by the Chairman of the district People’s Committee is the method to be applied when there is a request for resolving a collective labor dispute on rights. Chairpersons of district-level People’s Committees shall base themselves on labor laws, collective labor agreements, registered labor rules and legal regulations and agreements to consider and settle labor disputes dynamic.
The Labor Arbitration Council is the competent authority to settle collective labor disputes about benefits. At the meeting of the Labor Arbitration Council, there must be representatives of both parties to the dispute. The Labor Arbitration Council has the responsibility to assist the parties in self-negotiation. In case the two parties reach an agreement or accept the mediation plan, the Labor Arbitration Council shall make a record of successful mediation and issue a decision recognizing the agreement of the parties. In case the two parties fail to reach an agreement or one of the disputing parties has been duly summoned for the second time but still absent without plausible reasons, the Labor Arbitration Council shall make a record of unsuccessful mediation and after within 03 days, the labor collective has the right to carry out the procedures to go on strike.
Trial is a mode of resolving individual labor disputes and collective labor disputes over rights, in which the Court will issue a judgment or decision to resolve the case. The settlement of labor disputes in court is generally the final settlement activity after the dispute has been settled at other stages with no results. The settlement of labor disputes at the Court is done by a judicial body with special state power, proceeding according to the strict procedures and procedures prescribed in the Civil Procedure Code 2015. The greatest advantage of this method of dispute resolution is that the court’s decisions on labor disputes are guaranteed to be enforced by state coercive measures.
Employees as well as the labor collective and employers should pay attention to selecting the most appropriate and optimal resolution solution when labor disputes occur. It is also suggested to consult with labour lawyers of law firm in Vietnam speacializing in employment matters for efficiency.
How to establish company in Vietnam?
Foreign investors may invest in the form of 100% capital to establish company in Vietnam, being limited liability company, joint stock company, partnership company.
How to establish company in Vietnam
Foreign investors that invest in Vietnam for the first time must have investment projects and fill in investment registration or examination procedures at state agencies in charge of investment in order to be granted investment registration certificates. Investment certificates shall concurrently be business registration certificates. Company with 100% foreign capital has founded and operated from the date of issuance of the investment certificate.
-Registration/Request for issuance of Investment Certificate;
-A report on financial capability of the investor;
-Draft of the company’s charter;
-List of members of company;
-Copy of the people’s identity card, passport or other lawful personal certification, for individual members;
-Copy of the establishment decision, business registration certificate or other equivalent document, for member organizations;
-Copies of the authorization document, the people’s identity card, passport or other lawful personal certification, for authorized representatives.
-Copies of the business registration certificates of the foreign member organizations must be authenticated within three months before the date of submission of the business registration dossier by agencies where such organizations are registered;
-Written authorization of the investor in case investor is organization and valid copy of the lawful personal certification of the authorized representative. Documents in foreign languages must be translated into Vietnamese, notarized and legalized;
-The joint-venture contract or Business Cooperation Contract (BCC);
-Other documents required by Vietnam law.
The establishment of a company in Vietnam would take from 30 days. The extra time might be needed in case the investment area is conditional or the State government needs to examine the investment project. Minimum capital, special licenses or other conditions might be required in certain investment projects.
With highly professional staff and great experience in foreign investment, ANT Lawyers would like to support you in establishing company in Vietnam.
ANT Lawyers, as a reliable law firm in Vietnam, we focus on providing possible solutions that best meet the needs of legal and business clients. We help customers achieve their goals while protecting their interests, minimizing risks, and complying with the law.
Joint Stock Company is an enterprise which has charter capital divided into equal portions called shares. The minimum number of shareholders shall be three and there shall be no restriction on the maximum number.
Shareholders shall be liable for the debts and other property obligations of the enterprise only within the amount of capital contributed to the enterprise.
Joint Stock Companies may issue all types of securities to raise funds. Founding shareholders must together register to subscribe at least twenty per cent (20%) of the number of ordinary shares which may be offered for sale.
The main difference between Joint Stock Company and Limited Liability Company is the Joint Stock Company can raise funds by offering shares or securities. In addition, an enterprise tends to join the Stock exchanges or public company must be a Joint Stock Company. Management system of Joint Stock Company is more complicated than Liability Company.
ANT Lawyers, a law firm in Vietnam could offer service to set up joint stock company in Vietnam. We assist clients needing legal service in obtaining investment certificate, business registration certificate, or other licensing procedures.
Anti-dumping Measures for H-shaped Steel Products From Malaysia Remain in Place
On August 18th, 2021, the Ministry of Industry and Trade issued the Decision No. 1975/QD-BCT on the application of official anti-dumping tax on some H-shaped steel products originating from Malaysia (“Decision No. 1975/QD-BCT”). Accordingly, the anti-dumping measures against a number of H-shaped steel products originating from Malaysia continue to be maintained under Decision No. 1162/QD-BCT dated April 02nd, 2021 of the Minister of Industry and Trade.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade started investigating the case on August 24th, 2020, the investigation process was carried out in accordance with the laws. On the basis of information collected from related parties, the Ministry of Industry and Trade has carefully considered and assessed the level of dumping of H-shaped steel products imported from Malaysia, the damages to the domestic industry as well as to assess the socio-economic impacts, including impacts on downstream industries and consumers.
According to Decision No. 1975/QD-BCT, the anti-dumping tax rate for some H-shaped steel products originating from Malaysia, holding HS codes: 7216.33.11, 7216.33.19, 7216.33.90, 7228.70.10 and 7228.70.90 is 10.64%. This tax rate is lower than the tax rate applied to H-shaped steel imported from China (about 22% on average) and also much lower than the proposed tax rate of the domestic manufacturing industry (16.30%). This anti-dumping tax is effective from August 21st, 2021 and has an application term of 05 years, the term above could be changed or extended in accordance with the laws.
In order to have a basis for determining the origin of imported goods subject to anti-dumping tax, the Customs authority will check the proofs of origin of goods, including:
(i) Certificate of Origin (C/O); or
(ii) Documents certifying the origin of goods in accordance with the provisions of:
-ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement;
-Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP);
-Free Trade Agreement between the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the European Union (EVFTA);
-Free Trade Agreement between the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
The above information is the regulation on application of official anti-dumping tax on some H-shaped steel products originating from Malaysia, organizations and individuals producing and exporting the above goods from Malaysia and relevant organizations and individuals need to know and implement according to the laws.
On June 29th, 2020, the Ministry of Industry and Trade issued Decision No. 1715/QD-BCT conducting an investigation on the investigation and application of anti-dumping measures on liquid sugar extracted from corn starch (HFCS) from China and Korea (Case No. AD11).
The investigation results show that HFCS liquid sugar products imported from China and Korea are being dumped in the Vietnamese market and have significantly damaged the domestic industry. However, the causal relationship between the dumping behavior of the investigated goods imported from China and Korea and the damage to the domestic industry has not been clearly shown.
Therefore, according to the provisions of Point b, Clause 3, Article 71 of the Law on Foreign Trade Management, the investigating agency proposed the Minister of Industry and Trade to stop investigating the case and not apply dumping measures on goods imported goods under investigation.
On October 07th, 2021, the Minister of Industry and Trade issued a Notice attached to Decision No. 2274/QD-BTC on termination of the investigation and non-application of anti-dumping measures for liquid sugar extracted from corn starch originating from the People’s Republic of China and the Republic of Korea.
If Client needs any more information or request for legal advice or potential dispute regarding trade remedies measures including, anti-dumping, countervailing duty and safeguard measures or international trade dispute matters, our competition, anti-dumping, and countervailing duty lawyers in Vietnam of International trade and tax practice at ANT Lawyers, an Anti-dumping law firm in Vietnam always follow up anti-dumping cases and its development to update clients on regular basis.
How Foreigners Can Extend Visa in Vietnam During Covid-19
Since the beginning of 2020, due to the impact of the Covid-19 epidemic, many foreign nationals entering Vietnam on a visa-free basis, entering with an e-visa or a tourist visa have been “stuck” in Viet Nam. In addition, Vietnam is restricting the issuance of new visas to foreign citizens to focus on the prevention of the Covid-19 epidemic, hence many foreign citizens in Vietnam cannot apply for a new visa, even though their visas have expired. Many foreigners have been concerning whether they can extend visa in Vietnam and seek help from best immigration lawyers in Vietnam for such queries.
To ensure the legal residence of these foreign citizens during the time when the world is facing the Covid-19 epidemic, Vietnam has “automatically extended temporary residence” status for foreign citizens in the above categories from March 01st, 2020 to the end of December 31, 2021. Foreign nationals who are automatically extended temporary residence do not need to apply for a new visa, however, they will renew their temporary residence every month to legally reside in Vietnam.
The automatic extension of temporary residence is also applied to cases of entry before March 01st, 2020 if they can be proven to be stranded due to the Covid-19 epidemic, certification of the Diplomatic missions by Diplomatic note (with Vietnamese translation) or a written certification from a Vietnamese competent authority about being isolated, treated for Covid-19 or other force majeure reasons.
In addition, to be automatically extended temporary residence, foreign citizens eligible for automatic extension of temporary residence must make temporary residence declaration and medical declaration according to regulations. In addition, foreign citizens need to comply with and not violate the law in Vietnam.
Automatic extension of temporary residence will help foreign citizens save time, cost, and travel restrictions during the outbreak of the pandemic as complex as it is today. However, the extended period of temporary residence is normally 30 days, hence the foreigners need to carry out the procedure to extend their temporary residence every month according to the notice of the Immigration Department.
In cases of extension of temporary residence, foreign citizens are allowed to temporarily reside in Vietnam for the permitted period and exit without declaration. After exiting the country, if they wish to return to Vietnam, foreign citizens must apply for a new visa in accordance with the law.
ANT Lawyers – A Law Firm in Vietnam with international standard, local expertise and strong international network. We focus on customers’ needs and provide clients with a high quality legal advice and services. For advice or services request, please contact us via email ant@antlawyers.vn, or call us +84 24 730 86 529.
Application of Administrative Measures to Protect Intellectual Property Rights in Vietnam
Since joining WTO, Vietnam has been coping to comply with the international commitments in general and intellectual property area in particular. In order to ensure fair legal environment and the benefits of intellectual property right holders, the Vietnam laws provide a number of ways in which holders can apply the following methods to protect their intellectual property rights in Vietnam:
Negotiation: requesting organizations, individuals committing infringement acts of intellectual property rights to terminate the infringing acts, apologize, publicly rectify and compensate damages;
Using administrative remedies: requesting the competent agencies to handle infringement acts of intellectual property rights;
Filing claim at court or arbitration center: initiating a lawsuit at a competent court or an arbitrator to protect their legitimate rights and interests;
Negotiation is often used in the first step to request the violator to stop the infringement of intellectual property rights. However, this measure is not potentially effective because it dependents on goodwill and cooperation of the violator as well as the legal basis, evidences that you can provide to demonstrate and warn of violating acts.
Relating to the dispute settlements, due to high costs, complicated procedures and extended time, this measure is not commonly selected as the best treatment.
In Vietnam, intellectual property infringement is mainly dealt with through administrative measures. Depending on their functions and responsibility, competent state management agencies deal with infringements of intellectual property rights as per request of the IP holders Currently, through the following agencies:
Inspectorate of the Ministry of Science and Technology;
Economic Police of the Ministry of Public Security and;
Market management of the Ministry of Industry and Trade.
1.Submission of a written request to terminate an infringement of intellectual property rights:
This step is optional to save costs for the infringed party as well as deal with the infringement on the basis of goodwill and cooperation. The infringed party should send documents, including a persuasive Cease and Desist letter and evidences, to the violator for the purpose of requesting them to terminate the violation and commit not to repeat the infringement in the future. In fact, many intellectual property right holders have reached their goals at this step providing that they can collect enough proof.
2.Requesting the competent state agencies to handle acts of infringement of intellectual property rights:
In this step, the infringed party must prove both its ownership to the intellectual property and information, evidence of the infringement by the infringing party.
The application of administrative remedies is effective handled, so it should be preferable to filling a lawsuit. After requesting the administrative agency to penalize the infringing party, the right holder still remain their right to initiate a lawsuit in court to claim of damages. Actually, the combination of administrative measures and lawsuits at court would be more effective for intellectual property right holders.
ANT Lawyers - a Law firm in Vietnam with a team of experienced lawyers, IP consultants and IP agent in Vietnam in the field of Intellectual Property will help customers implement procedures for registering intellectual property rights in Vietnam in the most effective way.
What are Principles of Dispute Settlement in Arbitration
Dispute resolution methods are litigation, negotiation, mediation and arbitration. Handing disputes requires litigation law firm with dispute lawyers in Vietnam having experience and knowledge to provide resolutions to complex cross-border issues, commercial and civil disputes.
Arbitration Lawyers in Vietnam
According to Article 4 of Vietnam Law on Commercial Arbitration, the following principles must be adhered to during dispute settlement in arbitration:
Arbitrators must respect the parties’ agreement if such agreement neither breaches prohibitions nor contravenes social ethics.
Arbitrators must be independent, objective and impartial and shall observe law.
Disputing parties are equal in their rights and obligations. The arbitration council shall create conditions for disputing parties to exercise their rights and fulfill their obligations.
Arbitration has become an extremely popular method of dispute resolution, as many businesses prefer it over the high costs of litigation.
Arbitration lawyers in Vietnam at ANT Lawyers - Law firm in Vietnam with accreditation in national and international arbitration practice could help providing legal advice in disputed matters, and guide the clients throughout the process. The arbitration lawyers could also advise the clients on various matters from choice of arbitrator, choice of arbitration rules, ad-hoc or institutional arbitration, place of arbitration, enforcement of arbitral award.
ANT Lawyers works with corporate and individual clients from across the sectors and offers a true spectrum of legal expertise, both contentious and non-contentious. The range of our experience enables us to advise on various matters from the precedent-setting to the purely procedural.
The common thread in everything we do is our ability to combine both commercial and legal perspectives. This means our clients can rest assured that, whatever the case or transaction, our lawyers have the experience to deliver legal advice and service that works in a commercial context.
Our English speaking lawyers at Hanoi office offer client with particular services that guide clients throughout investment, commercial transaction, M&A, civil transaction, property sales and purchase, IP registration, and dispute resolution procedures.
Please contact us to book your time in advanced to let us provide our best service.
Call our office at +84 24 730 86 529, or talk to our partner directly at +84 912 817 823, send us email ant@antlawyers.vn or visit our English speaking law firm in Hanoi office at 5th Floor, Leadvisors Place, 41A Ly Thai To, Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi.
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Vietnam attracts FDI in 10 months of 2021
Vietnam attracts FDI in 10 months of 2021
In 2021, due to the spread of the Covid-19 epidemic in the world, the economic situation has been seriously affected. This greatly affects the investment performance of investors making investment in Vietnam. However, Vietnam government still implements many policies to attract forein investors to set up company, make investment, in order to realize the “dual goal” of fighting the epidemic and developing socio-economic and achieving economic growth to get the high results.
According to statistics of the Ministry of Planning and Investment, as of October 20th, 2021, the total newly registered capital, adjusted and contributed capital to buy shares, and buy capital contributions from foreign investors reached USD 23.74 billion, which is accounted for 1.1% more than the same period in 2020. Realized capital of foreign investment projects is estimated at USD 15.15 billion, accounted for 4.1% over the same period in 2020.
Accumulated to October 20th, 2021, the Vietnam has attracted 34,266 projects with a total registered capital of over USD 404 billion. The accumulated realized capital of foreign investment projects is estimated at over USD 247 billion, equal to 61.1% of the total valid registered investment capital.
Foreign investors have invested in 18 industries out of a total of 21 national economic sectors. In which, the processing and manufacturing industry leads the way with total investment capital of USD 12.74 billion, accounting for 53.7% of total registered investment capital. Next is the electricity production and distribution industry ranked second with a total investment of USD 5.54 billion, accounting for 23.3% of the total registered investment capital. Followed by real estate, wholesale and retail businesses with a total registered capital of USD 2.12 billion and over USD 803 million respectively.
In terms of the number of new projects, the processing and manufacturing industry, the wholesale and retail trade, and professional and scientific and technological activities are the industries that attract the most projects, accounting for 33.1% and 27.8% respectively, and 16% of total projects.
There are 97 countries and territories have the investors invested in Vietnam in the 10 months of 2021. In which, Singapore leads with a total investment of USD 6.77 billion, accounting for 28.5% of total investment capital in Vietnam. Korea ranks second with USD 4.15 billion, accounting for 17.5% of total investment capital. Japan comes third with a total registered investment capital of nearly USD 3.4 billion, accounting for 14.3% of total investment capital. Investment amount is followed by China, Hong Kong, Taiwan,…
Foreign investors have invested in 58 provinces and cities in Vietnam in 10 months of 2021. Long An province leads the way with a total registered investment capital of USD 3.68 billion, accounting for 15.5% of total registered investment capital, including a large power project of up to USD 3.1 billion (accounting for 84.2% of total registered investment capital of Long An province). Ho Chi Minh City comes to second place with over USD 2.73 billion, accounting for 11.5% of total investment capital. Hai Phong city ranks third with a total registered capital of USD 2.72 billion, accounting for nearly 11.5% of total investment capital. Next are Binh Duong, Can Tho, Quang Ninh,…
In terms of the number of projects, foreign investors still focus a lot on investing in big cities with convenient infrastructure such as Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Bac Ninh. In which, Ho Chi Minh City leads in number of new projects (34.1%), number of adjusted projects (17.7%) and capital contribution and purchase of contributed capital (59.4%).
In addition, Vietnam has implemented the selective investment attraction policies (reducing quantity, increasing quality) to eliminate small-scale projects with little added value. This also partly affects the number of projects of small investors planning to invest in Vietnam.
To ensure safety in the prevention and control of the Covid-19 epidemic, Vietnam has applied a policy of restricting entry and implementing long-term isolation, which affects the progress of surveys and implement the procedures of experts and project development groups.
Due to the impact of the epidemic, Vietnam has implemented a factory blockade and restricted the movement of workers in industrial zones, slowing production, reducing capacity and output, and disrupting the supply chain. This affects the psychology of new investors who are planning to invest in Vietnam.
In 2021, many factors affect the investment performance of international investors to Vietnam. However, with many policies to support and attract investment, Vietnam still becomes an investment destination for many big investors in the world. In late 2021 and early 2022, with many policies to attract FDI to revive the economy after the epidemic, Vietnam hopes that international investors can seize the opportunity to make investment, establish company in Vietnam, in order to bring the best economic benefits for their business.
Finding the right business partner in Vietnam is also important. We recommend doing research on the reputation of the company and individual shareholders, corporate or individual, gathering publicly available company information, and performing background checks on key personnel to find potential risks in cooperation. Working with a reliable partner can help achieve economic benefits, saving time and money in business.
Vietnam attends APEC Ministers Responsible for Trade Conference
Vietnam attends APEC Ministers Responsible for Trade Conference
The 27th APEC Ministers Responsible for Trade (MRT) took place online on June 5, 2021 with the participation of 21 APEC member economies and observers including the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (PECC) and the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF). Measures to open market will be discussed to facilitate trade and investment, including the smooth policy from Vietnam to support to establish company in Vietnam.
In 2020, due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, the global economy shrank 3.3%. However, because of strong efforts in the introduction of vaccine production and vaccination, financial support programs in some countries, as well as more effective disease containment measures in many countries, this year’s global economy is forecasted to achieve marked improvements compared to 2020. According to a report by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) published in April 2021, the global economy is forecast to reach 6% in 2021 and 4.4% in 2022.
At this meeting, APEC Ministers focused on discussing trade policies to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. Measures taken include ensuring open markets, promoting the smooth flow of trade in essential goods and services, and facilitating safe and effective vaccine supply chains.
Another important content of the 27th MRT Conference is to support the multilateral trading system, including the progress of implementing reforms of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and updating the progress of negotiations in many fields, such as fisheries subsidies, special and differential treatment, industrial subsidies, market access, agriculture, etc. The APEC Ministers expressed their hope that reform and progress in WTO negotiations will bring positive results, contributing to strengthening the role of the multilateral trading system as well as global and regional economic integration.
At the Conference, the Vietnamese representative also affirmed that Vietnam would actively participate in negotiations and discussions to resolve current issues in the WTO to contribute to the success of the 12th WTO Ministerial Conference. In addition, Vietnam also supports initiatives to promote the movement of goods and services in the region, both to help prevent the epidemic and to develop the economy.
Through the meeting, the participants hoped that in the coming time, in parallel with fighting the epidemic, the parties would also take measures to promote trade and investment to achieve the goal of economic development in the world. Vietnam commits to support the global trade and policy to smooth investment into Vietnam through setting up company in Vietnam.
ANT Lawyers, a law firm in Vietnam could offer service to set up company in Vietnam. We assist clients needing legal service in obtaining investment certificate, business registration certificate, or other licensing procedures.
What Decree 53/2022/ND-CP Detailing a Number of Articles of the Law on Cybersecurity 2018 Cover?
What Decree 53/2022/ND-CP Detailing a Number of Articles of the Law on Cybersecurity 2018 Cover?
Cybersecurity is one of the important issues for every country in the increasingly strong development of the internet. Although this development brings great benefits in many areas of life, it is accompanied by challenges to national security such as cybercriminals that appropriate and steal data of the user; taking advantage of the internet to spread false information against the state. Therefore, the promulgation of policies and laws on cybersecurity as a basis for management and optimal measures in order to protect national cybersecurity, eliminating illegal acts in cyberspace is extremely necessary. On August 15th, 2022, the Government issued Decree 53/2022/ND-CP detailing a number of articles of the Law on Cybersecurity 2018. The Decree will take effect from October 1st, 2022 with the following:
Cybersecurity Lawyers in Vietnam
Measures to protect network security: Request the removal of illegal or false information in cyberspace that infringes upon national security, social order and safety, and legitimate rights and benefits of agencies, organizations, and individuals
Requesting the removal of illegal or false information in cyberspace is one of the cybersecurity protection measures specified in the 2018 Law on Cybersecurity. Accordingly, Decree 53/2022/ND-CP has detailed regulations, listing specific cases where this measure can be applied as follows:
-When information in cyberspace is identified by competent agencies to have contents that infringe upon national security, disseminate information that sabotages the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, incite riots, and disrupt public security and order according to regulations of the law;
-When there are legal bases to determine that information in cyberspace has humiliating and slanderous contents; infringes upon the order of the economic management; fabricates and falsifies information, causing confusion among the people and severe damage to socio-economic activities to the extent that such information must be removed;
-When other information in cyberspace has contents including: Distortion of history, denial of revolutionary achievements, undermining national solidarity, blasphemy, discrimination by gender or race; Prostitution, vice, human trafficking; posting pornographic or criminal information; damaging Vietnam’s good traditions, social ethics or public health; Enticing, persuading or tempting others to commits crimes.
The information listed in the above cases are all illegal and false information, and the person who uses cyberspace to spread the above negative information is an act of violation strictly prohibited under the 2018 Cybersecurity Law. Once the above information is widely spread and publicized online, it will adversely affect the security, social order and safety of the country. Therefore, the regulation to apply the measure to request the deletion of the above information is practical for the above cases. The Director of the Department of CyberSecurity and Hi-tech Crime Prevention of the Ministry of Public Security of Vietnam and Directors of competent agencies of the Ministry of Information and Communications are the ones who have the authority to decide on the application of measures to remove these information.
Measures to collect data related to acts of infringing upon national security, social order and safety, and legitimate rights and benefits of agencies, organizations, and individuals in cyberspace
The collection of data (data is information in the form of symbols, letters, numbers, images, sounds or equivalences) related to activities infringing upon national security, social order and safety, legitimate rights and interests of agencies, organizations and individuals in cyberspace shall comply with the provisions of law, and at the same time ensure the following requirements:
-Maintenance of the status of digital devices and data;
-The copying and recording of data shall be done according to correct procedures via recognized devices and software that are verifiable and can protect the integrity of data stored in such devices;
-The process of restoring data or search data shall be recorded via minutes, images, and videos. The process may be repeated if it is necessary for presentation at a court;
-Data collectors shall be specialized officials assigned to collect data.
The principles of copying and restoring data related to acts of infringing upon national security, social order and safety, and legitimate rights and benefits of organizations, organizations, and individuals in cyberspace shall follow: If the data is considered necessary to be copied or restored or there is a request to copy and restore the data for the purpose of proving the commission of a crime, the assigned person shall be authorized to copy and restore such data and acquire a decision on approval of competent authority according to regulations of the law. In addition, to make a record for the copying and recovery activities of the electronic evidence, the case may be invited to an independent third party, witness and certification of this process.
The Director of the Department of Cyber Security and Hi-tech Crime Prevention of the Ministry of Public Security of Vietnam shall decide to take this measure.
Internal computer networks have the storage and transmission of state secrets must be completely separated from the network of computers and devices and electronic devices connected to the internet
The decree clearly specifies that state agencies and the political organization at central and local levels must develop regulations on the use, management and security of internal computer networks and computer networks connected to the Internet. agencies or organizations they manage. This is an activity to protect network security in state agencies, central and local political organizations.
Regulations on the use and assurance of computer network security by state agencies and political organizations at central and local levels must include the following basic contents: Identify major information and information network systems to be prioritized for cybersecurity assurance. Elaborate on prohibitions and principles of management and use and ensure cybersecurity and internal computer networks that store or transmit state confidentiality shall have a complete physical separation from computer networks, devices, and electronic means with Internet connection, other cases shall ensure compliance with regulations of laws on state confidentiality protection. Have procedures for professional and technical management in operating, using, and ensuring cybersecurity of data and technical infrastructure. Such procedures shall satisfy basic requirements for information system safety assurance. Ensure the personnel conditions for network management and operation and security of cyber information security, information safety and handling of violations of regulations on assurance of network security.
Thus, to ensure confidentiality of the internal data of the state agency, the internal computer network shall have the state secrets which are required to separate completely from the computer network or the equipment and electronic devices connected to the internet. This is the regulation for managing agencies to control, minimize the risk of internal data that is spread out into the electronic environment, causing serious impact on national security issues.
Will data must be stored in Vietnam ?
The decree has stipulated a separate chapter to clarify the storage of data and set the branch or representative office of foreign enterprises in Vietnam.
The following data must be stored in Vietnam:
-Data on personal information of service users in Vietnam;
-Data created by service users in Vietnam: account names, service use time, information on credit cards, emails, IP addresses of the last login or logout session, and registered phone numbers in association with accounts or data;
-Data on relationships of service users in Vietnam: friends and groups such users have connected or interacted with.
Domestic enterprises and foreign enterprises are the subjects that must store the above data. In particular, it only applies to foreign enterprises doing business in Vietnam in one of the following fields:
-Provision of national or international domain names for service users in Vietnam;
-E-commerce; Online payment in Vietnam;
-Payment intermediaries; Services of connection and transportation in cyberspace in Vietnam;
-Social media and social communication in Vietnam;
-Online video games in Vietnam;
Services of provision, management, or operation other information in cyberspace in forms of messages, calls, video calls, emails, online chatting in Vietnam.
However, not at all foreign enterprises is required to store data according to regulations. Decree 53/2022/ND-CP also sets conditions for the storage of data in Vietnam, specifically as follows: services provided by such foreign enterprises are used for violations of laws on cybersecurity, notified and requested for cooperation, prevention, investigation, and handling in writing by the Department of Cyber Security and Hi-tech Crime Prevention of the Ministry of Public Security of Vietnam but they fail to comply or incompletely comply with such documents or prevent, obstruct, disable, or nullify the effect of cybersecurity protection measures performed by cybersecurity protection forces;
In case of an exception to the conditions for force majeure circumstances, the foreign enterprise cannot comply with the requirements of the law on cyber security, the foreign enterprise shall notify the Cybersecurity Department and high-tech crime prevention and control under the Ministry of Public Security within 03 working days for inspection of the verification of such force majeure. In this case, the enterprise will have 30 days to adopt remedial methods.
For the form of data storage, Decree 53/2022/ND-CP does not provide any specific requirements, but allows businesses to decide for themselves how to store their data in Vietnam, whether domestic or foreign enterprises.
For the time duration for data storage: for domestic enterprises, it automatically stores data; for foreign enterprises starting when the enterprise receives the request to store data from the Minister of Public Security until the end of the request; Minimum storage period is 24 months.
The Decree stipulates more specifically and strictly on the order and procedures for applying measures to ensure network security as well as the rights and obligations of state agencies in data security, building a network security system management system to ensure internal network security at the agency. Companies operating in the internet business should take into consideration of the new regulations and ensure compliance. It is important to engage cybersecurity lawyers in Vietnam for legal advice and update.
Who has the right to file an international patent application under the PCT?
Who has the right to file an international patent application under the PCT?
You are entitled to file an international patent application if you are a national or resident of a PCT Contracting State. If there are several applicants named in the international application, only one of them needs to comply with this requirement.
If you are looking for experienced IP services in Vietnam to help you with your PCT Patent Application in Vietnam, you should visit ANTLawyers. Our Patent attorneys have experience with the PCT Patent process and will work closely with you as you apply for your PCT in Vietnam.
How to Distinguish between Deposit and Advance Payment?
In commercial transactions, it is very common for one party to give the other party an amount of money before the contract being performed. Should this amount be considered as deposit or advance payment?
How to Distinguish between Deposit and Advance Payment
Deposit is one of security measures for the performance of contract obligations. According to regulation of Civil Code 2015, deposit is an act whereby one party (hereinafter referred to as the depositor) gives to other party (hereinafter referred to as the depositary) a sum of money or precious metals, gemstones or other valuable things (hereinafter referred to as the deposited property) for a period of time as security for the entering into or performance of a contract.
Upon a contract being entered into or performed, any deposited property shall be returned to the depositor, or deducted from the amount of payment obligation. If the depositor refuses to enter into or perform the contract, the deposited property shall belong to the depositary. In case the depositary refuses to enter into or perform the contract, the depositary must return the deposited property and pay an amount equivalent to the value of the deposited property to the depositor, unless otherwise agreed.
It can be seen that the purpose of deposit is to ensure the entering into or performance of a contract. Due to the fact that its nature is a security measure for the performance of contract obligations, sanction is set in regulation of deposit in case one party refuses to perform the agreement.
In practice, the advance payment can be understood that the obligor pays the obligee a sum of money in advance and this amount is regarded as in-advance performance of a payment obligation. As the nature of the advance is not a security measure for the performance of contract obligations, there is no fine rising from the advance if one party refuses to perform the agreement. Further, when a contracting party gives to the other party a sum of money, which is not clearly identified by the parties as a deposit or an advance, such amount shall be considered an advance payment.
ANT Lawyers, as a reliable law firm in Vietnam, we focus on providing possible solutions that best meet the needs of legal and business clients. We help customers achieve their goals while protecting their interests, minimizing risks, and complying with the law.
English Speaking Law Firm in Vietnam
ANT Lawyers, English speaking law firm in Vietnam City with English speaking lawyers is located in the business center that provides convenient access to our clients.
As a single, fully integrated, global partnership, we pride ourselves on our approachable, collegiate and team-based way of working
ANT Lawyers is a member of International Bar Association, Vietnam Bar Federation, Hanoi Bar Association.
ANT Lawyers is an exclusive Vietnam law firm member of Prae Legal, a global law firm network spanning 5 continents and 150 countries.
ANT Lawyers is a boutique firm specialising in corporate M&A and representing foreign clients and investors across a wide range of domestic and cross-border transactions, including restructuring and joint ventures” IFLR1000 reviews under Financial and Corporate.
We pride ourselves on international recognition by IFLR1000 on Financial and Corporate practice, Legal500, international standard by Prae Legal peer members, local expertise and strong network with Vietnamese authorities and local experts.
Our business strategy is driven by customers’ needs and our focus to provide clients with a high quality legal advice within business context.
Send us request via email at ant@antlawyers.vn or call us at +84 28 730 86 529
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Trademark protection in Vietnam
Trademark protection in Vietnam is initially obtained through trademark registration. Trademark opposition could be filed to prevent a pending application for a mark from being granted application. Litigation is the final measure to handle dispute during trademark protection in Vietnam.
Trademark is a sign that help distinguish the goods or services of one enterprise from those of others. Together with industrial design and patent, trademark of goods and services plays an extremely important role for the growth of the enterprise. Trademark establishes a link between enterprise and customer. A strong trademark will attract customers to use goods or services. When trademark is popular and economic benefits achieved through sale of goods or provision of services coupled with trademark is large, the violation of trademark is inevitable.
Trademark protection in Vietnam
The annual reports of the Vietnam National Office of Intellectual Property (NOIP) prove that trademark violation in Vietnam is the most popular, among other industrial property rights. According to the preliminary annual report in 2011, and 2012, there has been more than 1,000 cases of trademark violations each year. Report of 2013 and after shows more than 2,000 trademark infringements were handled with the total fines of trademark violators of around USD 1 million per year. Having said that, it is important for trademark owner to register trademarks in Vietnam for better protection. This is also suggested for even well-known trademarks.
For registration, trademark owner has two options: either directly register trademark in Vietnam by filling an application for registration with the Vietnam NOIP, or seek the protection in Vietnam through Madrid’s system. For the first option, the trademark owner needs to prepare, file for registration, and pay fee as the requirement of Vietnam Intellectual Property law. In case trademark needs to be protected in a number of nations, including Vietnam, trademark owner may register trademark through Madrid’s system.
Where the violation of trademark occurs, trademark owner needs to judge the level of infringement, level of damage to choose suitable resolutions. Initially, the trademark owner may protect by requiring to the trademark violator to terminate the infringing acts, apologize, and rectify. In case of being damaged, trademark owners have rights to claim compensation. If failing to reach result, trademark owner may use settlement mechanism through negotiation or mediation or could request the competent state agencies to handle acts of infringement through i.e. filling a denunciation application and submitting to the Vietnam NOIP. Litigation might be required to handle acts of infringement. Generally, the proceeding of civil litigation is more complex than the arbitration proceeding. In cases the trademark owner needs a decision from court in order to end trademark infringement, civil litigation is top priority. In the remaining cases, arbitration is a better choice with advantages of cheaper cost, shorter settling time, and more flexible.
Trademarks are an important part of client company’s competitive edge. ANT Lawyers IP practice helps you protect these valuable intellectual assets through trademark registration, oppositions, and other trademark protection resolutions in Vietnam.
Matters on Intellectual Property Rights Registration in Vietnam
Important Matters on Intellectual Property Rights Registration in Vietnam
In the process of development of global business, the growth of multinational corporations or business will help individuals and companies to bring their products to the world. In addition to bringing their products to customers, the protection of intellectual property rights for products created is extremely important and necessary. We would like to highlight important matters when registering for intellectual property rights protection in Vietnam.
First, in order to be able to register for protection of intellectual property rights, the protected product must meet all conditions to be protected under the provisions of the Intellectual Property Law of Vietnam.
After meeting all of conditions for protection of intellectual property rights, the owner should pay attention to the procedures for registering intellectual property rights. According to the Intellectual Property Law 2005, the time of intellectual property rights to copyright is when products are created and expressed in a certain material form without needing to register. However, industrial property rights for inventions, industrial designs, layout designs, trademarks, geographical indications are established on the basis of a decision to grant protection titles by competent state agencies rights under the registration procedures prescribed in the Intellectual Property Law or recognition of international registration under the provisions of international treaties to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a member; for well-known trademarks, ownership is established on the basis of use, regardless of the registration procedure. Therefore, in order to be able to establish their intellectual property rights for products created, the owner needs to register for product protection in accordance with regulations, the order given by the Law on Intellectual Property in Vietnam.
In addition to the prescribed registration procedures, the owner should pay attention to the time of filing the application for protection, and it is suggested to submit the application as soon as possible. Under the provisions of the Intellectual Property Law, in cases where many applications for inventions are identical or similar, industrial designs are identical or not significantly different from each other, the protection title shall be granted only for an invention or industrial design on a valid application, the earliest priority date or filing date shall be among the applications that meet the conditions for being granted a protection title. In the case of multiple applications by different people registering marks that are identical or confusingly similar to each other for products or services that are identical or similar to each other or in the case of multiple applications of the same those who register identical marks for identical products or services, the protection title is only granted to the trademark in the valid application with the earliest priority date or filing date among the applications that meet the requirements sued to be granted a protection title. In case there are many applications for registration as stipulated above and all meet the conditions to be granted a protection title and have the same priority date or the earliest filing date, the protection title will only be granted to the subject of a single application of those applications as agreed by all applicants; if no agreement is reached, the corresponding objects of those applications are refused the protection certificate.
Therefore, in order to protect their intellectual property rights, the owner needs to meet all conditions for the product, in addition to necessary procedures as prescribed by law and promptly apply for a certificate of protection for the product. The protection of products will help individuals and companies gain competitive edge during their commercial operation, in addition to avoiding the risks of being infringed upon intellectual property rights.
ANT Lawyers, a law firm in Vietnam with a team of experienced lawyers, IP consultants and IP services in Vietnam in the field of Intellectual Property will help customers implement procedures for registering intellectual property rights in the most effective way.
Venue for Dispute Settlement by Arbitration in Vietnam
What is Venue for Dispute Settlement by Arbitration in Vietnam?
According to Article 11 of Vietnam Law on Commercial Arbitration, the venue for dispute settlement by arbitration in Vietnam is as agreed by parties or decided by arbitration council. In particular:
The parties may reach agreement on venues for dispute settlement. If no agreement is made, the arbitration council shall decide on such venue. A venue for dispute settlement may be within or outside the Vietnamese territory.
Unless otherwise agreed by the parties, the arbitration council may hold a meeting at a venue regarded as appropriate for its members to exchange opinions, for taking witnesses’ statements, consulting experts or for assessing goods, assets or other documents.
ANT Lawyers - a law firm in Vietnam our trial lawyers with accreditation in national and international arbitration practice could help providing legal advice in disputed matters, and guide the clients through out the process. The arbitration lawyers in Vietnam at ANT Lawyers could also advise the clients on various matters from choice of arbitrator, choice of arbitration rules, ad-hoc or institutional arbitration, place of arbitration, enforcement of arbitral award.
Arbitration lawyers at ANT Lawyers - Law firm in Vietnam with accreditation in national and international arbitration practice could help providing legal advice in disputed matters, and guide the clients throughout the process. The arbitration lawyers in Vietnam could also advise the clients on various matters from choice of arbitrator, choice of arbitration rules, ad-hoc or institutional arbitration, place of arbitration, enforcement of arbitral award.
Business Secrets through Non-Disclosure Agreement
How to Protect Business Secrets through Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA)?
In business or production process, individual or organization being may have to share its business secrets with others. Legal solution for this situation is to enter into a Non-Disclosure Agreement agreement (NDA).
Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) are often used by inventors or companies when sharing business ideas, sample products which have just been created, patent and many other business secrets. This disclosure’s purpose is to explore the possibilities to cooperate, manufacture; to commercialize a particular product in relation to another company when seeking licensing contracts, financial source to develop a product; to deploy a business secret, to enter into a Merger and Acquisition transactions, or to create binding obligations on employees if they know or are known secrets of the company they are working for.
What does the content of the Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) include?
NDA should begin with a clear statement of who the owner’s non-disclosed information is (owner); party who receives non-disclosed information (recipient); identify non-disclosed information and the reason for disclosing such information to the recipient. The most important thing of NDA is to identify the scope of non-disclosed information or confidential information to avoid the parties in dispute if one party discloses certain information. Another thing to keep in mind is that the NDA can achieve the purpose of the parties when stipulating clearly how the recipient has to protect that information and what is allowed or not allowed to do with that information. In particular, it is necessary to detail that the recipient has to take responsibilities if they violate the information security obligations specified in the NDA.
Besides, the parties may agree to a reciprocal NDA. Sometimes, the source of information is two-ways, both parties will then disclose confidential information to each other, for example when the two parties form a joint venture, or have intention of acquiring the target company through M&A. Accordingly, NDA will refer to the agreement of formation a joint venture, M&A which clearly states that which confidential information two parties will share, what are the rights and obligations of the two parties.
Of course, the best way to keep a secret is to not tell anyone. However, this is not always possible in the collaboration world when shared economy is thriving in Vietnam. If the owner needs to share business secrets, they could sign with the recipient an non-disclosure agreement or contract to avoid unfortunate circumstances.
ANT Lawyers - Law firm in Vietnam could help clients to create NDA in various business transactions in M&A, joint venture, IP commercialization, labour to address the needs of business requirements in Vietnam.
Termination of Labour Contract to Employee Before Contract Expiration
When Should the Employer Send Notice of Termination of Labour Contract to Employee Before Contract Expiration?
Expiration is one of the circumstances which permit termination of labor contract under the Labor Code 2012. Accordingly, the employer must inform in writing to the employee of the terminating date of labor contract at least 15 days prior to the expiration. Termination of labor relationship in each circumstance must follow different conditions and procedures to ensure the interests and obligations of both employee and employer and avoid potential labour disputes in Vietnam.
Previously, an administrative penalty was applied to violations of the labor contract termination notice mentioned above. If the employer fails to inform the employee, the employer will be subject to a warning or a fine with amount from VND 500,000 to VND 1,000,000. However, the Decree 28/2020/ND-CP issued on March 1st, 2020 by the Government has repealed sanction for this behavior.
If the employee continues to work upon expiration of labor contract, both parties will be required to sign a new labor contract within the next 30 days, otherwise the signed contract will become an indefinite-term. Failure of the employer to inform the labor contract termination to the employee does not mean that the labor relationship is automatically extended after the expiration. If both parties fail to sign a new labor contract within the next 30 days, but the employee still do normal assigned job and is paid a full monthly salary, an indefinite-term labor contract is deemed as entered into by them. Any disputes arising out then will be settled based on provisions of indefinite term labor contract and laws.
The Labor Code 2019 repealed the employer’s informing responsibility upon expiration of labor contract except in a few circumstances such as the employee being sentenced to imprisonment, disciplined, expelled, ..., the employer is required to inform the employee in writing the termination of the labor contract.
ANT Lawyers – A labour dispute law firm in Vietnam with international standard, local expertise and strong international network. We focus on customers’ needs and provide clients with a high quality legal advice and services. For advice or services request, please contact us via email ant@antlawyers.vn, or call us +84 24 730 86 529.
How to Close a Business in Vietnam
How to Close a Business in Vietnam?
All corporations, companies, partnerships, branch offices, representative offices and other business entities are legal entities in Vietnam which can only be dissolved through formal procedures.
The main thing to remember throughout the process is that the dissolving company, a branch office or a representative office, one should pay close attention to the involvement of all key stakeholders, i.e. the employees, customers, creditors, business partners and relevant authorities.
The following are key information to gather for thorough analysis
-Company size in terms of capital and number of employees?
-Enterprise’s business sector?
-Tax invoice usage declaration?
-Annual profit?
-Compliance with tax procedures?
-Administrative violations in the field of taxation?
-Any outstanding tax?
-Tax document filing records?
-Other tax matters?
II. What does the dissolution process involve?
Once an analysis has been through, the next procedures mostly deal with reporting and submitting the relevant documents to the various regulatories and tax authorities at each step of the process, terminating contracts, liquidating assets and settling liabilities, and general administrative work such as returning the corporate seal, registration certificates, and having the company’s name removed from the system of the license authorities.
III) How to prepare document to close a business in Vietnam?
1. Documents submitted to the licensing authority in Vietnam
-Liquidation notice of enterprise;
-Minutes of the meeting of Management Board/ Board of Directors decided on the dissolution of enterprises;
-The company’s decision on liquidation;
-Report on enterprise asset liquidation;
-The list of creditors and the paid debt;
-Documents evidencing that enterprise has fulfilled all of its tax;
-Confirmation on social insurance for employees after the dissolution decision;
-The seal and certificate of seal sample registration.
2. Documents submitted to the tax authority in Vietnam
-Liquidation notice of enterprise;
-Minutes of the meeting of Management Board/ Board of Directors decided on the dissolution of enterprises;
-The company’s decision on dissolution;
-Audit reports and tax settlements;
-The financial statements for the year to date the decision on dissolution;
-The company’s tax liabilities audited by tax authority;
-Verification of tax obligations of the enterprise.
Closing a business in Vietnam might be a lengthy process and more complicated than setting up a company in Vietnam. Sometimes, it is important to make a decision to exit and start a new venture. As a law firm in Vietnam, we do assist clients to close the business, exit the investment and deal with pending issues with licensing authorities including department of planning and investment, department of labour, tax bureau and others.
ANT Lawyers is Vietnam exclusive member of Prae Legal, an international law firm network, providing full ranges of legal services
Prae Legal Network provides clients with access to global legal resources through its vast network of well-established 242 law offices in trade centers in 129 countries.
Our respectable and influential professionals are experienced in all fields of law. We are ready to provide legal solutions to companies and people all around the world for their legal needs. We can help when you would do business transactions in the most challenging parts of the world.
Prae Legal provides comprehensive legal expertise in almost all major practice and industry areas. We have general and subject specific legal expertise that could be applied to different needs of each industry. An industry will be interested in legal developments affecting its own business and legal environment.
Vietnam International Law Firm
Together with global law firm partners, ANT Lawyers has the capability to provide in depth legal assistance in the following practice areas:
-Agricultural & Agribusiness
-Antitrust, Competition and Trade Group
-Automotive
-Aviation
-Banking and Financial Services
-Business Crimes and Compliance
-Capital Markets
-Construction and Infrastructure
-Corporate Organizations and Securities
-Employee Benefits and Pensions
-Employment and Labor Law
-Energy and Natural Resources
-Environmental
-Government Affairs
-Health Care Industries
-Immigration
-Insolvency, Bankruptcy and Restructuring
-Insurance and Reinsurance
-Intellectual Property
-Life Sciences
-Litigation, Arbitration and Dispute Resolution
-Media, Entertainment and Sports
-Mergers and Acquisitions
-Private Equity
-Project Finance
-Real Estate
-Tax
-Technology, Outsourcing and Privacy
-Telecommunications
-Products Liability and Toxic Tort
-Trademarks, Copyrights, Trade Secrets and Unfair Competition
-Product Liability and Product Safety
-Cross-Border Transactions
-E-Commerce & Technology
-Product Liability and Product Safety
ANT Lawyers is a law firm in Vietnam with English speaking lawyers, located in the business centers of Hanoi, Danang and Ho Chi Minh City to provide convenient access to our clients. Please contact us via email ant@antlawyers.vn or call our office at +84 28 730 86 529 for legal service in Vietnam
What Foreign Investors Should Consider in Making Investment in Conditional Areas?
What Foreign Investors Should Consider in Making Investment in Conditional Areas?
In the context of integration and globalization, the number of foreign investors whom wish to make investment and establish business in Vietnam has increased due to the attractiveness of the growing middle class population, availability of skilled resources, and Vietnam openness policies. To register a business in Vietnam, however, foreign investors must meet the requirements of Vietnam and international treaties to which Vietnam is a party.
Firstly, the field in which foreign investors wish to conduct business must not be on the list of industries that have been denied entry to the market for foreign investors or are prohibited from doing so under the Law on Investment.
Secondly, foreign investors may be restricted to the percentage of charter capital ownership in some economic organizations. For example, foreign investors ownership could only be up to 30% of charter capital of a commercial bank in Vietnam. Limiting the amount of charter capital is indirectly restricting the management and control rights of investors. Instead of freely making policies or decisions, foreign investors have to depend on other members of the company, namely domestic investors. The investors are suggested to consult with corporate lawyers in Vietnam or banking and finance dispute lawyers in Vietnam for specific details in the specialized area like banking or finance.
Thirdly, foreign investors must consider the type of firm they want to register. A foreign insurance enterprise, for example, may operate in Vietnam as an insurance limited liability company or as a branch of a foreign non-life insurance enterprise. If the investor registers the establishment of an enterprise that is not under Vietnam law and the international treaties that Vietnam has signed, the application for registration is considered invalid. In addition, each type will also have certain limitations. For example, setting up a joint stock company might not be suitable for all investors. In the governance of a joint stock company, the decision-making process is complicated and time-consuming with different sequences and procedures.
Finally, the Vietnam law also have requirements on the legal status, financial status, and competence of investors in certain professions. To establish a company in Vietnam, foreign investors must meet all the prescribed conditions.
In conclusion, the foreign investors would need to undertake the legal research into the business it wish to register in Vietnam, and make strategic decision considering the legal and business requirements to maximize the benefits Vietnam would bring.
ANT Lawyers, a law firm in Vietnam could offer service to set up company in Vietnam. We assist clients needing legal service in obtaining investment certificate, business registration certificate, or other licensing procedures.
Dispute settlement method for employee when separating enterprises in Vietnam
In Vietnam, reorganization of an enterprise means the division, separation, consolidation, merger or transformation of an enterprise. In particular, when separating enterprises, in addition to legal issues related to enterprise separation procedures, registration for newly formed enterprises, the introduction of a plan for the employees of the separated company is also a matter of concern. The transferor company and the transferee company need to allocate and use the existing labor force accordingly. It is important to ensure the interests of workers. Specifically, in case of continuing to employ employees, when separating an enterprise, the next employer is responsible for continuing to use up the existing workforce and proceeding with the labor contract amendment and supplement. All of this might lead to potential disputes which lawyers would be involved to provide legal advice from the early stage.
If the enterprise does not use up all the employees or the labor demand of the company does not run out of the existing number of employees, the enterprise must develop a suitable plan to use employees in accordance with the law. Specifically, an employment plan must contain the following main contents: The list and the number of employees to be continued to be used, the employee sent for retraining to continue using; List and number of employees to retire; The list and number of employees who are transferred to part-time work; the employee must terminate the labor contract; Measures and financial resources to ensure implementation of the plan. Enterprises should note that when developing plans for the employment of employees, there must be the participation of organizations representing labor collectives at the grassroots level.
In case it is imperative that the employees quit their job, the enterprise must pay the employee a job loss allowance so that the interests of the employee will still be guaranteed when separating the enterprise. The Labor Code has specified as follows: An employer shall pay a job-loss allowance to an employee who loses his/her job and has worked regularly for the employer for 12 months or longer. The job-loss allowance is equal to 1 month’s wage for each working year, but must not be lower than 2 months’ wage. The working period used for the calculation of job-loss allowance is the total time during which the employee actually works for the employer minus the time during which the employee benefits from unemployment insurance in accordance with the Law of Social Insurance and the working period for which the employer has paid a severance allowance to the employee. The wage used for the calculation of job-loss allowance is the average wage in accordance with the labor contract during 6 months preceding the time the employee loses his/her job.
It is important to have proper and proactive discussion with impacted employee and avoid disputes impacting the company’s reputation. Dispute lawyers in Vietnam could be of help for advice and preparation.
ANT Lawyers is a Labour Dispute Law Firm in Vietnam, recognized by Legal500, IFLR1000. We are an exclusive Vietnam member of Prea Legal, the global law firm network covering more than 150 jurisdictions. The firm provides a range of legal services to multinational and domestic clients.
Determination of Competence between Court and Arbitration in Vietnam
The Council of Judges of the Supreme People’s Court issued Resolution 01/2014/NQ-HDTP in order to provide guidelines for the Law on Commercial Arbitration in Vietnam on dispute resolution process.
Accordingly, the courts in Vietnam are permitted to deal with disputes which are agreed to be settled by arbitrators in the following cases:
i) There is a Decision of the court on cancelling Arbitration’s Judgement, Council of Arbitration’s Decision on recognition agreement of parties.
2) The parties have agreed to settle their disputes at a specific arbitration center but it has stopped operating;
3) The arbitrators selected by the parties cannot participate in solving disputes due to force majeure events;
4) The appointed arbitrator refuses to settle the dispute without an agreement on a replacement;
5) The proceedings rules selected by the parties are different from different from those of the selected arbitration center, and this center does not adopt rules of the other centers.
6) Consumers object to the arbitrator selection according to Articles 17 of the Law on Commercial Arbitration
In the first four cases, the parties must not reach an alternative agreement on replacement.
Arbitration lawyers in Vietnam at ANT Lawyers with accreditation in national and international arbitration practice could help providing legal advice in disputed matters, and guide the clients throughout the process. The arbitration lawyers in Vietnam could also advise the clients on various matters from choice of arbitrator, choice of arbitration rules, ad-hoc or institutional arbitration, place of arbitration, enforcement of arbitral award. For advice or services request, please contact us via email ant@antlawyers.vn, or call us +84 24 730 86 529.
What Laws Will be Applied for Dispute Settlement by Arbitration in Vietnam?
Dispute resolution methods are litigation, negotiation, mediation and arbitration. Handing disputes requires litigation law firm with dispute lawyers in Vietnam having experience and knowledge to provide resolutions to complex cross-border issues, commercial and civil disputes.
Arbitration Lawyers in Vietnam
Under Article 14 of Law on Commercial Arbitration, applicable laws for dispute settlement by arbitration in Vietnam will be Vietnamese if the case involve no foreign element. If dispute involving foreign invested enterprise, parties need to agree on language. If parties do not have such language agreement for arbitration, the arbitration council will decide. In particular:
For a dispute involving no foreign element, the arbitration council shall apply Vietnamese law for settling the dispute.
For a dispute involving foreign elements, the arbitration council shall apply the law selected by the parties. If the parties have no agreement on the applicable law, the arbitration council shall decide to apply a law it sees the most appropriate.
When the Vietnamese law or law selected by the parties contains no specific provisions concerning the dispute, the arbitration council may apply international practices for settling the dispute, provided such application or consequence of such application does not contravene the fundamental principles of Vietnam law.
Arbitration lawyers in Vietnam at ANT Lawyers with accreditation in national and international arbitration practice could help providing legal advice in disputed matters, and guide the clients throughout the process. The arbitration lawyers could also advise the clients on various matters from choice of arbitrator, choice of arbitration rules, ad-hoc or institutional arbitration, place of arbitration, enforcement of arbitral award.
Shareholder rights in Joint Stock Company in Vietnam
What Rights Shareholder Holds in Joint Stock Company?
Shareholders are individual or organization that owns at least one share of the joint-stock company and also are owner of the joint-stock company. Along with these roles, their interests are tied to business operations although they may not directly manage the day-to-day company affairs. In order to implement governance, the powers and responsibilities of each interest group such as shareholders, the board of directors, managerial personnel, etc. should be assigned based on the statutory principles and procedures.
According to the regulations on shareholders in the Law on Enterprise 2020, the rights of shareholders can be categorized into the following groups: economic rights, governance rights, information rights, and litigation rights.
Economic rights
Economic right is the right to gain all pecuniary interest with respect to the shares. The purpose of starting a business or investing in securities comes mainly from earning income or gaining profits. Economic rights accordingly include:
-Right to entitlement to dividends
-Right to transfer ownership
-Priority right to acquire the newly issued shares
-Right to entitlement to a portion of the assets after dissolution or bankrupt
-Appraisal Right
Among these above rights, right to entitlement to dividends and right to transfer ownership are the fundamental economic rights of a shareholder.
Dividend of common shares is determined according to the realized net profit and the dividend payment from the company’s retained earnings. Despite right to entitlement to dividends, shareholders are still subject to a number of limitations in law and in fact. Dividend entitlement is determined by the General Meeting of Shareholders based on the recommendation of the Board of Directors, after the company has fulfilled tax obligations and other financial obligations, contributed to reserve fund, paid for previous losses and met the solvency for all due debts and other property obligations. Dividend is not required to be distributed annually. Depending on the business situation, the General Meeting of Shareholders may decide to retain profits for reinvestment.
Besides dividend entitlement from the company’s operating results, shareholders can also gain profits by share transfer. This kind of investment is popular with respect of shares or securities of public companies, investors do not aim for corporate governance rights as well as dividend, they intend to earn benefits by the difference of the market values of stocks, especially when the stock value increases.
Governance rights
Modern corporate governance has two principles, one is to separate ownership and governance and to separate governance and management. It means that the major shareholders should not hold senior managerial positions in the company and Chairperson of the Board of Directors should not be assigned to other senior managerial positions such as General Director and/or Director.
Shareholders may be an individual or organization which they have their own different interests, goals and abilities. The separation between ownership and management makes the situation of whom the owner is and how the share get transferred not to affect the business operation. In the meantime, the separation helps gather professional managers to implement target intended by the company. According to the laws, members of the Board of Directors of a public company concurrently holding several executive titles must be reduced to the minimum to ensure the independence of the Board of Directors, specially the Chairperson of the Board of Directors shall not be the Director/General Director in a public company as of August 1st, 2020. There are no similar rules applicable to joint stock companies which are not public company.
Attendance, speaking and voting at General Meeting of Shareholders are fundamental in governance right of common shareholders, applicable to all shareholders holding at least one share. ty. In principle, being a shareholder who holds shares of the company regardless of the number has equal rights to attend and vote at the General Meeting of Shareholders. By the General Meeting of Shareholders, the shareholders holding a certain number of shares can impact decisions on some matters such as election, dismissal, and removal of members of the Board of Directors and Controllers, amendment and supplementation of internal documents, major transactions, and others as stipulated in law on enterprise or charter. In addition to the above rights, the majority shareholders also have a number of other rights related to governance as follows:
The shareholder or group of shareholders holding at least 5% of the total number of common shares (charter may require a smaller percentage) is entitled to:
-Call a General Meeting of Shareholders
-Request Board of Controllers to inspect each specific matter relating to management, governance of company affairs if necessary
-Recommend matters to be included in agenda of General Meeting of Shareholders
-The shareholder or group of shareholders holding at least 10% of the total number of common shares (charter may require a smaller percentage) is entitled to nominate candidates for the Board of Directors, Board of Controllers
Information rights
Shareholders have the right to access documents and information of the company. In addition to the basic documents such as the charter, list of shareholders, meeting minutes and resolutions of the General Meeting of Shareholders, shareholders have the right to access to reports related to the business affairs.
However, some information is only reviewed by shareholders who own required percentage of share:
-Access and extract information on full name and contact address as specified in list of shareholders having voting right and list of shareholders having right to attend General Meeting of Shareholder; request to adjust his/her inaccurate information
-Access, extract and scan charter of company, meeting minutes of General Meeting of Shareholder and its resolution
-Access, extract and copy partial or whole list of involved persons and their contracts, transaction of which the company is other party, interests of Board of Directors, Controllers, Directors or General Directors and other managerial positions of company
-Access and extract minutes and resolutions of Board of Directors, annual or mid-year financial reports, reports of Board of Controllers, contracts and transaction approved by Board of Directors and other documents, excepting for documents related to company’s know-how and trade secrets (applicable to shareholder and group of shareholders who own at least 5% of total number of common shares, the charter may require a smaller percentage)
-Access profit and loss statements, finacial reports, governace and management assement reports; inspection reports of Board of Controllers (applicable to shareholder who own shares at least 1 consecutive year, the charter may require a smaller percentage).
Different to common joint stock company, a public company must annouce fully, accurately and promptly the periodic and extraordinary information on business, finance and governace. Other information must be annouced if it influences share price and investment decisions of shareholders and investors.
Litigation rights
The Law on Enterprises has provided a mechanism to request the Court or Arbitration to rescind the resolution of the General Meeting of Shareholders or sue the managerial personnels when they fail to fully and properly implement their tasks, including:
The shareholder or group of shareholders holding at least 5% of the total number of common shares (charter may require a smaller percentage) is entitled to:
-Request to rescind resolutions of the General Meeting of Shareholders when the orders and procedures of calling the meeting and making resolution of the General Meeting of Shareholders seriously violate the regulations of the Law on Enterprises and company’s charter
-However, the resolution of the General Meeting of Shareholders adopted by 100% of the total number of voting shares is legal and effective even when the orders and procedures of calling the meeting and adopting such resolution violates regulations of the Law on Enterprises and company’s charter.
-Request to rescind resolutions of the General Meeting of Shareholders when its provisions violates the laws or company’s charter
-The shareholder, group of shareholders holding at least 1% of the total number of common shares is entitled to:
-Sue members of Board of Directors, Directors, General Directors separately or jointly under certain circumstances
The Chairperson of Board of Directors or the Director or General Director usually acts as the legal representative of the company, representing the company to perform rights and obligations arising from the company’s transactions, representing the company to take proceedings before the court or arbitrator. However, when their interests conflict with those of the shareholders, shareholders have the right to initiate a lawsuit claiming benefits or compensation. The Law on Enterprise also permits shareholders to sue on behalf of the company when the above managerital personnels commit violations, causing damage directly to the company and indirectly to shareholders.
Not all shareholders have the right to sue for the above managerial personnels, only those who own at least 1% of the total number of common shares. This restriction makes sense with respect of public companies, in order to eliminate unfair competition actions conducted by minority shareholders who is controlled by the rival companies because amount of 1% in public company is not a small number.
Similar to a lawsuit against a manager, shareholder or group of shareholders is also required to own at least 5% of the total number of common shares to request rescission of the resolution of the General Meeting of Shareholders if there is violation on substantive law and procedural law. Accordingly, all resolutions of the General Meeting of Shareholders violating the substantive laws or the company’s charter are rescinded at the request of shareholders, but only serious procedural violations may be rescinded. There is no specific instructions for serious procedural violations at this time, the assessment will depend on personal perspective of the court and arbitrator.
In order to seek further advice, please contact us at ant@antlawyers.vn or call + 84 912 817 823. ANT Lawyers, your law firm in Vietnam.
How to Set Up Company in Hanoi?
How to Set Up Company in Hanoi?
The Law on investment 2021 has a lot of investment incentive policies in economic sectors in Vietnam for foreign investors.
Foreign investors that invest in Vietnam in general and Hanoi in particular for the first time must have investment projects and fill in investment registration or examination procedures at state agencies in charge of investment in order to be granted Investment Registration Certificates (“IRC”) and Enterprise Registration Certificate (“ERC”). Company with 100% foreign capital has founded and operated from the date of issuance of the investment certificate.
The investor who wishes to apply for IRC in Hanoi, s/he need to have a possible project which is accepted by the Government (The Department of Planning and Investment of Hanoi City). The dossier on applying for IRC
For Investment Registration Certificate, the investor must prepare the dossier included:
i) An application form for execution of the investment project, including a commitment to incur all costs and risks if the project is not approved;
ii) A document about the investor’s legal status;
iii) Document(s) proving the financial capacity of the investor including at least one of the following documents: the investor’s financial statements for the last two years; commitment of a parent company to provide financial support; commitment of a financial institution to provide financial support; guarantee for the investor’s financial capacity; other document proving the investor’s financial capacity;
iv) Proposal for the investment project including the following main contents: investor or method of investor selection, investment objectives, investment scale, investment capital and plan for raising capital, location, duration and schedule of the investment project, information about the current use of land in the location of the project and proposed demand for land use (if any), demand for labor, proposal for investment incentives, impact and socio – economic efficiency of the project and preliminary assessment of environmental impact (if any) in accordance with regulations of law on environmental protection.
If the law on construction requires formulation of a pre-feasibility study report, the investor is entitled to submit the pre-feasibility study report instead of a proposal for the investment project.
v) If the project does not require the State to allocate or lease out land or to permit land repurposing, a copy of the document regarding the land use rights or other document identifying the right to use the location for execution of the investment project is required to be submitted;
vi) Contents of the explanation for the technology to be used in the investment project if the project requires appraisal and collection of opinions on the technology in accordance with the Law on Technology Transfer;
vii) The business cooperation contract if the investment project is executed under a business cooperation contract;
viii) Other documents relating to the investment project, and requirements on the eligibility and capacity of the investor in accordance with regulations of law (if any).
After having the project, the investor needs to apply for Business Registration Certificate, the dossier included:
i) An application for enterprise registration;
ii) The enterprise’s charter;
iii) A list of members of a limited liability company with two or more members or a list of general partners;
iv) A notarized copy of identity card or valid passport of individual member;
vi) A notarized copy of valid identity card or passport of the organization’s legal representative;
vii) The copy of Investment Registration Certificate.
The time for applying the investment project is 15 working days and the time for applying the company is 03 working days after the date of submitting the valid dossier.
ANT Lawyers, a law firm in Vietnam could offer service to set-up company in Vietnam. We assist clients needing legal service in obtaining investment certificate, business registration certificate, or other licensing procedures.
How to Transfer Shares in a Joint Stock Company
According to Vietnam law, joint stock company is one form of typical company types in Vietnam. For a joint stock company to be set-up, there should be at least three shareholders. In the joint stock company, the charter capital is divided into equal parts called shares. Shareholders have the right to freely transfer their shares to others, but there will be some certain restrictions.
Within three years from the establishment of the company and the issuance date of the Certificate of Enterprise Registration, the ordinary shares of founding shareholders may be transferred to other founding shareholders and may only be transferred to a person that is not a founding shareholder if the transfer is accepted by the General Meeting of Shareholders. In this case, the transferor does not have the right to vote on this transfer. In addition, if the company’s charter has provisions restricting the transfer of shares, the transfer of shareholders must also comply with the provisions of the Charter and these regulations will only applicable if they are written in the certificates of the shares subject to restriction.
The transfer of shares is usually made by the parties by contract or transaction on the securities market. In case of transfer under a contract, the documents shall bear the signatures of the transferor and the transferee or their authorized representatives. In case shares are transferred on the securities market, the transfer procedures prescribed by securities laws shall apply.
Shareholders of a joint-stock company have the right to donate part or all of their shares in the company to other individuals or organizations; use shares to pay off debt. At that time, individuals and organizations that are given or received the donation or debt payment will become a shareholder of the company. However, they will only become shareholders of the company from the time their information is fully recorded in the register of shareholders.
In case of the death of a shareholder that is an individual, his/her heir at law or designated by a will shall become a shareholder of the company. If such shareholder dies without an heir or the heir refuses the inheritance or is disinherited, his/her shares shall be settled in accordance with civil laws.
The last point to pay attention is when there is a share transfer event, the company shall register the changes of shareholders in the shareholder register as requested by relevant shareholders within 24 hours after the request is received.
With highly professional staff and great experience in business in Vietnam, ANT Lawyers would like to support you to set up joint stock company in Vietnam.
Law Firm in Vietnam with international standard, local expertise and strong international network. We focus on customers’ needs and provide clients with a high quality legal advice and services. For advice or services request, please contact us via email ant@antlawyers.vn, or call us +84 24 730 86 529.
What Foreign Investors Should Know When Setting up company in Vietnam in 2022?
What Foreign Investors Should Know When Setting up company in Vietnam in 2022?
In the period of global economic integration, especially Post-Covid-19 era, Vietnam – a developing country is considered one of the countries with potential markets that foreign investors choose to establish the business here taking advantage of the government policy to promote the economy i.e. “new normal” adaption living with Covid-19, quick opening of border allowing tourists to visit Vietnam since Apr 2022, tax reduction, public investment increase…
Whom can set up business in Vietnam?
First, the objects allowed to establish and manage enterprises in Vietnam are all organizations and individuals who are not in the following cases: (i) Minors; people with limited legal capacity; incapacitated people; people having difficulties controlling their behaviors; organizations that are not juridical persons; (ii) People who are facing criminal prosecution, kept in temporary detention, serving an imprisonment sentence, serving an administrative penalty in a correctional institution or rehabilitation center, has limited legal capacity or is incapacitated, is not able to control his/her own behaviors, is banned by the court from holding certain positions or doing certain works; other cases prescribed by the Law on Bankruptcy and the Anti-corruption Law. At the same time, individuals with foreign nationality implementing business investment activities in Vietnam are considered foreign investors. The implementation of investment forms; the scope of operation as well as related procedures must meet the conditions under the Investment Law; related legal documents; other conditions of international treaties that Vietnam is a member.
Second, foreigners, foreign investors must explore legal forms of investment in Vietnam including: (i) Investing in establishing economic organizations; (ii) Invest in capital contribution, share purchase and purchase capital; (iii) Implementing investment project; (iv) Investment in the form of BCC contract; (v) Forms of investment and new economic organizations according to the Government’s regulations. They need to consider projects planning to invest in Vietnam in case of requesting approval of investment policy of 2020 Investment Law. The investment project of foreign investors is required to carry out procedures for granting investment registration certificates. If the case must be proposed to approve the investment policy, they must prepare dossiers and carry out procedures to request approval of investment policies. When completing the procedure, they will be granted a written decision on investment policy and investment registration certificates. If not falling in the case of approval of investment policy, foreign investors conduct procedures for applying for investment registration certificates.
Third, after being granted a certificate of foreign investment registration, foreign investors shall continue the procedures for enterprise registration. Vietnam laws do not have to limit the type of enterprise to foreign investors, hence investors can choose: One member limited liability Company; Two-member limited liability companies or more; Joint stock company; Partnerships. Each type of business has different advantages and disadvantages, and foreign investors should base on the purpose and investment scale to choose the type of suitable form of investment. In addition, the investment under the conditional business lines need to fully meet the conditions according to the provisions of law. Depending on the type of business, there will be the document requirements that need to register accordingly. And most importantly, foreign investors must prepare necessary conditions and sufficient conditions (validated documents for use in Vietnam, business name, head office address, business line, charter capital, legal representative,…) attached to the understanding and implementation of the order and procedures when they want to establish a certain type of enterprise in accordance with the Enterprise Law 2020.
ANT Lawyers is a law firm in Vietnam with English speaking lawyers, located in the business centers of Hanoi, Danang and Ho Chi Minh City to provide convenient access to our clients. With highly professional staff and great experience in foreign investment, we would like to support you to establish company in Vietnam.
The Benefit from Protecting Invention Patent
The Benefit from Protecting Invention Patent
Invention protection shall bring advantages for the owner of invention including the usage and application within the duration of 20 years. As Law on intellectual property of Vietnam, an invention patent shall be valid from the grant date until the end of twenty (20) years after the filing date.
Besides, Invention patent can bring its owner the followings:
The steady position on the market: with the invention patent, the owner of the invention shall have rights to prevent others from using their invention with commercial purpose. This will reduce the competitive capacity of competitors and bring preferred position for the owner.
Right to sell and license the invention: in case owners of inventions cannot use their invention by themselves, they can sell or license the use of their inventions to other people or companies. They can license only the right of use and sell all of their inventions. This does not only bring them a lot benefits but also avoid risks because of the competition on the market.
When your inventions have been commercialized and got the significant position on the market, other companies or people might tend to copy and use your invention illegally or sell other products which are similar to yours. If your inventions were not properly registered at competent authority, the competitors and violators can use your inventions without breaching of law.
Therefore, it is essential to register a new invention to protect the owner’s rights to avoid unfair competition on the market.
If you are looking for experienced IP services in Vietnam to help you with your IP application, you should visit ANTLawyers. Our attorneys have experience with the IP process and will work closely with you as you apply for your IP.
Arbitral Award Enforcement Law Firm in Vietnam
Which Judgement Enforcement Agencies that Enforce Arbitral Awards or Decisions of Arbitration Councils on the Application of Interim Urgent Measures?
Competent civil judgment enforcement agencies to enforce arbitral awards are civil judgment enforcement agencies of provinces or centrally run cities in which arbitration councils issue the awards.
Competent civil judgment enforcement agencies to enforce decisions of arbitration councils on the application of interim urgent measures are civil judgment enforcement agencies of provinces or centrally run cities in which the interim urgent measures need to be applied.
ANT Lawyers - Arbitral Award Enforcement Law Firm in Vietnamour trial lawyers with accreditation in national and international arbitration practice could help providing legal advice in disputed matters, and guide the clients through out the process. The lawyers could also advise the clients on various matters from choice of arbitrator, choice of arbitration rules, ad-hoc or institutional arbitration, place of arbitration, enforcement of arbitral award.
ANT Lawyers – as a law firm in Vietnam always follow up the enforce arbitral awards cases and their development to update clients on regular basis.
Industrial Design Consultant in Vietnam
Before a new design is launched, or sold in a new country, client company needs to ensure the Intellectual Property protection of industrial design.
Industrial Design Consultant in Vietnam
We are an industrial design consultant in Vietnam with lawyers with qualification and experience to assist client from application, protection, and dispute handling process.
ANT Lawyers IP Practice offers industrial design services as following:
-Represent clients in applying for certificates of industrial design, record modification, extend degree of industrial protection in Vietnam and abroad;
-Evaluate the effectiveness of the certificate of industrial design registration and the possibility of industrial design rights violation;
-Implement of the protected industrial design rights: investigate, monitor, negotiate, seek arbitration or initiate a lawsuit or request other competent agencies for handling of infringement in Vietnam and abroad;
-Negotiate, draft, evaluate and register the of changing industrial design ownership in Vietnam and abroad;
-Advise on building strategies, brand development;
ANT Lawyers offers industrial design services to protect intellectual assets through advising, searching, filing design by industrial design attorney in Vietnam.
What are Subject Matters of Intellectual Property Rights in Vietnam?
Subject Matters of Intellectual Property Rights in Vietnam
-The subject matter of copyright shall comprise literary, artistic and scientific works; the subject matter of copyright related rights shall comprise performances, audio and visual fixation, broadcasts and satellite signals carrying coded programmes.
-The subject matter of industrial property rights shall comprise inventions, industrial designs, designs of semi-conducting closed circuits, trade secrets, marks, trade names and geographical indications.
-The subject matter of rights to plant varieties shall comprise plant varieties and harvested materials.
Pursuant to Intellectual Property right 2005 (amended in 2009), Intellectual property rights means rights of an organization or individual to intellectual assets comprising copyright and copyright related rights, industrial property rights and rights to plant varieties. For example, software computer program can be protected under Copyright, or name of a product can be protected under Industrial property right that is Trademark or the outward appearance of a car can be protected as Industrial design.
However, intellectual property rights are generated and established based on certain grounds:
Firstly, copyright shall arise at the moment a work is created and fixed in a certain material form, irrespective of its content, quality, form, mode and language and irrespective of whether or not such work has been published or registered. For instance, a musician is about to write a song, however, the idea of the song still bears in mind of the musician and have not written down yet. At that time, copyright of the musician still does not generate.
Secondly, related rights shall arise at the moment a performance, audio and visual fixation, broadcast or satellite signal carrying coded programmes is fixed or displayed without causing loss or damage to copyright. Related right is the right related to copyright. Proceeding to above example, when the musician has finished writing his song and is sung by the singer on stage, the right of the singer to sing the song of the musician is related right.
Thirdly, different grounds for the generation and establishment of industrial property right. As said above, industrial property rights include 7 subject matters: inventions, industrial designs, designs of semi-conducting closed circuits, trade secrets, marks, trade names and geographical indications. These subjects have different grounds for generating and establishing right:
-Industrial property rights to an invention, industrial design, layout design, mark or geographical indication shall be established on the basis of a decision of the competent State body to grant a protection title in accordance with the registration procedures;
-Industrial property rights to a trade name shall be established on the basis of lawful use thereof;
-Industrial property rights to a trade secret shall be established on the basis of lawful acquirement of the trade secret and maintaining confidentiality thereof.
Fourthly, rights to a plant variety shall be established on the basis of a decision of the competent State body to grant a plant variety protection title in accordance with the registration procedures
It is wise to consult the advice of a IP attorneys in Vietnam to help assist you with your patent. We are a legal marketplace with quality lawyers who are knowledgeable in various areas of the law—including patents.
ANT Lawyers is a law firm in Vietnam, recognized by Legal500, IFLR1000. We are an exclusive Vietnam member of Prea Legal, the global law firm network covering more than 150 jurisdictions. The firm provides a range of legal services to multinational and domestic clients.
Telecommunications, Media & Technology (TMT) Services in Vietnam
ANT Lawyers assist clients to operate with compliance or look for opportunities to enter the market. In Telecommunications, Media & Technology (TMT) practice, our lawyers assist clients in commercial matters, corporate M&A and other transactions, regulatory issues, system integration, software development and licensing, IT services including outsourcing, software & technology agreements, data protection, intellectual property, disputes resolutions.
Telecommunications, Media & Technology Services in Vietnam
Our customers include telecom network operators and service providers, producers, software and hardware technology companies, outsourcing companies and e-commerce companies, internet companies, media and entertainment companies.
Some highlight matters include:
KDDI, a Japan telecom company, which we assist on various ongoing matters in Vietnam.
SECUREMETRIC, a Malaysian company providing digital security solutions in Vietnam, which we assist the Malaysian holding company to be listed on the Bursa Securities, advised the procedures for the local entity to be complied, conducted licensing procedures on behalf of the Client and drafted share purchase agreement for execution and carried out the process to change the ERC, IRC of the company in Vietnam under the name of the new owner with strict requirement to meet deadline for listing;
VIETFIBER, a foreign owned company with investors from Turkey manufacturing telecom equipment in Long An City, Vietnam, which we reviewed the shareholder agreements, Share Purchase Agreement, and advised procedures to complete the transfer of capital contribution from current shareholder to new investor and register with authority in Vietnam;
An Eastern European Technology company, which we advised telecommunications, media intellectual property laws on Personal Data Protection, Data Localization, and Copyrights infringement matters for their project to deliver service in Vietnam and online mobile stores in launching a personal content feed offering to users with a personalized news feed, with news items linking to a news story available on a third-party website, as well as a headline and small fragment of a news story and an accompanying image, embedded videos, the video content itself hosted on a third party website.
A Chinese Entertainment company, which we advised the client on the legal risks and compliance plan to launch a music application, an online music software providing functions of singing, recording, and uploading the songs etc, along with intelligent scoring, professional mixing, online interaction and social sharing. The advice cover areas of intellectual property permissions (including complete audio, words, music, accompaniment, music clips, etc.) on UGC (User-generated Content) or PGC (Professionally-generated Content), User License Agreement, the copyright and related rights collective management organization system including: The Vietnam Literary Copyright Center (VLCC); The Recording Industry Association of Vietnam (RIAV); The Vietnam Center for Protection of Music Copyright (VCPMC) and The Vietnam Reproduction Rights Organization (VIETPRO) whom exercise copyright licensing service, collect and distribute of royalties to the authors and rights holders whom authorized to them.
ANT Lawyers - a Law firm for TMT in Vietnam with international standard, local expertise and strong international network. We focus on customers’ needs and provide clients with a high quality legal advice and services. For advice or service request, please contact us via email ant@antlawyers.vn, or call us +84 24 730 86 529
What Procedures for Conciliation and Settlement of Land Dispute?
Land dispute is one of the most complicated problems which arises regularly in daily life in Vietnam. Land dispute is very diverse, which may be dispute over land use right, ownership of house attached to land use right related to inheritance, divorce, transfer and transformation transaction, leasing, sub-leasing, mortgage, etc.
Land dispute means a dispute over the rights and obligations of land users among two or more parties in a land relationship.
In case of conflict over land, what should parties do to settle dispute?
Land dispute can be settled in two resolutions, in court or settlement procedures at state administrative agencies.
Firstly, no matter what resolution parties choose, conciliation procedure at commune-level People’s Committee of the locality where the disputed land is located is mandatory condition and procedure. In particular, if conciliation by parties cannot be achieved, the parties may send a petition for conciliation to the commune-level People’s Committee of the locality where the disputed land is located. The conciliation procedure carried out at the commune-level People’s Committees shall be completed within 45 days from the date which the commune-level People’s Committees receives a petition for settlement of land dispute. The conciliation may take place only when all the disputing parties are present. If any of the disputing parties is absent for the second time, the conciliation shall be regarded as unsuccessful.
If the conciliation at a commune-level People’s Committee fails, land dispute shall be settled according to one of the following two cases. Firstly, the land dispute in which the party possesses a certificate or any of the papers prescribed in Article 100 of Land law and the dispute over assets attached to land shall be settled by the People’s Court. Secondly, regarding the land dispute in which the party does not possess above papers, the parties may choose between the following two options of settlement: filing a written request for dispute settlement with a competent People’s Committee or filing a lawsuit with a competent People’s Court in accordance with the law on civil procedures.
Regarding the second case, when the party choose to settle at competent People’s Committee, the chairperson of the district-level People Committee is responsible for the settlement of disputes among households, individuals and communities. If the parties disagree with the settlement decision, they are entitled to claim with the chairperson of the provincial-level People’s Committee or to file a lawsuit at a People’s Court in accordance with the law on administrative procedures.
In case one party is an organization, a religious institution, an overseas Vietnamese or a foreign-invested enterprise, the chairperson of the provincial-level People’s Committee is responsible for the settlement. If the parties disagree with the settlement decision, they are entitled to file claim with the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment or to file a lawsuit with a People’s Court in accordance with the law on administrative procedures. It should be noted that the legally effective decision on dispute settlement must be strictly abided by the parties. If the parties fail to comply, the decision shall be enforced.
The settlement of land disputes in which the disputing parties have no certificate or any of the papers prescribed in Article 100 of the Land Law and Article 18 of Decree 43/2014/ND-CP detailing a number of articles of the land law shall be based on the following grounds: Evidences on the origin and use process of the land presented by the disputing parties; Actual land areas currently used by the parties in addition to the disputed land area and the average land area per household member in the locality; Conformity of the current use status of the disputed land with land use plans already approved by competent state agencies; Preferential treatment policies toward persons with meritorious services to the State; Regulations on land allocation, land lease and land use rights recognition.
It is suggest to consult with land dispute lawyers in Vietnam for advice and representation at early stage for dispute avoidance or dispute resolution.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade to Review the New Exporter in case Anti-dumping AD07
The Ministry of Industry and Trade to Review the New Exporter in case Anti-dumping AD07
On August 19, 2022, the Trade Remedies Authority of Vietnam received a dossier requesting for reviewing of the anti-dumping taxes applied to new export enterprises from SRF Industries (Thailand) Limited (SRF Thailand) Company in the AD07 case.
Based on the request, the Department of Trade and Industry conducted an assessment and sent out written requests to supplement and clarify some information and content on the basis for reviewing the new exporter enterprises.
On October 17, 2022, the Trade Remedies Authority of Vietnam issued an Official dispatch No 820/PVTM-P1 confirming the complete and valid dossier.
Under the provisions of Clause 3, Article 82 of the Law on Foreign Trade Management, dated November 14, 2022, the Ministry of Industry and Trade issued Decision No. 2400/QD-BCT on conducting a review of new exporters in applying anti-dumping measures on certain plastic products and plastic products made from propylene which is the production of polymers originating from Malaysia, Thailand and the People’s Republic of China (NR01.AD07).
If Client needs any more information or request for legal advice or potential dispute regarding trade remedies measures including, anti-dumping, countervailing duty and safeguard measures or international trade dispute matters, our competition, anti-dumping, and countervailing duty lawyers of International trade and tax practice at ANT Lawyers, a law firm in Vietnam always follow up anti-dumping cases and its development to update clients on regular basis.
Which Form of Investment – Set up Branch Office or Set up Company in Vietnam?
Which Form of Investment – Set up Branch or Set up Company in Vietnam?
There are several main different aspects between opening a branch office or establishing a foreign owned company in Vietnam.
1.Conditions
-Permits for establishment of Vietnam-based branches of foreign enterprise shall each have a valid term of five years.
-Foreign enterprise must choose between establishing a 100% foreign capital enterprise or forming a joint-venture with domestic investor or company.
2.Certificate
-The Branch office needs to apply and obtain the operation license of a Branch;
-A foreign owned company will need to apply and obtain the investment certificate (“IC”) to operate in Vietnam.
3.Capital
-Optional, foreign entity will decide how much money to invest in branch. The allocation capital for branch is capital for the subordinate units.
-Mandatory, foreign entity will need to provide minimum capital as required by Vietnam Law in conditional investment area.
4.Obligation of owner
-For branch office in Vietnam, owner takes full responsibility;
-For company, owner takes responsibility within the capital contributed into the company in Vietnam;
5.Other matters
-For branch office setting up in Vietnam, the procedure is less complicated compared to those for the establishment of a 100% foreign owned company; the branch office is able to carry out trading and some other activities as stipulated by Vietnam laws and the WTO commitments which Vietnam enters. The business lines of a branch have to be aligned with the business lines of the headquarter of the foreign entity.
-Setting up foreign owned company would be more complicated than the setting up of the branch office, however this form of investment has more flexibility and freedom as it is a stand alone Vietnam entity recognized under Vietnam laws.
ANT Lawyers is a law firm in Vietnam with English speaking lawyers, located in the business centers of Hanoi, Danang and Ho Chi Minh City to provide convenient access to our clients. With highly professional staff and great experience in foreign investment, we would like to support you to establish company in Vietnam.
Where is least expensive cities for working and living in Vietnam?
Where is least expensive cities for working and living in Vietnam?
The price indexes has always been on top of information list which investors look for when making investment into a new country. Beside various information i.e. GDP, Stock market, unemployment, producer price, interest rate, balance of trade, the investors also check the consumer price index and income to determine the attractiveness of market entry. There are many attractiveness factors including the low cost of living and low level of income in comparable with other neighboring countries, for making investment in setting up company in Vietnam for manufacturing purpose.
Where in Vietnam is cheapest city to live and work?
According to statistics of 2021, taking Hanoi as the base indicator, the top 10 localities with the most expensive cost of living include: Hanoi (100%), Quang Ninh (99.5%), Ho Chi Minh City (98.98%), Da Nang (96.4%), Hai Phong (95.58%), Lao Cai (94.75%), Son La (94.58%), Lang Son (94.55%) %), Khanh Hoa (94.55%) and Dien Bien (94.41%).
How it has changed since 2015?
The top 10 provinces and cities with the most expensive cost of living in the country in 2015 include: Lai Chau (100.3%), Hanoi (100%), Son La (99.27%), Lao Cai (99.02%), Dien Bien (98.85%), Ho Chi Minh City City (97.39%), Ha Tinh (97.14%), Ha Giang (96.5%), Da Nang (96.44%) and Binh Phuoc (96.12%).
In 2021, Hanoi’s per capita income reaches more than 6 million VND/month. Since 2016, Hanoi has always been in the top 3 localities with the highest income in the country.
In 2015, Da Nang ranked 9/63 with a price equal to 96.44% compared to Hanoi. By 2017, the city “jumped” to third place, up 6 places compared to 2015. In 2021, Da Nang’s cost of living is 96.4% of that of Hanoi and ranked 4th in the country in terms of expensiveness. In 2021, Da Nang has per capita income of more than 5.2 million VND/month, ranking 5th out of 63 provinces and cities. Previously, 2019 was the year the city had the highest income in the past 10 years with more than 6 million VND/person/month.
In 2021, Ho Chi Minh City reached 98.98% and ranked 3rd out of 63 provinces and cities in cost of living. From 2002 to 2016, the city has always been the place with the highest income in the country. From 2018 to present, Ho Chi Minh City maintains the “runner-up” position (behind Binh Duong), in which, 2019 is the year with the highest income with 6.7 million VND/person/month.
Besides the three central cities that are constantly in the top of the most expensive localities in the country, Lao Cai is the only mountainous province.
In 2020, Lao Cai ranked 5th in terms of the expensive level in consumption, equal to 96.52% compared to Hanoi. Lao Cai is the most expensive province among 14 Northern Midlands and Mountainous Provinces (the cheapest is Phu Tho, equal to 91.07% compared to Hanoi, ranked 56th nationwide). By 2021, Lao Cai’s index drop to 94.75%, the lowest level of the place since 2015 until now. With this index, Lao Cai ranks 6th in the country in terms of the expensiveness of the cost of living.
In particular, although the cost of living is quite high, the income of people in Lao Cai is not high. The average income of people in this locality was only 1.8 million VND/person/month in 2016 and ranked 53rd in the country. In 2021, people in Lao Cai earn an average of 2.51 million VND, ranking 55th in the country.
The low level of income and least living cost make Vietnam a favourable destination for investment. Many labour intensive manufacturers in garment, shoes, furniture… have long chosen Vietnam as a place for establishing company in manufacturing. There are growing number of companies in electronics also manufacture in Vietnam to take advantage of the comparable low wage workforce.
With highly professional staff and great experience in foreign investment, ANT Lawyers - law firm in Vietnam would like to support you to establish company in Vietnam.
What Important Step-by-Step Guide to Establish Company in Vietnam?
When foreign investors invest in Vietnam, they could establish company in Vietnam. Foreign investors have the right to choose the appropriate forms of enterprise such as a limited liability company, joint stock company, etc. with specific steps are as follows:
How to establish company in Vietnam?
Step 1: Register the investment project
Investors submit an investment project registration file to the Business Registration office of the province or city or the management board of an industrial zone, an export processing zone or a high-tech zone for the approval of an investment project during the period within 15 days (without time for clarification).
Step 2: Apply for Certificate of investment registration
After approval of the investment project, investors submit a valid record to the Department of Planning and Investment within 10 days to apply for a business registration certificate.
Step 3: Apply for the certificate of business registration
After obtaining the business registration certificate, the investor shall submit the application for enterprise registration certificate to the enterprise registration office within 3 days.
Step 4: Publish the content of the business registration
After being granted the certificate of enterprise registration, the investor shall disclose information about the enterprise on the national enterprise registration portal within 30 days, including the following information:
i, Business lines;
ii, List of founding shareholders and shareholders being foreign investors for joint-stock companies.
Step 5: Registered business stamp
The enterprise has the right to decide on the form, quantity and contents of the stamp of the enterprise. The content of the stamp must show the following information:
-Company’s name;
-Business code.
After receiving the legal entity stamp and before using the business stamp, the enterprise must send a notice on the stamp of the enterprise to the business registration office for publication in the National Information Portal on the business registration.
Step 6: Notice of use of stamp:
After having stamp made, investors submit notices on use of stamp forms to the Investment registration agency. After receiving the record, the Investment registration agency issues a receipt for the enterprise, publishes the notice of the enterprise on the National Business Information Portal and issues a notice of the posting, stamp samples of enterprises, branches and representative offices for enterprises.
Step 7: Open bank account:
Investors need to open two types of bank accounts, namely the investment capital account to receive the investment amount and the transaction account for conducting daily transaction in Vietnam.
Step 8: The post licensing procedures:
For the conditional business lines:
Investors investing in conditional businesses lines as regulated in Appendix 4 of the Investment Law 2014 must apply certificate of business qualification, practicing certificates, professional liability insurance, legal capital requirements, etc. before conducting business in Vietnam.
With highly professional staff and great experience in foreign investment, ANT Lawyers would like to support you in establishing company in Vietnam.
ANT Lawyers - a Law firm in Vietnam with international standard, local expertise and strong international network. We focus on customers’ needs and provide clients with a high quality legal advice and services. For advice or service request, please contact us via email ant@antlawyers.vn, or call us +84 24 730 86 529.
Licensing of industrial property subject in general or of trademark in specific is regulated in Intellectual Property law. Accordingly, in trademark licensing, the owner (licensor) grants permission to another (licensee) to use that trademark on mutually agreed terms and conditions. The must be established in written form to avoid dispute in trademark licensing in Vietnam.
Trademark licensing in Vietnam
Accordingly, licensing of trademark includes the following types: exclusive contract, non-exclusive contract; sub-license contract.
Firstly, exclusive contract means a contract under which, within the licensing scope and term, the licensee shall have the exclusive right to use the licensed trademark while the licensor may neither enter into any trademark license contract with any third party nor, without permission from the licensee, use such trademark.
Secondly, non-exclusive contract means a contract under which, within the licensing scope and term, the licensor shall still have the right to use the trademark and to enter into a non-exclusive trademark license contract with others.
Thirdly, trademark sub-license contract means a contract under which the licensor is a licensee of the right to use such trademark pursuant to another contract.
In any type of the contracts, it is required to have the following contents: full names and addresses of the licensor and of the licensee; grounds for licensing; contract type; licensing scope including limitations on use right and territorial limitations; contract term; licensing price; rights and obligations of the licensor and of the licensee.
Besides the above contents, the parties also need to take note on the validity of this contract. Different from assignment contract of trademark when it is required to register at National office of Intellectual Property of Vietnam to take effect, the licensing contract of trademark does not required this kind of registration for taking effect. Licensing contract shall automatically be terminated upon the termination of the licensor’s trademark right.
If Client needs any more information or request for legal advice regarding licensing of trademark or dispute in trademark licensing contract, our Trademark attorneys in Vietnam at ANT Lawyers will be of help.
ANT Lawyers – Law firm in Vietnam will always follow up with authorities for legal update on matters relevant to trademarks to update clients on regular basis.
ANT Lawyers is a law firm in Vietnam with offices in Hanoi, Danang and Ho Chi Minh City. We are an exclusive Vietnam law firm member of Prae Legal, a global law firm network spanning 5 continents and 150 countries through which we have built up relationship with lawyers from all parts of the world. This cooperation allow ANT Lawyers to handle cases involving matters of international nature involving foreigners.
Law Firm in Vietnam
ANT Lawyers, as a reliable English speaking law firm in Vietnam, we focus on providing possible solutions that best meet the needs of legal and business clients. We help customers achieve their goals while protecting their interests, minimizing risks, and complying with the law.
The law firm works with corporate and individual clients from across the sectors and offers a true spectrum of legal expertise, both contentious and non-contentious. Highly professional staff and great experience enables us to advise on various matters from the precedent-setting to the purely procedural.
The common thread in everything our law firm does is our ability to combine both commercial and legal perspectives. This means our clients can rest assured that, whatever the case or transaction, our lawyers at the law firm in Vietnam have the experience to deliver legal advice and service that works in a commercial context.
Our lawyers offer client with particular services that guide clients throughout investment, commercial transaction, M&A, civil transaction, property sales and purchase, IP registration, and dispute resolution procedures.
We help clients to overcome cultural barriers and achievie their strategic and financial results, anh in the meantime ensure best interest protection, risk minimization, and regulatory compliance.
Looking for a reliable local English speaking law firm in Vietnam for your business?
Tell us how we can be of service and one of our team members will contact you. Email: ant@antlawyers.vn, Tel: +84 28 730 86 529
Notice of Decision on Anti-dumping Measures for Some MSG products
On April 6th, 2022, the Ministry of Industry and Trade issued Decision No. 640/QD-BCT on the results of the first review of the application of anti-dumping measures on some MSG products from the Republic of Indonesia and People’s Republic of China (Case No. AR01.AD09).
Notice of Decision on Anti-dumping Measures for Some MSG products
Name of product: MSG products (also known as MSG, Monosodium Glutamate, MSG, Monosodium glutamate, Monosodium L-glutamate, Sodium glutamate, Sodium salt of glutamic acid). MSG products holds HS code: 2922.42.20
Main of usage: Use in food processing and cooking: MSG is directly used by consumers in food processing; Used as raw materials to produce other condiment products such as powder/granule seasoning, soup powder; Used as raw materials to produce ready-to-eat food products.
The Anti-dumping level ranges from 3.445.645 VND/ton to 6.385.289 VND/ton depending on origins from Indonesia or China.
However, the Ministry of Industry and Trade may amend and supplement the list of HS codes of goods subject to anti-dumping tax to match the description of the investigated goods and other changes (if any).
Anti-dumpling Tax would be applied from April 11th, 2022.
If Client needs any more information or request for legal advice or potential dispute regarding trade remedies measures including, anti-dumping, countervailing duty and safeguard measures or international trade dispute matters, our competition, anti-dumping, and countervailing duty lawyers in Vietnam of International trade and tax practice at ANT Lawyers, a law firm in Vietnam always follow up anti-dumping cases and its development to update clients on regular basis.
Objects of Intellectual Property Rights in Vietnam
Intellectual property rights in Vietnam are the rights of organizations or individuals to trademarks, inventions, designs or other forms of creation. Currently, intellectual property rights are recognized as an asset class, which can constitute corporate assets. Popular Objects of intellectual property today include:
Objects of Intellectual Property Rights in Vietnam
1. Objects of copyright include literary, artistic and scientific works; objects of copyright-related rights include performances, sound recordings, video recordings; broadcasting programs; satellite signals carrying encrypted programs.
2. Objects of industrial property rights include inventions; industrial designs; layout-designs of semi-conductor integrated circuits; business secrets; trademarks; trade names and geographical indications.
3. Objects of rights to plant varieties are plant varieties and its propagating materials.
If you are looking for experienced IP services in Vietnam to help you with your IP application, you should visit ANTLawyers.vn. Our attorneys have experience with the IP process and will work closely with you as you apply for your IP in Vietnam.
How to Set up Trading Company in Vietnam
How to Set up Trading Company in Vietnam
Investment in set up trading company in Vietnam is considered as investment in conditional investment areas
Once an underdeveloped country, in the last two decades Vietnam has shown an incredible growth in the world economic scene, especially in the criteria of investment attraction. For a foreign company that is interested in expanding the business in a new country or region, Vietnam is a promising destination. In order to start a company or specifically a trading company in Vietnam, foreign investor should comprehensively understand the formality and function of the legal entity to be formed according to Vietnam Law. The consultancy and guidance of skilled and qualified lawyers in Vietnam law firms throughout the process shall mostly be needed.
The legal basis for a foreign company to set up a company in Vietnam is stated in the Enterprise Law of Vietnam: foreign organizations and individuals will be entitled to establish and manage enterprises in Vietnam in accordance with this law, with some exceptions. Foreign investors may invest in the form of 100% foreign- owned capital to establish joint-stock companies, limited liability companies, partnerships or private enterprises under the provisions of the Enterprise Law and relevant laws.
The foreign investor shall mostly needs to fulfill the investment registration procedures at provincial-level state agencies in charge of investment in order to be granted the investment certificates, in accordance with Vietnam law in investment. The dossier required for the investment registration shall comprise of an examination dossier, papers showing the capability to satisfy the conditions which the project is required by law to satisfy, for investment projects in conditional investment domains i.e. specific goods to be traded at HS code level, experience in trading area, how the trading procedures would be carried out, potential business in Vietnam.
In particular, for investment capital, it should be noted that, trading company needs to commit larger investment in terms of capital, since its function is to identify competitive suppliers, negotiate and purchase their products and sell them through a distribution network in Vietnam. In the meantime, the investor needs to have experience in trading to run the business smoothly and efficiently. The investor should explain why the company would contribute to the development in Vietnam when applying for investment license at Department of Planning and Investment, and Ministry of Trade and Commerce.
ANT Lawyers, a law firm in Vietnam could offer service to establish company in Vietnam. We assist clients needing legal service in obtaining investment certificate, business registration certificate, or other licensing procedures.
How Violations of Fundamental Principles Causes Annulment of Arbitral Awards?
Arbitration award is final and binding upon the parties. The arbitral award takes effect from the date of its issuance and is not subject to appeal and protest which is a feature of dispute resolution through commercial arbitration. Therefore, the regulations on annulment of arbitral award should be carefully implemented to closely monitor these awards, ensure compliance with the laws and protect the interests of the parties involved. This is an important matters to discuss when lawyers specializing in dispute through commercial arbitration encounter when requested by the client to assist the enforcement of the arbitral awards under Vietnam laws.
Annulment of arbitral award also known as setting aside is means that the Court as a juridical authority is entitled to review such award upon request of parties in dispute in case there is a ground proving that the arbitral award belongs to one of the annulment cases under the laws. The competent court to take this action is the provincial court of locality at which the parties agree or at which the Arbitral tribunal given the award.
An arbitral award in contrary to the fundamental principles of Vietnam laws is one of five grounds to set aside. The Court is responsible for verifying and collecting evidences to determine whether or not to annul the arbitral award; the requesting party is responsible for other grounds.
Fundamental principles of Vietnam laws are the basic principles impacting the formation and implementation of Vietnam laws. Each law or code contains those principles on its own. Arbitration awards are respected by laws, however within the boundary permitted by laws to not infringe the interests of concerned parties and the national interests, which has been mostly referred to by the court.
When reviewing a request for annulment of arbitral award, the court shall determine whether the award violates any fundamental principle and how such principle concerns or bind the dispute settlement of arbitrator. The court shall set aside an arbitral award in case it contains decisions in contrary to any fundamental principle of Vietnam laws which are not abided by arbitral tribunal upon issue of the arbitral award and the arbitral award seriously infringe upon the interest of the state, the lawful rights and interests of either party or parties, third parties.
In order to apply this fundamental principle ground, the Court may review the application of substantive law decided by the Arbitral Tribunal, as such, the Court may review legal issues of case. In the meantime, Vietnam Courts are not entitled to review the substantive matters resolved by the arbitral tribunal when reviewing request of requesting parties, the Courts are permitted to refer annulment cases stipulated by laws and evidences proving its conclusion. Therefore, the above restriction conflicts with the ground which is annulment of arbitral awards caused by violation of fundamental principles of Vietnamese laws. In fact, to consider whether or not to violate the fundamental principles, the Courts seem to review the substantive matters of dispute to make an argument for its decision.
Hence to improve the efficiency and judicial system under Vietnam laws, it is expected that the fundamental principle ground to cause annulment arbitral award of arbitrator should be instructed in more detail in Vietnam laws to improve the independence of the Arbitral Tribunal and avoid the Vietnam Court trying to re-resolve the substantive matters.
ANT Lawyers, as a reliable law firm in Vietnam, we focus on providing possible solutions that best meet the needs of legal and business clients. We help customers achieve their goals while protecting their interests, minimizing risks, and complying with the law. For advice or service request, please contact us via email ant@antlawyers.vn, or call us +84 24 730 86 529.
The Need for Commercial Mediation in the Performance of International Contracts
In contract dispute resolution, the average time to resolve a commercial contract dispute at the Court in Vietnam, even with the help of dispute lawyers in Vietnam whom know well the process would take long time through multiple proceedings. This period will last longer if there is a foreign party in the dispute, including service of notarization, legalization, authentication (or apostille) the documents. According to World Bank statistics, the cost of resolving a commercial dispute at the Court accounts for about 29% of the contract value (including attorneys’ fees, court fees, judgment execution fees).
Contract dispute lawyers in Vietnam
The practice of resolving the dispute case at the Court appears to face many challenges of time lengthening and possible effective enforcement leading to cost of time and money. Therefore, the selection of dispute resolution in the mediation center is a possible option to resolve this issue.
Vietnam authorities and international agencies have taken active measures needed to promote the application of commercial mediation in international contracts, in order to resolve issues more quickly and effectively in international trade disputes. The application of commercial dispute resolution at mediation centers in Vietnam will save time and costs for dispute resolution. In addition, the dispute resolution at the mediation center will also help the parties maintain the relationship for future business transactions.
Until Aug 2019, in Vietnam, there are 7 commercial mediation centers licensed by the Ministry of Justice with a team of domestic and international certified mediators and lawyers who can contribute to resolving disputes in international trade contracts. The use of mediation centers in the settlement of disputes in Vietnam with the help of lawyers in Vietnam will help the parties to find common grounds and together save cost, time, keep confidentiality of the dispute and could continue to do business with each other.
We help clients overcome cultural barriers and achieve their strategic and financial outcomes, while ensuring the best interest rate protection, risk mitigation and regulatory compliance. ANT lawyers have Dispute Attorneys in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and Danang, will help customers conveniently drafting contracts and assist in resolving contract disputes in Vietnam.
What is Statute of Limitation for Initiating Legal Action According to Arbitral Procedures?
Arbitration law always set the the limitation period for request of dispute resolution. This means that the law applies a specific period for parties to bring the dispute to the arbitration. According to law on arbitration 2010 (“LOA”), unless otherwise provided by specialized law, limitation period for initiating legal action according to arbitral procedures is two years from the time of infringement of lawful rights and interests.
There is no regulation in arbitration law regarding consequence of expiration of limitation period, but Civil Code 2015 (“CC”) stipulates that: “if such time limits expire, the right to initiate such legal action shall be lost”. Arbitration council shall not resolve expired requests, which means council shall not judge which parties is right or wrong. Therefore, enterprise needs to request within the statutory time limits in order to be resolved. If not, the request shall not be considered although there was request and related fees. In addition, it should be noted that the Court only applies time limits regulation at the request of a party or the parties provided that such request is filed before the first trial court of first instance makes a judgment, a decision on settlement.
However, there has been cases of non-applicability of limitation periods. Specifically, a limitation period for initiating legal action for a civil case shall not apply in any of the following cases: (i) Request for the protection of personal rights not associated with property; (ii) Request for the protection of ownership rights, unless otherwise provided by Civil Code or relevant laws; (iii) Dispute over land use right as prescribed in the Law on land; (iv) Other cases as provided by law. For instance, dispute over reclaiming deposited property is under case of non-applicability of limitation periods. Specifically, deposited property still belongs to ownership of depositor although the property had been transferred to depositary and reclaiming property is a measure protecting the right of property ownership, while dispute over the protection of ownership rights is under case of non-applicability of limitation periods.
In practice, the time between the time period of filing a lawsuit and the time period of infringement of lawful rights and interests can be longer than two years if there is time periods excluded from limitation periods for initiating legal action or there is re-commencement of limitation period for initiating legal action.
The time period during which one of the following events occurs shall be excluded from limitation periods for initiating legal action: (i) An event of force majeure or other objective hindrance which renders the person with the right to initiate legal action for a civil case or make the request not able to do so within the limitation period; (ii) The person with the right to initiate legal action for a civil case or to make the request is a minor or a legally incapacitated person, a person with limited cognition and behavior control or a person with limited legal capacity, and does not yet have a representative; (iii) The representative of a minor or a legally incapacitated person, a person with limited cognition and behavior control or a person with limited legal capacity has not yet been replaced in case that the representative being natural person dies or the representative being juridical person ceases to exist or in case that the representative, for good reasons, cannot continue his/her representation.
The limitation period for initiating legal action shall re-commence in any of the following cases: (i) The obligor has acknowledged part or all of its obligations to the plaintiff; (ii) The obligor has acknowledged or fulfilled part of its obligations to the plaintiff; (iii) The parties have become reconciled. The limitation period for initiating legal action for a civil case shall re-commence from the date following the date on which the above event occurs. Having said that, it is important to consult with dispute lawyers in Vietnam for the effective dispute resolutions should dispute arise.
Arbitration lawyers at ANT Lawyers - Law firm in Vietnam with accreditation in national and international arbitration practice could help providing legal advice in disputed matters, and guide the clients throughout the process. The arbitration lawyers in Vietnam could also advise the clients on various matters from choice of arbitrator, choice of arbitration rules, ad-hoc or institutional arbitration, place of arbitration, enforcement of arbitral award.
Regulations on foreigners owning real estate in Vietnam
For land, foreign individuals are not eligible to use land assigned or leased by the State, recognized land use rights, received transfer of land use rights. However, a foreign-invested enterprise could be allocated or leased land by the State, recognized land use rights, or received a land use right transfer. Foreign-invested enterprises that are assigned land by the State with the collection of land use levies to execute investment projects on the construction of houses for sale or for sale in combination with lease.
For housing, foreign entities eligible for the homeownership in Vietnam include: foreign entities who invest in project-based housing construction in Vietnam as prescribed in this Law and corresponding regulations of law; foreign-invested enterprises, branches, representative offices of foreign enterprises, foreign-invested funds and branches of foreign banks operating in Vietnam (hereinafter referred to as foreign organization); foreign individuals who are allowed to enter Vietnam.
The foreign entities are eligible for the homeownership in Vietnam if they invest in project-based housing construction in Vietnam as prescribed in this Law and corresponding regulations of law; or buy, rent and purchase, receive, or inherit commercial housing including apartments and separate houses in the project for housing construction, except for areas under management relating to national defense and security as prescribed in regulations of the Government.
Foreign organizations and individuals must have documents proving being the eligible subjects and meeting conditions to own houses in Vietnam. A foreign individual must have an unexpired passport bearing the entry seal of the Vietnam’s immigration authority and not given diplomatic immunity and privileges according to Ordinance on diplomatic immunity and privileges of diplomatic missions, consular offices, and representative authorities of international organizations in Vietnam. Foreign organizations must be subjects of owning houses in Vietnam which have investment registration certificate or a permission issued by a Vietnam’s competent authority for operation in Vietnam which is still unexpired at the time of housing transaction (hereinafter referred to as investment registration certificate).
A foreign entity shall not be granted a Certificate of the house and may only sell or offer it to another entity eligible to own housing in Vietnam in the case being: a foreign organization or individual receives a house as an inheritance or a gift which is located in an area in which foreign entities must not own houses, or the quantity of which exceeds the permissible limits; a foreign organization that does not operate in Vietnam, or a foreign individual who is not permitted to enter Vietnam, receives a house in Vietnam as a gift or an inheritance.
For specific situations, to avoid future dispute in house ownership arisen from the purchase, lease of property, house, land from the state, developer or other seller, or lessor it is important that the client check with property lawyers for eligibility, conditions and other relevant matters.
ANT Lawyers – Law firm in Vietnam that could assist in different land and house related projects and matters such as land ownership, house purchase or sale and is aware of the differences between provisions on house law for foreigners and Vietnamese. Our professionals could advise clients about possibilities and potential risks concerning real estate laws, housing laws in Vietnam and furthermore could support clients with required procedures with the Vietnamese authorities.
How to Determine Penalty and Compensation for Damages from Breach of Commercial Contract?
When drafting a contract, especially a commercial business contract, in addition to basic provisions such as the object, scope of the contract, value and payment method, rights and obligations of the parties, dispute settlement, information confidentiality, and the regulations on the penalty for a breach of the contract and damage compensation are also very important.
Under the provisions of the Commercial Law 2005, penalty for a breach means that the breaching party must pay a sum of money to the aggrieved party due to the breach of the violating party if the parties agree in the contract on the fine for a breach. Thus, the penalty for a breach only arises when there is a breach of the contract by the violating party and the parties have agreed on the penalty.
The law gives the right to agree on sanctions for violations to contractual parties, but this freedom to negotiate is limited. Specifically, the parties are only allowed to agree to a maximum penalty of 8% of the breached contractual obligation value, except traders providing assessment services issue assessment certificates showing incorrect results caused by their unintentional faults, they must pay penalty therefor to customers. The penalty level shall be agreed upon by the parties but must not exceed ten times the assessment service charge. In fact, the dispute settlement agency also bases on the prescribed limit of the law to handle; therefore, even if the parties agree to a higher penalty for a breach, it is not applicable in practice.
Compensation for damage
Compensation for damage means a remedy whereby the breaching party pays compensation for the loss caused by a contract-breaching act to the aggrieved party. The basis for arising damages is a breach of the contract; there is material loss and act of breaching the contract is the direct cause of the loss. Difference from penalty for a breach, liability to compensate for damages caused by breaches of contract performance obligations arises even in cases where the parties do not have an agreement on this matter. Besides, the law does not provide any regulation to limit the amount of compensation; it is based on the actual damages that the aggrieved party can prove.
When participating in the transaction, if both types of sanctions are specified in the contract, they should clearly specify the basis for the amount of compensation for the damages and the penalty for violation.
In fact, there are many cases where the parties do not agree clearly or agree on the penalty but the amount of the penalty exceeds the prescribed level, the excess could be considered invalid. The parties should also note that there will be no agreement on late payment interest on the infringement penalty and the amount of compensation damages.
We help clients overcome cultural barriers and achieve their strategic and financial outcomes, while ensuring the best interest rate protection, risk mitigation and regulatory compliance. ANT lawyers have Dispute Attorneys in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and Danang, will help customers conveniently drafting contracts and assist in resolving contract disputes in Vietnam.
What cannot be registered as trademark?
A trademark has to have one basic feature that is it should be unique and create a brand identity for a product. So if a trademark is such that does not create any brand for a product can't be trademarked. A trademark should not be a conflicting trademarks with others. It means the trademarks should not create confusion between two trademarks.
-Generic words can't be trademarked. For example you can't trademark the words like TV, Fridge, scooter, car etc.
-The names of the cities and countries can not be trademarked.
-The names of Gods and Godesses and the names of religious books can not be trademarked. For example you can't trademark *Lord Ram* or *Ramayana*
-Surnames can not be trademarked under normal circumstances. For Example you can't trademark *Sharma*
-Names of Constitutional Posts or Government posts can't be trademarked. For examples you can't trademark *Prime Minister of Vietnam
-Words which denote illegal or Immoral acts can't be trademarked. For example you can't trademark *Let's cheat* or *Let's grope*
-Words which are prohibited under names and emblems act can't be trademarked. For example, you can't trademark the official sign of Government of Vietnam.
Hope this helps!
Source: Quora
ANT Lawyers - IP services in Vietnam located in the business centers of Hanoi, Danang, Ho Chi Minh city. We provide convenient access to our clients. Please contact our lawyers in Vietnam for Trademark registration services in Vietnam via email ant@antlawyers.vn or call our office at +84 28 730 86 529.
How Foreigners Could Apply for Residence Permits to Stay in Vietnam from 2022
How Foreigners Could Apply for Residence Permits to Stay in Vietnam from 2022
In the current process of industrialization and international integration, it is common for foreigners to reside and work in Vietnam permanently or temporarily. In order to legally reside in Vietnam, a foreigner must be eligible to be granted a permanent residence card or a temporary residence card in accordance with Vietnam immigration law.
Temporary residence card is a document issued by an immigration management agency or a competent agency of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to a foreigner who is allowed to reside in Vietnam for a definite time and has a valid temporary residence card visa replacement. Subjects granted temporary residence cards in Vietnam include: (i) Foreigners who are members of diplomatic missions, consular offices, representative offices of international organizations of the United Nations, inter-governmental organizations the government in Vietnam and their spouses, children under 18 years of age, and domestic servants who accompany them for their respective terms; (ii) Foreigners enter with visas with symbols LV1, LV2, LS, DT1, DT2, DT3, NN1, NN2, DH, PV1, LD1, LD2, TT. Depending on each person who is granted a temporary residence card in Vietnam, the duration of the temporary residence card is different.
Foreigners who are eligible to be granted temporary residence cards in Vietnam according to the two subjects mentioned above must be sponsored and applied for residence card in Vietnam by the agencies, organizations, individuals at the Immigration Department or the Immigration Department Police Department of the province, centrally run city where the agency or organization sponsoring is headquartered or where the sponsored party resides.
It is very challenging to apply for the permanent residence card in Vietnam. The permanent residence is issued by the immigration authority to foreigners who are allowed to reside indefinitely in Vietnam and is valid in lieu of a visa. Foreigners who are considered for permanent residence in Vietnam include: (i) Foreigners who have made meritorious, contributions to the cause of construction and defense of the Vietnamese fatherland are awarded medals or titles by the Vietnamese government state honor; (ii) Foreigners who are scientists, experts temporarily residing in Vietnam; (iii) The foreigner is guaranteed by father, mother, wife, husband, child who are Vietnamese citizens who are permanently residing in Vietnam; (iv) Stateless people who have temporarily resided continuously in Vietnam from 2000 or earlier. At the same time, the following conditions must be met: (i) Having a lawful place of residence and a stable income to ensure life in Vietnam; (ii) If a scientist, expert is temporarily residing in Vietnam, must be requested by a Minister, Deputy Minister of a ministerial-level agency, a government-attached agency in charge of state management in that professional field, (iii) If sponsored by father, mother, wife, husband, child who is a Vietnamese citizens who are permanently residing in Vietnam, the duration of temporary residence in Vietnam for a foreigner applying for permanent residence shall be determined as follows: Foreigners who have temporarily resided in Vietnam for 03 consecutive years or more are determined on the basis of the entry verification stamp, the exit verification stamp issued at the border gate with a total temporary stay in Vietnam from 03 years or more in the last 4 years from the date of applying for permanent residence.
ANT Lawyers, as a law firm in Vietnam, always follow up the immigration cases to update clients on regular basis.
7 basic steps to set up a business and comply with Vietnam laws
7 basic steps to set up a business and comply with Vietnam laws
Vietnam’s economy is increasingly diversified in terms of business activities and business regulations are also constantly being improved and enhanced. Accordingly, foreign investors can freely choose the right type of business. Therefore, the set up company in Vietnam is always a matter of great interest to foreign investors whom find business opportunities in Vietnam.
The first step is to set up a business in Vietnam
To take this step, the investor first needs to determine the type of business to choose to establish and provide the business name and expected information. Accordingly, the composition of the enterprise establishment dossier will be prepared according to regulations and submitted at the Business Registration Office, the Department of Planning and Investment of the place where it is expected to be headquartered. After submitting a valid application, the enterprise will be granted an enterprise registration certificate and announced the registration contents on the National Business Registration Portal.
The second step is to publish the contents of business registration
After being granted an enterprise registration certificate, an enterprise must make a public announcement on the National Business Registration Portal.
In the third step, the enterprise conducts stamp engraving
Enterprises can request to make a seal from the seal making agent. Accordingly, the enterprise actively decides on the type, quantity, form and content of the seal and is solely responsible for the use of its legal entity seal.
Fourth step is that to open a bank account in Vietnam
Currently, businesses can choose a bank to open an account for their business, to open an account, the bank requires an application form issued by the bank, a seal sample, the company’s charter, and a certificate. Business registration and related documents are required by different bank.
The fifth step is to register the tax declaration form in Vietnam.
Accordingly, enterprises register for the use of e-invoices and notify the use of e-invoices to their tax authorities. Enterprises need to contact the invoice supplier to order the printing of value-added invoice books and must register self-printed invoices with tax authorities.
In the sixth step, the enterprise needs to conduct labor registration in Vietnam. Enterprises register with the Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs to declare the use of labor. Within 30 days from the date of commencement of operation, the employer must register the employer to the Labor Department (according to the prescribed form). In addition, enterprises should note that the relationship between the employer and the employee is regulated by the Labor Code and specified in the labor contract.
Seventh step is to register for social insurance in Vietnam.
Enterprises register with the Social Insurance Agency to pay health insurance and social insurance for employees. Employers must fill in all information according to the form provided by social insurance, including: full name, date of birth, salary (recorded in labor contract), number of social insurance book (for employees who have been issued with a book), a certified copy of the company’s business registration certificate and a copy of each labor contract.
It can be seen that setting up a business requires businesses to carry out a lot of procedures and comply with many different regulations of tax, banking, labor, insurance… Therefore, besides learning about legal regulations and businesses can seek the support of professional consulting firm in Vietnam with expertise and experience in the field of business establishment to implement the process quickly and effectively.
Finding the right business partner in Vietnam is also important. We recommend doing research on the reputation of the company and individual shareholders, corporate or individual, gathering publicly available company information, and performing background checks on key personnel to find potential risks in cooperation. Working with a reliable partner can help achieve economic benefits, saving time and money in business.
ANT Lawyers, a law firm in Vietnam could offer service to establish company in Vietnam. We assist clients needing legal service in obtaining investment certificate, business registration certificate, or other licensing procedures.
Procedure of Invention Registration in Vietnam
Invention means a technical solution in the form of a product or process which is intended to solve a problem by application of natural laws. Each invention is the result of a serious, painstaking work-study process by the inventor. However, right of industrial property shall only be established by the registration procedure, and the scope of protection is defined in the patent. Therefore, without prior registration at governmental competent authorities, right of industrial property could be violated.
With professional staff and vast experience in IP aspect in Vietnam, ANT Lawyers could support inventor in advising and drafting dossier to register patent in Vietnam as follow:
Required information
Title of invention/ utility solution;
Name, address and nationality of the applicant (s);
Name, address and nationality of the investor (s);
Information of priority document: Nation, number of applications and dossiers for priority right;
International dossiers/ or publication (if any).
Document
For dossiers applied as national application
01 original Power of Attorney – POA(No need for notarization). The Copy of POA shall be accepted for filling but the original shall be submitted within 03 months since the date of filling.
02 copies of an invention description. An invention description must consist of the section of invention description and the invention protection coverage;
02 Drawings, photos or description (if any);
01 notarized copy of document to prove prior right (only for dossiers have prior right under the Paris Convention). The document shall be submitted within 03 months since the date of filling.
03 English declaration for registration originating in Vietnam
02 copies of an invention description (including images, if any);
02 written request of protection;
Related documents (if any);
Dossiers can be submitted at National Office of Intellectual property or International Office or sent via post office.
If you are looking for experienced IP services in Vietnam to help you with your IP application, you should visit ANTLawyers. Our attorneys have experience with the IP process and will work closely with you as you apply for your IP.
What is the importance of trademark registration?
Trademark Registration is a legal protection for your Brand name which can’t be copied by any other party Legally. If in case they copy that brand then through the Rights under Intellectual Property Act. The owner of the Trademark can recover the whole profit earned with the name of Registered Trademark.
Many of my clients have said that their lenders or investors felt more comfortable once registration was achieved in important countries.
if you have registrations in major countries such as US, UK you can persuade amazon, eBay etc. to shut down infringing websites without the time and expense of court action.
Customers even search and see you are serious about your rights. It is so cheap to do you look very cheap if you don’t do it.
If you need to prevent infringing use by competitors the court will assume that your right is valid until the other side has proved that it is not. The percentage of registrations found invalid is minuscule. Once you have registration it can be renewed forever as of right. In the UK registration no 1 remains valid as the owners renewed it every ten years since 1876. You have to police the use of the mark, use and renew and then it’s yours forever.
If you have a registration potential licenses have an easy way of finding you. Lenders can give loans secured on registrations.
Source: Quora
ANT Lawyers - IP services in Vietnam located in the business centers of Hanoi, Danang, Ho Chi Minh city. We provide convenient access to our clients. Please contact our lawyers in Vietnam for Trademark registration services in Vietnam via email ant@antlawyers.vn or call our office at +84 28 730 86 529.
What Are Some New Points In The Draft Amending Land Law?
What Are Some New Points In The Draft Amending Land Law?
After nearly 10 years of enforcement and implementation, the 2013 Land Law has brought about remarkable achievements in land management, exploitation and use. However, with a significant increase in land use demand, especially in the city center areas, many issues have arisen that are beyond the law’s control. The requirement to amend and supplement this law, therefore, is set out to be suitable with reality and bring high results in the application process. The Draft Land Law has been recently released on the Government’s portal, and public opinions have been collected to complete the amended Land Law. This is the opportunity for people, experts, officers, real estate dispute lawyers in Vietnam to provide opinions and comments for improvement.
In general, the Draft Land Law includes 237 articles, of which 48 articles have remained unchanged; 153 articles have been amended and supplemented; 36 new articles have been added and 8 articles have been annulled compared to the 2013 Land Law.
Some notable changes in Draft Land Law
For land use purposes, the Draft Land Law has added a provision on “multi-purpose land” (Article 184), allowing organizations and individuals to use the land for different purposes instead of just a single purpose, as long as the principles are met. Meanwhile, the 2013 Land Law does not have any provisions directly stipulating that the holders have the right to use multi-purpose land even though this situation is common nowadays, for example, land users can combine residential and business purposes in the same land plot. Therefore, adding this provision to the Draft is extremely reasonable to legalize the use of land for various purposes, increasing the efficiency of land use. At the same time, this article has also given some specific principles, ensuring that the multi-purpose land is not abused, leading to the problem of arbitrary land use.
Besides, the Draft Land Law has removed the land price frames and revised the regulations on determining land prices. As for the land price frames, Article 113 of the 2013 Land Law stipulates that: “The Government shall promulgate land price frames once every 5 years for each type of land and for each region…”. This provision has been completely deleted in the Draft. Removing the land price frames means that the State will no longer apply minimum and maximum prices for each type of land. Instead, when promulgating the land price tables of each locality, the People’s Committee of the province will base on the principles and methods of land valuation, land standards and land prices, the fluctuations in real land prices in the market to build a land price tables. After completing the construction of the land price tables, they will be submitted to the Provincial People’s Council before approval. Based on the actual situation, the land price frames issued by the Government has a huge difference compared to the real land price in the market, leading to the existence of a two-price land mechanism. That makes it difficult for the competent authorities’ management, the land investment activities of the investors and the interests of the land users. In addition, the difference in land prices also creates conditions for corruption and monopoly in auctions. Therefore, the decision to remove the land price frames in the Draft Land Law is a remarkable step forward, having a great impact on the land sector in particular and socio-economic life in general. In addition to the land price frames, the regulations related to the land price tables has also been revised and supplemented. Specifically, Article 130 of the Draft Land Law has added a basis for determining the land price list as “the common land price in the market and land price fluctuations” and changes the period of the land price tables’ construction from once every 5 years to once a year. These provisions in the Draft make it possible for the land price tables proposed by the Provincial People’s Committee to be more reasonable and less different from the actual land price.
Not only that, the responsibility for monitoring and evaluating the management and use of land is decentralized to localities according to the provisions of the Draft Land Law. The 2013 Land Law has never provided for the decentralization of land management and use. The draft has added provisions to regulate this issue. Article 223.4 stipulates responsibilities for monitoring and evaluation from high to low levels, from central to local levels, including the responsibilities of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, the Provincial People’s Committees, the People’s Committees of district-level People’s Committees and People’s Committees of commune level. The above agencies are responsible for monitoring and evaluating the land management process. Accordingly, superior agencies will manage their subordinate agencies to ensure transparency and correctness in the management and use of land. The management decentralization mechanism makes management easier, faster and more effective than the centralized management of all the other agencies.
Moreover, Article 124.1 of the Draft Land Law has added financial revenues from land compared to Article 107 of the 2013 Land Law. Some new revenues are the collection of land use levy when using land in combination with other purposes; additional land use levy, land rent for projects that are behind schedule or do not put the land into use and collected from the sanctioning of administrative violations on land. At the same time, the Draft adds revenues from public land services in Article 125. These additions are necessary to avoid loss of the State’s budget for the benefits coming from the land and show obligations of land users.
Beside amending and supplementing the above-mentioned outstanding provisions, the Draft Land Law also has many other innovations. The draft is still in the process of reviewing and soliciting comments from the public, including people, industry experts and law firm in Vietnam hence there will be many changes. However, the advantages and progress of the Draft compared to the current Land Law are obvious, showing the development in line with the actual situation. Therefore, it can be affirmed that, if the Draft is approved and officially takes effect, it will bring positive results.
Why Da Nang is a Place for Setting up Business
Da Nang has been creating flexible policies, good environments attracting foreign investors setting up company, building factory, and developing service business.
Da Nang is a social and economic center of central area of Vietnam with the role as the center of industry, trade and tourism and service. It is a seaport city, an important transport hub for the transit of domestic and international transportation. Presently, Da Nang has been rising as a comprehensive and sustainability developing city.
With the advantages of geographical location, people and nature, the leader of Da Nang is planning to build the city becoming a major tourist center of the country, developing tourism industry with entertainment centers and luxury resorts in Vietnam.
In practice, Da Nang has been reducing administrative procedures, creating favorable conditions for investors in obtaining certificate for investment. In the meantime, the city also supports investors understanding the information and maintaining direct dialogue mode with businesses leaders and managers in order to promptly assist any difficulties encountered by investors in the process of project implementation. Da Nang’s leaders are famous in being proactive in providing the latest information about the law in investment, especially information on the process of changing investment certificate… to facilitate the investment plan of the investors whom are investing in Da Nang. For investment projects in infrastructure construction using ODA capital, the city has been quickly implemented the clearance and compensation in time to hand over the project site to the investors as planned.
To ensure the tourism environment and sustainable development, the city focuses on attracting projects in high technology industry, supporting industry and services with high added value i.e. information technology, education, healthcare and logistics…, especially favouring clean and quality projects rather than large projects but are likely to cause environmental issues.
Along with economic development, Da Nang also has activities and measures for environmental protection by investing in building projects to protect and improve the environment such as: modernization the sewer and wastewater treatment system (JICA), building east-west economic corridor (ADB)… to ensure sustainable and long term development of the economy.
An important element for economic development is the local security. Da Nang has done a great job in maintaining public security in order to guarantee investors a stable and safe political, social environment for investors.
It can be seen that Da Nang converges suitable elements and really is a promising land for investors both domestic and international, to invest in entertainment, real estate, tourism, IT, healthcare, education services.
With highly professional staff and great experience in business in Vietnam, ANT Lawyers would like to support you to establish company in Vietnam.
ANT Lawyers – A law firm in Vietnam with international standard, local expertise and strong international network. We focus on customers’ needs and provide clients with a high quality legal advice and services. For advice or services request, please contact us via email ant@antlawyers.vn, or call us +84 24 730 86 529.
Restructure the Debt Payment due to Covid-19
On March 13, 2020, the State Bank issued Circular No. 01/2020/TT-NHNN providing guidance for the credit institutions, foreign bank branches to restructure the debt payment, exemption and reduction periods, charge, keep the debt group in support of customers affected by Covid-19 epidemic, which is an important legal grounds to support the economy.
Accordingly, the debt group restructuring is carried out as follows:
Debts which are restructured repayment term are the principal amount and/or interest (including the debt balance of debts within the scope of regulation of Decree No. 55/2015/ ND-CP of June 9, 2015 of the Government on the credit policy for agricultural and rural development (amended and supplemented)), which fully meets the following conditions: arising from lending activities, financial leasing; Arising the obligation to repay the principal and/or interest within the period from January 23, 2020 to the next day after 03 months from the date the Prime Minister announces the end of the Covid -19 epidemic; Customers are unable to pay the debt principals and/or interests on time according to the signed contracts, loan agreements, financial leases due to the decrease in revenue and income due to Covid -19 epidemic.
The debt repayment restructuring shall be carried out in cases where the outstanding debt is still due or overdue for up to 10 days from the due date of payment or due under the contract, financial leasing agreements; or The overdue debt balance in the period from January 23, 2020 to the next day after 15 days from the effective date of this Circular.
Credit institutions, foreign bank branches may decide on rescheduling of repayment of outstanding debts in the above-mentioned cases, based on customers’ requests and assessments of credit institutions, foreign bank branch on the ability to repay the principal and/or interest of the customer in full after rescheduling, in accordance with the influence of Covid -19 service and ensuring the credit institution, the foreign bank branch fails to restructure the debt repayment term for debts in violation of legal regulations and the restructuring time in case of extending an extended repayment period shall not exceed 12 months from the last day of the debt term, finance lease (the time the customer must pay all principal and interest under the signed contract, loan agreement, financial lease).
In addition, credit institutions and foreign bank branches shall decide on the exemption and reduction of interests and fees according to internal regulations for the outstanding debts arising from credit extension activities, except for bond purchase and investment activities for which the principal and/or interest payment is due within the period from January 23, 2020 to the next day after 03 months from the date of Prime Minister announced the end of the Covid -19 epidemic and the customer was unable to pay the debt on time, both principal and/or interest, according to the signed contract or agreement due to the decrease in revenue and income due to the impact of the Covid- 19 epidemic.
This Circular takes effect from the date of signing. From the effective date of this Circular, customers of credit institutions, foreign bank branches, other relevant organizations and individuals will have their debt repayment restructured, exemption and reduction periods, charge, keep the debt group unchanged. The Government has always issued policies, legal documents to support businesses, organizations and individuals to borrow credit during the period of the Covid -19 epidemic, so that they can help businesses as well as the country’s economy to maintain and develop in the future.
ANT Lawyers is a law firm in Vietnam, recognized by Legal500, IFLR1000. We are an exclusive Vietnam member of Prea Legal, the global law firm network covering more than 150 jurisdictions. The firm provides a range of legal services to multinational and domestic clients.
Termination of Labour Contract to Employee Before Contract Expiration
When Should the Employer Send Notice of Termination of Labour Contract to Employee Before Contract Expiration?
Expiration is one of the circumstances which permit termination of labor contract under the Labor Code 2012. Accordingly, the employer must inform in writing to the employee of the terminating date of labor contract at least 15 days prior to the expiration. Termination of labor relationship in each circumstance must follow different conditions and procedures to ensure the interests and obligations of both employee and employer and avoid potential labour disputes in Vietnam.
Previously, an administrative penalty was applied to violations of the labor contract termination notice mentioned above. If the employer fails to inform the employee, the employer will be subject to a warning or a fine with amount from VND 500,000 to VND 1,000,000. However, the Decree 28/2020/ND-CP issued on March 1st, 2020 by the Government has repealed sanction for this behavior.
If the employee continues to work upon expiration of labor contract, both parties will be required to sign a new labor contract within the next 30 days, otherwise the signed contract will become an indefinite-term. Failure of the employer to inform the labor contract termination to the employee does not mean that the labor relationship is automatically extended after the expiration. If both parties fail to sign a new labor contract within the next 30 days, but the employee still do normal assigned job and is paid a full monthly salary, an indefinite-term labor contract is deemed as entered into by them. Any disputes arising out then will be settled based on provisions of indefinite term labor contract and laws.
The Labor Code 2019 repealed the employer’s informing responsibility upon expiration of labor contract except in a few circumstances such as the employee being sentenced to imprisonment, disciplined, expelled, ..., the employer is required to inform the employee in writing the termination of the labor contract.
ANT Lawyers – A labour dispute law firm in Vietnam with international standard, local expertise and strong international network. We focus on customers’ needs and provide clients with a high quality legal advice and services. For advice or services request, please contact us via email ant@antlawyers.vn, or call us +84 24 730 86 529.
On January 4, 2021, the Government issued Decree No. 01/2021/ND-CP on enterprise registration.
From January 4, 2021, the following 04 procedures will be carried out in conjunction: Registration of establishment of enterprises, branches, representative offices in Vietnam; Labor usage declaration; Granting the number of the social insurance participant; Register to use invoices of the enterprise.
The enterprise code is also the enterprise’s taxpayer identification number and the unit participating in social insurance number of the enterprise. According to previous regulations, only the enterprise code was specified as the enterprise’s taxpayer identification number.
The Business Registration Office has the right to accept or reject the intended name for registration of the enterprise. The opinion of the Business Registration Office is the final decision to avoid the identical, mistaken enterprise name and violation of the regulations on enterprise naming. In case of disagreement with this decision, an enterprise may initiate a lawsuit in in Vietnam accordance with the law on administrative procedures.
In case an enterprise registers the date of business commencement after the date of being granted an enterprise registration certificate, the enterprise is entitled to do business from the date it is registered, except in the case of conditional business investment.
The person competent to sign the application for enterprise registration may authorize other organizations or individuals to carry out enterprise registration procedures. Authorized subjects may be individuals, organizations or non-public postal service providers or single service providers of public postal services. In case of authorizing a public postal service provider to carry out enterprise registration procedures, when carrying out enterprise registration procedures, postal staff must submit a copy of the application form according to the form provided by the operator. Public postal service providers to issue with certified signatures of postal staff and persons competent to sign written application for enterprise registration. In case of authorizing a non-public postal service provider to carry out enterprise registration procedures, the enterprise registration dossier must be accompanied by a copy of the service contract with the organization providing services to perform procedures related to enterprise registration, referral of that organization to the individual directly performing procedures related to enterprise registration and copies of legal papers of the individual introduce.
In addition, the Decree also stipulates that in addition to the way of paying fees and charges directly at the Business Registration Office, the fee payer can transfer money to the account of the Business Registration Office or use an electronic payment service. The enterprise registration fee is not refundable to an enterprise in the event that an enterprise is not granted a business registration certificate. Online payment of fees and charges will also be supported on the National Business Registration Portal. However, the fee for using this service will not be included in the business registration fee, the fee for providing and disclosing information. In the event of an error in the electronic payment process, the fee or fee paying organization or individual should contact the service provider intermediary for settlement.
ANT Lawyers – A Law Firm in Vietnam with international standard, local expertise and strong international network. We focus on customers’ needs and provide clients with a high quality legal advice and services. For advice or services request, please contact us via email ant@antlawyers.vn, or call us +84 24 730 86 529.
What Are Legal Framework for Fintech in Vietnam
The 4.0 industrial revolution along with the explosion of the Internet has created the basis for the forward leap in all fields of life. The financial sector is not an exception and is directly affected by science and technology. In addition to traditional finance, a new type of finance has been formed with superior characteristics which are appropriate for the current situation and actual needs, which is Fintech – Financial Technology. Despite the advantages of Fintech, the process of operating it faces certain difficulties including the legal challenges.
Fintech Lawyers in Vietnam
Fintech may utilize technologies being big data, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, biometrics and blockchain… There is no comprehensive legal framework for such at the present in Vietnam. Hence, regulations on science, technology, information technology and intellectual property can be applied depending on the nature of the matters including Law on Intellectual Property, Law on Information Technology, Law on High Technology, Law on Science and Technology, Law on Cyberinformation Security and Cybersecurity Law. These regulations partly facilitate the research, development and application of technological innovation together with ensuring the protection of databases and related intellectual property.
In particular, digital payment is a big part of Fintech. This sector is governed by Law on Credit Institutions, and regulations on non-cash payments, intermediary payment services. The Prime Minister also issued Decision 316 since March 9, 2021, allowing the use of mobile money to pay for goods and services of small value. This is the legal basis for the establishment of Fintech companies providing digital payment services and for the use of this method by customers. Fintech application also extend to Peer to Peer lending, asset management, and crypto currencies which are not yet clearly regulated in Vietnam.
Because of the importance of making legal regulations governing Fintech, Official Dispatch No. 2433/VPCP-KTTH dated August 31, 2021 of the Government Office directed: “The State Bank of Vietnam chairs and coordinates with relevant agencies to continue studying and concretizing regulations on the pilot mechanism of P2P lending in the process of developing and finalizing the draft Decree on a controlled trial mechanism. Control (Regulatory Sandbox) financial technology activities in the banking sector, report to competent authorities for consideration and decision in accordance with the provisions of the Law on Promulgation of Legal Documents”. On September 6th, 2021, the Government issued Resolution No. 100/NQ-CP approving the proposal to formulate a Decree on a mechanism for controlled testing of Fintech activities in the field of the banking sector. In April 2022, after the research process, the State Bank of Vietnam published the Draft Decree on the controlled trial mechanism for Fintech activities in the banking sector. This draft is still at the stage of seeking public comment and has not been approved. The formation of the draft marks a new step in Vietnam’s legal framework for Fintech, laying a solid foundation for the later birth of the Decree.
In case the Draft is approved, the Government will officially issue the Decree on Controlled Trial Mechanism for Fintech in the banking sector. This Decree will serve as a basis for credit institutions and financial technology companies to test Fintech technology in their operations to a controlled extent. They can assess the effectiveness and possible risks when using Fintech solutions. Based on the results of the experiment, the legislature can identify issues that need to be corrected by legislation to promulgate legal documents regulating Fintech in the banking sector. If so, banking will be a pioneering field, leading to the formation of Fintech regulations in other fields.
In the face of the strong and rapid development of internet and its application, it is natural to have a separate legal framework for Fintech in Vietnam in the future. Fintech lawyers in Vietnam whom are interested in Fintech could also take part in the process of making the contribution through the comments on draft law drawing from the practical cases advising the clients. It is obvious that, some of the biggest companies in the word are in the technology industry. Among them, Fintech is the fastest growing start-up. The sooner legal framework on Fintech can be issued, the better for Vietnam to snap up opportunities to attract investment and catch up with the world.
Our Fintech, banking lawyers at ANT Lawyers - a Law firm in Vietnam will always follow up with development of legal framework in Fintech in Vietnam to provide update to clients.
On June 15th, 2020, at the National Assembly’s socio-economic discussion session, the Ministry of Industry and Trade clarified a number of issues related to the implementation of power projects and energy security in Vietnam amid the the situation of energy supply, especially electricity supply is facing many difficulties when hydroelectric and thermal power reserves are almost fully exploited and the risk of energy import is increasing.
Vietnam has the advantage of being an equatorial country, with high annual sunshine hours (average from 1800-2600 hours/year) which is an advantage to develop solar energy. Vietnam has a long coastline (3260 km) and favorable terrain, the construction of wind power stations is a solution that can help improve Vietnam’s electricity output in the next years.
As reported by the Ministry of Industry and Trade, for solar power, the total planned capacity of about 10,300 MW has been operated on 90 solar power projects with a total capacity of about 5,000 MW. For wind power, as proposed by the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Prime Minister has agreed to supplement the planning of an additional 7,000 MW of wind power, raising the total scale of wind power capacity planned to 11,630 MW.
In addition, according to Vietnam’s commitment at COP21, Vietnam will reduce the greenhouse gas emissions by 8% by 2030. And with effective support from the international community, Vietnam can cut its emissions by 25% greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. And the Clean energy technology is one of the best solutions to fulfill this commitment.
In addition, the installation, operation and maintenance of wind and solar power systems are relatively simple, at low cost therefore will save time and cost for investors. Besides, clean energy does not cause impacts on large-scale migration environment, such as deforestation, emissions of dust, water and ash, etc. In contrast, it also creates beautiful and majestic landscapes, and attractive to visitors, this is in line with Vietnam’s sustainable development goals in the future.
With economic and environmental advantages, the scientists forecast that, in the world to 2040 and 2050, the percentage of solar power capacity in total generating capacity will be 45% and 50 %; The structure of electricity production by 2050 is as follows: Number 1 is solar power: 35.8%; followed by onshore wind power: 24.3%; Offshore wind power: 12.1%; Hydroelectricity: 12.4% and the rest are other sources of renewable energy and fossils and nuclear: 15.4%.
In order to ensure the implementation of the overall plan for the coming time, the Ministry of Industry and Trade is focusing on speeding up the construction of the electricity Planning No. VIII to submit to the Government in the fourth quarter of 2020. In particular, following the contents of the Resolution No. 55-NQ/TW of the Politburo on “Vietnam’s national energy development strategy orientation to 2030, vision to 2045” on February 11th, 2020, according to which ratio of sources of renewable energy in the total primary energy supply will reach about 15-20% by 2030; 25-30% by 2045.
According to Resolution No. 55-NQ/TW, Vietnam will develop breakthrough mechanisms and policies to encourage and promote the renewable energy sources in order to replace fossil energy sources at maximum. Prioritizing the use of wind and solar energy for electricity generation; encourage investment in building power plants using urban waste, biomass and solid waste in parallel with environmental protection and economic development of the circulation. To establish and develop a number of renewable energy centers in advantageous regions and localities. Then researching and assessing the overall potential and developing development orientations for geothermal energy, ocean waves, tides and ocean currents; deploy a number of application models, conduct pilot tests to evaluate the effectiveness. To undertake technological research, formulate a number of production pilot projects and encourage the use of hydrogen energy in line with the general trend of the world. In addition, the Resolution prioritizes the development of renewable energy in line with the ability to ensure system safety with reasonable electricity costs and encourage the development of rooftop and surface solar power. To develop groundbreaking support policies and mechanisms for offshore wind power development in association with the implementation of the Vietnam’s Sea Strategy.
With advantages and priority policies for renewable energy development as above, Vietnam hopes that more international investors will invest and set up company in Viet Nam in renewable energy.
How Vietnam Support Start-up Company in Vietnam?
How Vietnam Support Start-up Company in Vietnam?
Start-up company is a topic that is receiving much attention in Vietnam, especially in the context of the country’s strong integration with the world economy. Starting a business is expected to create economic growth, make a positive contribution to socio-economic development. From start-up ideas gradually appears startup businesses in Vietnam. Every year, Vietnam has hundreds of new businesses established, in which the number of small and medium enterprises account for the majority. Because they are small and medium-sized enterprises, it is inevitable to face great competitive pressure from large traditional enterprises as well as competitors.
The identification of small and medium enterprises is the basis for the State to have supportive policies to help enterprises face competitive pressure in the market. Criteria to determine small and medium enterprises include: field of operation, average number of employees participating in social insurance per year, total revenue or total capital of the enterprise.
Firstly, micro-enterprise in the field of agriculture, forestry, aquaculture; industry and construction that has an average annual number of employees who participate in social insurance not exceeding 10 people and the total revenue in the year not exceeding 3 billion VND or the total capital of the year is not more than 3 billion VND. Micro enterprises in the field of commerce and services employing no more than 10 employees per year on average with social insurance contributions and total annual revenue is not more than 10 billion VND or the year’s total capital is not more than 3 billion VND.
Second, small enterprise in the field of agriculture, forestry, aquaculture; industry and construction that has an average annual number of employees who participate in social insurance not exceeding 100 people, total revenue in the year not exceeding 50 billion VND or total capital of the year not exceeding 20 billion VND, except micro-enterprises. Small enterprises in the field of commerce and service that have an average annual number of employees who participate in social insurance no more than 50 employees total revenue in the year is not more than 100 billion VND or total capital of the year is not more than 30 billion VND, except micro enterprises.
Third, medium enterprise in the field of agriculture, forestry, aquaculture; industry and construction that has an average annual number of employees who participate in social insurance not exceeding 200 people, total revenue in the year not exceeding 200 billion VND or total capital of the year not exceeding 100 billion VND but not micro-enterprises and small enterprises. Medium enterprises in the field of commerce and service that have an average annual number of employees who participate in social insurance no more than 100 employees, total revenue in the year is not more than 300 billion VND or total capital of the year is not more than 100 billion VND but not micro enterprises and small enterprises.
Because there are a large number of enterprises in the Vietnamese market, the State has introduced policies to support small and medium enterprises such as technology support, information support, consulting support, supporting human resource development, supporting small and medium enterprises to transform from household businesses, small and medium enterprises to innovative start-ups, small and medium enterprises joining industry clusters, value chains. Small and medium enterprises play an increasingly important role in the economic development of countries around the world. With the ability to create business opportunities and effective jobs, this business model is increasingly encouraged to develop and receive support from state agencies to expand and develop this business model in Vietnam.
With highly professional staff and great experience in foreign investment, ANT Lawyers would like to support you to prepare before setting up company in Vietnam.
What Are the Advantage of Foreign Investors in Setting up Business in Vietnam in 2023?
What Are the Advantage of Foreign Investors in Setting up Business in Vietnam in 2023?
Located in an important position of Southeast Asia, Vietnam has a long coastline of more than 3,000 km. With a diverse geographical structure interspersed with mountainous, highland and coastal areas suitable for general economic zones, Vietnam has ideal conditions to develop the trade and tourism industries. When setting up business in Vietnam, investors can enjoy financial advantage such as corporate income tax, import and export tax and land finance incentives.
Incentives on corporate income tax: In recent years, Vietnam has gradually reduced the corporate tax rate (CIT). In the 2004-2008 period, CIT was 28%, in the 2009-2013 period it was 25%, from 2014 to 2015, 22% and from January 1, 2016 until now, 20%. In addition, the provision of high corporate income tax incentives for a number of key fields that need to be encouraged for investment has contributed to attracting investment, encouraging business, creating favorable conditions for enterprises to increase accumulation, increase investment in the economy, and promote growth, hence promoting investors in setting up company in Vietnam.
Import and export tax incentives: The 2016 Import and Export Tax Law has added regulations that high-tech enterprises, science-technology enterprises, science-technology organizations are exempted from import tax on raw materials, materials and components that cannot be produced domestically within 5 years from the date of commencement of production. There are also import and export tax incentives being applied such as:
(i) Exemption from import tax for goods imported for processing for foreign countries and when exporting and returning products to foreign parties, they are exempt from export tax;
(ii) Goods imported for processing that are exempted from tax, goods temporarily imported for re-export and goods being raw materials and supplies in service of the production of exported goods can be extended the tax payment time to 275 days from the date of filing the customs declaration; goods temporarily imported for re-export may be extended the tax payment time to 15 days from the expiration date;
(iii) Exemption from import tax on goods to create fixed assets for investment projects in areas of special investment encouragement, investment promotion fields and investment projects in the locality have difficult socio-economic conditions.
Incentives on land finance: Foreign enterprises investing in Vietnam can be applied adjusted reduce rate (%) calculating the general land rent from 1.5% to 1%. In addition, the State also stipulates the application of the land price adjustment coefficient in determining the land price to calculate the land rent, therefore, making Vietnam increasingly becoming a favourable destination to attract foreign investment and company establishment in Southeast Asia.
In addition, the development of a transparent and consistent investment legal system is increasingly becoming a good tool to promote foreign direct investment inflows into Vietnam in the spirit of the state ensuring the rights of the investors’ ownership, investment capital and other interests of foreign organizations and individuals, creating favorable conditions and simplifying procedures for such organizations and individuals to invest in Vietnam. Compared with the foreign investment laws of some countries in the region, the law on foreign investment in Vietnam is considered by the international public to be more open and attractive, for example applying the form of 100% foreign capital ownership, administrative procedures are simplified, non-discriminatory between Vietnamese enterprises and foreign-invested enterprises. The law has been transforming in the direction of considering investment and business as the matters of enterprises and investors, which the investors have full authority to make decisions from investment projects to the formation and business of the enterprise and that the government only guides, creates an open legal environment, has favorable mechanisms and procedures, supervises and enforce the law.
ANT Lawyers – a law firm in Vietnam will always follow up with authorities for legal update on matters relevant to investment registration or business setting-up in Vietnam.
Source ANT Lawyers: https://antlawyers.vn/library/what-are-the-advantage-of-foreign-investors-in-setting-up-business-in-vietnam.html
Regulations on Investment in Telecommunications Services in Vietnam
The field of telecommunications has appeared in Vietnam for more than 30 years and has helped the business environment and social life of Vietnam to develop. The process of liberalizing the telecommunications sector in Vietnam has led to the expansion of the telecommunications network and has become an attractive field for investors to set up company in telecom service, internet service, or join with Vietnamese partner on business cooperation contract in the same fields.
Telecommunication Lawyers in Vietnam
Currently, telecommunications services are not just telephones and telex, but variy with many types from simple to complex such as audio, video, data transmission services,… Besides the conveniences brought in life, telecommunications services have really become one of the important infrastructures of the economy. However, Vietnam government also impose certain requirements on foreign investors entering Vietnam in this sector.
Specifically, at present, foreign investors can only participate in investments in the form of joint ventures or business cooperation contracts with Vietnamese enterprises to provide telecommunications services. However, for the provision of services with network infrastructure, the partner in which the investor joins the joint venture must be a licensed telecommunications service provider in Vietnam. In addition, foreign investors are also limited on the percentage of charter capital in joint ventures. Accordingly, for services without network infrastructure, foreign investors own not more than 65% of charter capital and for services with network infrastructure, foreign investors do not own more than 49% legal capital of the joint venture.
On the other hand, foreign investors participating in business cooperation contracts will be able to sign a new agreement or switch to another form of presence with conditions no less favorable than those they are currently receiving. Furthermore, an organization or individual that already owns more than 20% of the charter capital or shares in a telecommunications enterprise may not own more than 20% of the charter capital or shares of another telecommunications enterprise doing business in the same company a market for telecommunications services.
Therefore, if the investor meets the above conditions, the investor will carry out the procedures for establishing an economic organization. Like other foreign-invested organizations, the establishment will go through two stages: investment registration and business establishment. For foreign investment projects in the business of telecommunications services, it is necessary to receive the investment approval of the Prime Minister. Accordingly, the investor submits the application for approval of the investment policy of the investment project to the investment registration agency and within 03 working days from the date of receipt of the complete dossier, the investment registration agency submit the application for appraisal opinions of the Ministry of Information and Communications. Within 15 days from the date of receipt of the dossier, the Ministry of Information and Communications shall give its appraisal opinions on the extent under its state management and send it to the Ministry of Planning and Investment. Within 40 days from the day on which the application is received, the investment registration agency shall organize the appraisal of the dossier and make an appraisal report and submit it to the Prime Minister for approval of the investment policy. After receiving the approval of the investment policy, the investor proceeds to establish the business as domestic entities.
The telecommunication services are subject to strong regulations hence the conditions for foreign investors to invest and set up company in telecommunication services or take part in providing telecommunication services are also relatively complicated. Therefore, investors are suggested to undertake research on telecommunication regulatory specific to their business with the help of telecommunication services lawyers in Vietnam to make the investment effectively.
Professionals at ANT Lawyers work on many a variety of telecommunications, media and technology transactions and cases. Our attorney’s industry knowledge and expertise allow us to effectively support the information technology sector. We could deliver the experience and expertise needed to handle issues in both private practice and in corporate and regulatory bodies.
ANT Lawyers, a law firm in Vietnam always follow up the regulations on investment in telecommunications services in Vietnam to update clients on regular basis.
You could learn more about ANT Lawyers TMT Practice or contact our TMT lawyers in Vietnam for advice via email ant@antlawyers.vn or call our office at (+84) 24 730 86 529
As economic cooperation has expanded, having an effective mechanism to resolve disputes arising between member countries has become an essential need. Therefore, since 1996, ASEAN has started drafting a Protocol on Dispute Settlement Mechanism, and this Protocol was signed by ASEAN Economic Ministers on November 20, 1996 in Manila (Philippines).
The dispute settlement mechanism of ASEAN is built on the spirit of negotiation and mediation. At any time, Member States which are parties to the dispute have the right to choose forms of mediation. These forms may begin or end at any time. Only when the procedure for mediation has ended, the complainant proceeded to bring the matter to the Senior Economic Officials Meeting of ASEAN (SEOM). While the dispute is in progress, if the parties to the dispute agree, mediation procedures will continue to apply.
If the consultation does not resolve the dispute within sixty (60) days of the receipt of the request, the matter will be referred to SEOM. SEOM will set up a panel or, if possible, refer the matter to the special rules and procedures team or additional for review. However, in specific cases, if deemed necessary, SEOM may decide to resolve the dispute amicably without having to appoint a panel.
SEOM will review the panel report during its discussion and give a decision to the dispute within thirty (30) days from the date the panel submitted the report. In exceptional cases, SEOM may have an additional ten (10) days in adjudicating a dispute. SEOM representatives of Member States who are parties to the dispute may be present during the discussion but may not participate in judgments of SEOM. SEOM will adjudge on a majority basis.
Member States that are parties to the dispute may appeal the judgments of SEOM to the ASEAN Economic Ministers (“AEM”) within thirty (30) days. AEM must make a decision within thirty (30) days of the appeal. In exceptional cases, AEM may have an additional ten (10) days to make a decision on dispute resolution.
ANT Lawyers, As a law firm in Vietnam, always follow up the dispute resolution in Vietnam cases and their development to update clients on regular basis.
We have been representing clients in dispute in various sectors i.e. dispute in international trade, dispute in commercial transactions, dispute in partnership or shareholder agreement, dispute in property sales and purchase, dispute in intellectual property, dispute in finance, dispute in maritime matters.
Our expertise, experience, and understanding of Vietnam culture allow us to offer client a suitable and flexible solutions to the matters, taking into consideration of commercial perspective of the issues the client face, and take the client throughout the stages of litigation proceeding at Vietnam national or provincial courts, and arbitration centers.
If possible, we advise client on alternative dispute resolution, including mediation, which our lawyers are well trained and certified internationally in US and EU with adaption of skills to Vietnam cultures to help client resolve conflicts without formal proceeding to save cost, time and maintain the relationship between disputed parties.
Our dispute resolution practice at ANT Lawyers helps our clients with the following:
Negotiation: reviewing relevant contracts and documents, advising possible courses of action and negotiating with relevant parties before initiating the legal proceeding.
Litigation and legal representation: representing clients before Vietnamese courts and other Vietnamese authorities.
Arbitration: advising on choice of arbitration, drafting arbitration clause, and representing clients for recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitral awards.
Alternative proceedings: certain alternatives may be available for dispute resolution in Vietnam.
ANT Lawyers - As a law firm in Vietnam, always follow up the dispute resolution in Vietnam case to update clients on regular basis.
Professional law firm in Vietnam
ANT Lawyers is a law firm in Vietnam with offices in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. We are a Vietnam-based law firm that is a part of Prae Legal, a global network of 150 countries and five continents of law firms. We have developed relationships with lawyers from all over the world as a result of this network. ANT Lawyers are able to handle international cases involving foreigners because of this collaboration.
We focus on providing potential solutions that best meet the requirements of business and legal clients as a reputable law firm in Vietnam. We help customers achieve their goals while protecting their interests, minimizing risks, and following the law.
We offer corporate and individual clients from all industries a comprehensive array of contentious and non-contentious legal services. We are able to offer guidance on a wide range of topics, from setting precedent to strictly procedural matters, thanks to our knowledgeable and highly skilled staff.
As a consequence of this, our clients can rest assured that, regardless of the case or transaction, our lawyers at the law firm in Vietnam possess the expertise necessary to provide legal guidance and service that is relevant to the business world.
Procedures for Applying the Enterprise Registration Certificate in Vietnam
What Are the Procedures for Applying the Enterprise Registration Certificate for Foreign Investor in Vietnam?
According to Viet Nam’s commitments under the framework of the WTO and EVFTA agreement, foreign investors are allowed to establish foreign-invested enterprises to conduct business activities in Vietnam. However, the order and procedures for establishing enterprises for foreign investors must comply with the provisions of Vietnamese law.
For investment registration, foreign investors must have an investment project, except in the case of establishing a creative start-up small and medium-sized enterprise and an innovative start-up investment fund under the law on business support small and medium. The industries and trades in the investment project must not be in the industries and trades that prevent the access the market for foreign investors or the industries and trades being banned from doing business under the Law on Investment 2020. After that, investors need to prepare a dossier for issuance of the Investment Registration Certificate to be submitted to the Department of Planning and Investment where the investor implements the investment project.
Dossier for applying for the investment registration certificate includes: an application for issuance of the investment certificate; the Investor’s financial capacity report is prepared and responsible by the Investor; an explanation of the ability to meet the conditions that the investment project must satisfy according to the provisions of law for the project in the field of conditional investment; the economic – technical explanation includes the following main contents: objectives, scale, investment location, investment capital, project implementation progress, land use demand, technological solutions and solutions environmental legislation; draft of the company’s charter with full signatures of the legal representative, members or authorized representatives; members list; documents for verifying the investor’s legal status; documents for verifying financial ability. The investment registration authority repond to the application for the Investment Registration Certificate to the investor within 15 days from the date of receipt of a valid dossier.
After being granted the Investment Registration Certificate, the foreign investor shall carry out the procedures to be granted the Enterprise Registration Certificate. In this step, the legal conditions are not as strict and complicated as the first step, but it also requires investors to prepare a number of papers and documents. Depending on the type of enterprise and the content of registration, the business registration subject needs to submit different types of documents under the requirements of the law. Investors can submit the dossier in person at the Business Registration Office or submit it online via the electronic network. The Business Registration Office shall issue the Enterprise Registration Certificate within 03 working days from the date of receipt of a valid dossier. In case the dossier is invalid or the name of the enterprise requested for registration is not in accordance with regulations, the Business Registration Office must notify in writing the contents that need to be amended, supplemented to the enterprise founder or the enterprise within 03 working days from the date of receipt of the dossier.
It can be remarked that the two-step process creates obstacles for many foreign investors when establishing an enterprise in Vietnam. It has been suggested the legislator to consider shortening the order and reducing the number of documents that need to be submitted, and at the same time, promote the online procedures to save time and human resources. For efficiency in preparing documents, the client could engage a law firm in Vietnam to assist carrying out procedures of setting up company and applying for investment and business registration certificate in Vietnam.
How to set up a Joint-Stock Company in Vietnam in 2023
Joint-stock company is a type of enterprise recognized by Vietnam law, besides other types being limited liability company, partnership and private enterprise. A joint-stock company has legal status from the date of issuance of the Certificate of Business Registration by Vietnam authority. It is important to consult with corporate lawyers in Vietnam to learn the advantage of different forms of companies to be set up in Vietnam for the efficient management and purpose of the owner.
According to the definition of the Law on Enterprises, a joint-stock company is an enterprise whose charter capital is divided into equal parts called shares. Shareholders of a joint-stock company can be organizations or individuals, and the minimum number of shareholders of the company is 03 people. There is no limit on the maximum number of shareholders, so it will be convenient for the company when it wishes to expand its business on a larger scale. In addition, shareholders will only be liable for debts and other property obligations of the enterprise to the extent of the amount of capital contributed to the enterprise. This is an advantage of this type of business because the level of risk that shareholders have to bear. In particular, joint-stock companies have the right to issue shares, bonds and other securities to raise capital, which is a feature that other types of businesses do not have.
To set up a joint-stock company in Vietnam, the business owner can submit by himself or authorize another individual/organization or a law firm in Vietnam to submit a set of documents to the Business Registration Office where the head office is intended, including:
1.An application for enterprise registration;
2.The company’s charter;
3.List of founding shareholders and list of shareholders being foreign investors;
4.Copies of the following papers:
a) Legal papers of the individual for the legal representative of the enterprise;
b) Personal legal papers for company members, founding shareholders, shareholders being foreign investors who are individuals; Legal papers of the organization for members, founding shareholders, shareholders being foreign investors being organizations; Legal documents of individuals for authorized representatives of members, founding shareholders, shareholders being foreign investors being organizations and documents on appointment of authorized representatives.
For members and shareholders being foreign organizations, copies of legal papers of the organization must be notarized and consularly legalized in Vietnam;
c) Investment registration certificate, in case the enterprise is established or participated in the establishment by a foreign investor or a foreign-invested economic organization in accordance with the provisions of the Investment Law and other legal documents; implementation manual.
The processing time will be 03 working days from the date the Business Registration Office receives the valid application.
With highly professional staff and great experience in foreign investment, ANT Lawyers could help to support you to set up a joint-stock company in Vietnam.
Source ANT Lawyers: https://antlawyers.vn/library/set-up-a-joint-stock-company-in-vietnam.html
What is Business Registration Certificate in Vietnam?
What is Business Registration Certificate in Vietnam?
Business registration certificate is considered a legal document of an organization, which is a paper or electronic document that records information related to business registration that the Business Registration Authority grants to an enterprise.
According to the provisions of the Law on Enterprises, a business registration certificate must contain the following principal contents: Enterprise name and enterprise code; Address where the head office of the enterprise is located; Full name, contact address, nationality, number of legal papers of the individual, for the legal representative of limited liability companies and joint stock companies; for general partners of a partnership company; for business owners of private enterprises. Full name, contact address, nationality, number of legal papers of the individual, for members being an individual; name, enterprise identification number and head office address of the member being an organization, for limited liability companies; Charter capital for companies, investment capital for private enterprises.
In which, the name of the enterprise must be a Vietnamese name consisting of two elements: type of business and proper name. Currently, Vietnam recognizes four types of enterprises: limited liability companies, joint stock companies, partnerships and private enterprises. The enterprise’s proper name can be written with the letters of the Vietnamese alphabet, the letters F, J, Z, W, numbers and symbols. The enterprise code element recorded on the Certificate of Business Registration is a series of numbers created by the National Information System on Business Registration, issued to an enterprise upon its establishment, and recorded on the Certificate of Business Registration. Each business has only one unique code and that code will not be reused for other businesses.
The business registration can be carried out directly at the Vietnam Business Registration Office or through the postal service or through the electronic information network. If choosing the form of enterprise registration via electronic information network, the enterprise founder shall submit an application at the National Enterprise Registration Portal. Business registration documents will be presented in electronic form and have the same legal value as paper business registration documents.
The business registration agency is responsible for reviewing the validity of the enterprise registration dossier and granting the Business registration certificate within 03 working days from the date of receipt of the application. In case the application is not sufficient or not prepared according to the regulations, the business registration agency must notify in writing the contents that need to be amended and supplemented to the enterprise founder. If the business registration authority refuses to register the enterprise, it must notify in writing the enterprise founder and clearly state the reasons. The company could prepare its own submissions or hire a Vietnam business lawyers to assist with the submissions.
With highly professional staff and great experience in foreign investment, ANT Lawyers could help to support you to Obtain Business Registration Certificate in Vietnam.
Source ANT Lawyers: https://antlawyers.vn/library/what-is-business-registration-certificate-in-vietnam.html
How do labour disputes in Vietnam get resolved?
How do labour disputes in Vietnam get resolved?
A labour dispute is a disagreement between parties in an employment relationship regarding their rights, responsibilities, and interests. Individual labour disputes between employees and employers and collective labour disputes between employers and labour collectives are examples of labour disputes. The measures and principles of labour dispute resolution outlined in Chapter XIV of the Labour Code 2012 will be used by the competent agency, organization, or individual to settle any labour dispute.
Labour Dispute Law Firm in Vietnam
The following are methods for settling labour disputes: negotiation, grassroots conciliation, settlement of individuals and organizations competent to settle labour disputes.
People's Court's labour conciliator is a person or organization with the authority to settle individual labour disputes. conciliator of labour; Chairman of the People's Committee in the district; Concerning labour rights and conciliators, collective labour disputes can be settled by the People's Court; Collective labour benefit disputes can be settled by the Labour Arbitration Council.
Negotiation is a method of resolving a dispute in which the parties to a dispute deal directly with each other in order to reach an agreement on the settlement of the dispute. In fact, this is the most widely used solution. During the negotiation process, the parties will discuss issues related to the dispute, and propose solutions to resolve that dispute. The decision is made on the basis of agreement between the parties themselves and is not the result of any external pressure.
Conciliation is a strategy for resolving disputes involving third parties; however, conciliators do not make decisions; rather, they only support and direct the parties as they negotiate. Except for disputes regarding disciplinary measures in the form of dismissal or disputes regarding the unilateral termination of the labour contract, individual labour disputes must go through the conciliation procedure of a labour conciliator before requesting a court to settle them, as stated in Clause 1, Article 201 of the Labour Code of 2012. benefits, damages, and compensation when a labour contract is terminated; between employers and domestic helpers; on health insurance in accordance with the law; on social insurance in accordance with the law; on health insurance in accordance with the law on the payment of damages incurred by labourers and businesses and other entities that contract labour abroad. The labour conciliator is required to keep a record of the successful conciliation if the two parties reach an agreement. On the other hand, if the parties are unable to come to an agreement, the labour conciliator will propose a conciliation plan for them to consider. If the parties accept the conciliation plan, the labour conciliator will record that the conciliation was successful. The labour conciliator is required to keep a record of the unsuccessful conciliation if either of the parties rejects the plan for conciliation or if a disputing party has been properly summoned twice but is still absent without a reasonable explanation.
When a request for resolving a collective labour dispute regarding rights is made, the dispute resolution procedure that should be followed is that of the Chairman of the district People's Committee. To consider and resolve labour disputes dynamically, district-level People's Committee chairpersons must base themselves on labour laws, collective labour agreements, registered labour rules, and legal regulations and agreements.
For collective labour benefit disputes, the competent authority is the Labour Arbitration Council. There must be representatives from both sides of the dispute at the Labour Arbitration Council meeting. It is the duty of the Labour Arbitration Council to assist the parties in self-negotiation. The Labour Arbitration Council must document the successful mediation and issue a decision acknowledging the parties' agreement if the parties reach an agreement or accept the mediation plan. The Labour Arbitration Council is obligated to record a mediation that was unsuccessful and give the labour union the right to initiate procedures for a strike within three days if the two parties are unable to come to an agreement or if one of the disputing parties has been summoned for a second time but has not shown up for any reason that could be considered plausible.
Individual labour disputes and collective labour disputes over rights are resolved through trial, in which the Court issues a judgment or decision to settle the case. After the dispute has been settled in other stages without success, the most common method of resolving it is through litigation. In accordance with the stringent guidelines laid out in the Civil Procedure Code of 2015, a judicial body with special state power resolves labour disputes at the Court. The fact that the court's decisions regarding labour disputes are guaranteed to be enforced by state coercive measures is this method of dispute resolution's greatest advantage.
When labour disputes arise, everyone involved emmployers, the labour union, and employees should pay close attention to selecting the best means of resolving them. For efficiency, it is also recommended to consult with lawyers from a labour dispute law firm in Vietnam that specializes in employment law.
How to protect your trademark in Vietnam?
How to protect your trademark in Vietnam?
In Vietnam, trademark registration is the first step in obtaining trademark protection. A trademark opposition may be filed to prevent a mark application that is pending from being granted. Litigation is the last option for resolving disputes involving trademark protection in Vietnam.
A trademark is a sign that helps separate one company's goods or services from those of others. Products and services trademarks play a crucial role in the expansion of the business, alongside patents and industrial designs. A trademark connects a business and its clientele. Customers will be more likely to use goods or services if the trademark is strong. The infringement of a trademark is inevitable when the trademark is well-known and has significant economic benefits from the sale of goods or services.
The owner of a trademark has two options for registration: either directly register a trademark in Vietnam by filling out a registration application with the Vietnam NOIP, or use Madrid's system to seek protection in Vietnam. In accordance with Vietnam's intellectual property law, the trademark owner must prepare, apply for registration, and pay a fee for the first option. If a trademark needs to be protected in multiple countries, such as Vietnam, the owner can register it using Madrid's system.
The trademark owner must assess the degree of infringement and damage in each location where a trademark violation occurs in order to select appropriate solutions. In the beginning, the owner of a trademark may protect themselves by requiring the trademark violator to stop their violations, apologise, and make amends. Owners of trademarks have the right to seek compensation in the event of damage. If negotiations or mediation fail, the trademark owner can use a settlement mechanism or submit a denunciation application to the Vietnam NOIP and ask the appropriate state agencies to handle acts of infringement. Acts of infringement may necessitate litigation. In general, civil litigation proceedings are more complex than arbitration proceedings. Civil litigation takes precedence when the trademark owner requires a court decision to end trademark infringement. In the remaining cases, arbitration is the better option because it is less expensive, takes less time to settle, and is more adaptable.
The client company's competitive advantage is heavily reliant on trademarks. Through trademark registration, oppositions, and other trademark protection resolutions in Vietnam, ANT Lawyers' IP service in Vietnam assists you in securing protection for these priceless intellectual assets.
What Attention for Filing PCT Patent Application in Vietnam in 2023?
What Attention for Filing PCT Patent Application in Vietnam in 2023?
There are individuals and companies that believe that by filing a trademark, patent or industrial design application in the host country, they will automatically receive worldwide protection. However, in fact, intellectual property rights are territorial related and Intellectual Property (IP) government offices only grant protection titles according to the laws of the relevant countries (or region). Therefore, the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) was born and signed by the member countries on June 19, 1970 in Washington, the PCT entered into force on June 1, 1978. Vietnam joined the PCT on March 10, 1993.
File PCT Patent Application in Vietnam
According to the definition of Vietnam law, an invention is a technical solution in the form of a product or process that aims to solve a defined problem by applying natural laws. In order to be able to obtain patent protection in different countries, an applicant can apply for protection through the PCT, either directly or within 12 months from the date of filing the first patent application filed in a country party to the Paris Convention, designating all countries wishing to register on the same application form, in the same language, and pay a fee.
The applicant needs to prepare a set of application including the following documents:
-02 Patent registration declarations according to Form 01-SC, specified in Appendix A of Circular 16/2016/TT-BKHCN.
-01 Vietnamese translation of the description and summary in the international application (published copy or original submitted, if the application has not been published, and the revised version and explanation of the amendment, if the international application is amended under Article 19 and/or Article 34.2(b) of the Treaty).
-01 Vietnamese translation of the appendices to the international preliminary assessment report (when substantive examination is requested).
-01 original copy of payment receipt (in case of payment of fees and charges via postal service or directly into the account of the National Office of Intellectual Property).
-01 Power of Attorney (in case the application is submitted through a representative).
After fully preparing the application, the applicant submits the application at the National Office of Intellectual Property under the Ministry of Science and Technology.
The time limit for formal examination is 1 month from the date of application submission. Applications will be published in the 19th month from the priority date or the filing date, if the application does not have a priority date, or within 2 months from the date of acceptance of the valid application, whichever is later. The time limit for substantive examination is not more than 18 months from the date of application publication if the request for substantive examination is filed before the date of application publication or from the date of receipt of the request for substantive examination if such request is filed after date of publication of application.
One of the important steps in filing PCT patent application in Vietnam is to make sure the translation into Vietnamese language match up with the original language. Patent attorneys at ANT Lawyers – a law firm in Vietnam will assist along the process including the translation of the patent and work with the national office of intellectual property in Vietnam to follow the instructions to complete the registration process in Vietnam.
Source ANT Lawyers: https://antlawyers.vn/library/what-attention-for-filing-pct-patent-application-in-vietnam.html
How Bank Guarantee Letter Could Help Secure a Transaction and Risks Involved?
How Bank Guarantee Letter Could Help Secure a Transaction and Risks Involved?
In the process of performing civil transactions, there is a need to bind the performance of obligations of the parties hence secured transaction is needed and guarantee is one of the commonly used methods to secure the performance of obligations in business and commercial activities. The party that provides guarantee is normally a commercial bank and bank guarantee is normally a loan service. In reality, there are potentially many risks involved in the guarantee transaction through issuing of bank guarantee letter which needs the attention of dispute lawyers in banking and finance to provide legal advice throughout the process.
Bank guarantee or guarantee commitment is a document issued by the guarantor or counter-guarantee or the guarantee-confirming party in the form of a Letter of Guarantee or a Guarantee Contract. Thus, a letter of bank guarantee is understood as a written commitment of the bank to the guarantee recipient that the bank will perform financial obligations on behalf of the guaranteed party when the guaranteed party fails to perform or not fulfilling the obligations committed to the guarantee recipient. In case the parties choose the form of counter-guarantee or guarantee confirmation, the letter of guarantee shall include the written commitment of the counter-guarantee issuing party to the guarantee, or of the guarantee-confirmation issuing party to the obligee.
When a guarantee obligation arises, the obligee must send a written request for the performance of the guarantee obligation, enclosed with the documents agreed upon in the guarantee commitment, to the guarantee-executing bank. The request for performance of guarantee obligations is considered valid when the bank receives it within the working time of the bank and within the valid guarantee commitment period. In case the request for performance of the guarantee obligation is sent in the form of a registered letter via the public postal network, the date the guarantor receives the request is the date of signing and receiving the registered letter.
Within 5 working days from the date the guarantor bank receives a valid written request for performance of the guarantee obligation, the guarantor shall be responsible for properly and fully performing the promised guarantee obligation for the with the guarantor. In case the guarantor bank refuses to perform the guarantee obligation, within 5 working days after receiving the request to perform the guarantee obligation, the bank must reply in writing clearly stating the reason for the refusal. In case of payment in foreign currency, credit institutions, foreign bank branches shall debit that foreign-currency sum to the mandatory lending account.
Credit institutions, or foreign bank branches, shall agree on the guarantee-issuing fee amount paid to customers. In case of a counter guarantee or guarantee confirmation, the guarantee-issuing fee amount shall be agreed upon by parties on the basis of the guarantee-issuing fee amount approved by the obligor. If the guarantee currency is foreign one, parties shall agree on collecting the guarantee-issuing fee by accepting that foreign currency or converting that foreign currency into Vietnam at the sell rate defined on the fee collection or fee collection notification date.
Disputes could arise from many situations, for example, there is a case of issuing a false letter of guarantee because an individual in the bank violates the law, or the bank officer signs a letter of guarantee without proper authorization from the legal representative of the bank, or letter of guarantee is in violation of form according to the regulation of state bank. In addition, if a conditional letter of bank guarantee is applicable, a dispute may arise from an understanding of whether or not the conditions for the guarantee have been met. In many cases, there might need to be a lawsuit to determine the conditions fulfilment of the guarantee and such might be lengthy and costly. Therefore, the parties involved in the guarantee transaction might need to consult a lawyer with expertise in banking disputes to check the legitimacy and validity of the letter of bank guarantee and the possibility to be guaranteed when the conditions are met.
Source ANT Lawyers: https://antlawyers.vn/library/how-bank-guarantee-letter-could-help-secure-a-transaction-and-risks-involved.html
How to Start a Business in Vietnam?
How to Start a Business in Vietnam?
In recent years, Vietnam has become an attractive destination for foreign investment thanks to its advantages of security, political stability, and favorable geographical position to trade with the world. This is both the connection center of the region and the gateway to penetrate the economies in the western region of the Indochina Peninsula. In addition, the Vietnam government has increasingly been offering more preferential policies to create favorable conditions for foreign investors to start doing business in Vietnam.
To start a business in Vietnam, investors first need to choose for themselves an appropriate type of business based on the number of capital contributors, the amount of capital contributed, and the business’s purse. According to the provisions of Vietnam law, foreign individuals and organizations can establish a limited liability company or a joint stock company or a partnership or a private enterprise.
The next issue that needs to be considered is the business line. In order for the company to be able to operate, the company must register the appropriate business lines, related to business activities. If the selected line of business does not require conditions, the enterprise can go into operation after the establishment of the company. This is considered non-conditional business area which most of company would do. However, if the investor chooses a conditional business line to do business, the enterprise must meet the necessary requirements, apply for a business license as prescribed, and then go into operation. This is considered conditional investment area where there are some restrictions being required license, minimum charter capital, foreign ownership ratio…
Investors also need to choose a location for their business, which is legally allowed to conduct business activities. The company address must be located in the territory of Vietnam, and comply with requirement corresponding to purpose of business i.e. company address can not be in an apartment building or a dormitory for living purposes only; factory location has to be at proper zone for industrial purpose…
In order to serve the management of the State and facilitate business activities, newly established businesses need to have their own name and this proper name must be unique, not be the same or similar to previously registered businesses. Enterprises are not allowed to use the names of functional agencies, state management agencies to name the company. The name of the business must include the type of company and proper name. To avoid duplication with other companies, businesses can use abbreviations or English names, but must ensure that the company name will not cause confusion, without adding prefixes, suffixes or cultural symbols in the name of the business.
The investors need to apply for an Investment Registration Certificate at a competent authority in Vietnam. This is a mandatory procedure for all projects that want to establish a new legal entity in Vietnam. The processing time for an investment certificate application is around 30 days depending on the specific project. After being granted an Investment Registration Certificate, foreign individuals and organizations need to prepare an application for an Enterprise Registration Certificate at the Department of Planning and Investment which would take around 7 days. Completing this procedure, the enterprise has the legal status according to the provisions of the Law on Enterprises of Vietnam.
From day one since commencing its operation, the company could by itself or hire professional to assist with monthly compliance service i.e., submit foreign labour reports, submit investment report, submit tax report, submit health and insurance reports to authorities to avoid encountering penalties.
ANT Lawyers – a law firm in Vietnam will always follow up with authorities for legal update on matters relevant to investment registration or doing business in Vietnam.
Source ANT Lawyers : https://antlawyers.vn/library/how-to-start-a-business-in-vietnam.html
2023 Tax Filing Deadlines You Need to Know in Vietnam
2023 Tax Filing Deadlines You Need to Know in Vietnam
According to the provisions of Vietnam tax law, on monthly or quarterly companies will need to submit various types of tax reports and tax returns: License fees; Value added tax declaration; Personal income tax return; Corporate income tax finalization declaration. Knowing the deadlines for submitting tax reports and paying taxes on time not only helps companies proactively capture information and arrange for tax payment in accordance with state regulations, but also avoids many risks. Risk of penalties for violations in the field of tax laws occur if the declaration is filed late, or not filed. Company also could hire professional specializing in tax matters or tax lawyers for advice in the area of tax compliance in Vietnam to improve the efficiency and optimize business strategies.
What is deadline for filing Vietnam annual license fee?
Annual license fee is the amount the enterprise must pay annually based on the amount of charter capital stated on the certificate of business registration, and to be paid annually since the starting of the business. The company(except business households and business individuals) which has been newly established (including small and medium-sized enterprises converting from household businesses) or has established more dependent units, business locations has to file the license fee declaration dossiers no later than January 30th of the following the year of establishment or starting of business activities, production and business activities. In case the enterprise has a change in charter capital during the year, the enterprise shall submit the license fee declaration dossier no later than January 30th of the year following the year in which the changed information arises.
What is deadline for filing value added tax (VAT) in Vietnam?
This is an indirect tax, calculated based on the added value of goods and services that consumers have to pay when buying goods or services. The person who directly fulfills the tax payment obligation to the tax authority will be an enterprise or a production unit. The deadline for submitting VAT declaration dossiers is the 20th day of the month following the month in which the tax liability arises, for enterprises that declare and pay monthly; and the last day of the first month of the quarter following the quarter in which tax obligations arise for enterprises that declare and pay quarterly.
What is deadline for filing corporate income tax (CIT) in Vietnam?
Corporate income tax is a tax calculated based on the profit of an enterprise, which is a percentage of the positive result of revenue after deducting reasonable expenses i.e. cost of goods or services, rent, salary, travel,… as prescribed by the Law on Corporate Income Tax. For corporate income tax, enterprises will temporarily pay quarterly, and the deadline for tax payment is the 30th day of the first month of the next quarter.
What is deadline for filing personal income tax (PIT) in Vietnam?
Personal income tax is a tax paid by a company on behalf of employees working at the company. Personal income tax is calculated on a monthly basis, and be declared monthly or quarterly and settled annually. If the enterprise declares and pays personal income tax on a monthly basis (in case the enterprise declares value added tax on a monthly basis and the payable personal income tax amount in the month of VND 50 million or more), the deadline of filing PIT is no later than the 20th day of the following month. If the enterprises declare and pay personal income tax quarterly (in case the enterprise declares value added tax quarterly or the enterprise declares value added tax on a monthly basis and the amount of personal income tax must be paid is less than 50 million dong in a month), the deadline for filing PIT is no later than the 30th day of the next quarter.
It is important to file tax reports of all kinds on time but it is also equally important to manage the tax filing, and paying properly in a way that maximize the benefits of the company according to tax law taking advantage of deduction allowable by laws. Hence tax experts and tax lawyers could be consulted for advice on the regulations and tax laws in Vietnam.
ANT Lawyers, a law firm in Vietnam will always follow up with authorities for legal update on matters relevant to international trade and tax to update clients on regular basis.
Source ANT Lawyers: https://antlawyers.vn/library/tax-filing-deadlines-you-need-to-know-in-vietnam.html
Regulations of Radio and Television Services in Vietnam
What Changes in Decree 71/2022/ND-CP on Regulations of Radio and Television Services in Vietnam?
Along with the strong development of the Internet is an increase in people’s demand for using television services on the Internet instead of the traditional methods. Television services on the Internet providing domestic and foreign programs, movies, etc. have brought a significant source of revenue for domestic and foreign enterprises providing radio and television services. However, to ensure legal fairness for domestic enterprises as well as foreign enterprises doing business in providing this service to users, on October 1st, 2022, the Government issued Decree 71/2022/ND-CP amending and supplementing some articles of Decree No. 06/2016/ND-CP dated January 18th, 2016 on management, provision and use of radio and television services. The promulgated Decree has added new regulations on the management of domestic and foreign enterprises providing radio and television services, or in other words, changes in broadcast law in Vietnam. Specific details should be advised by media and entertainment lawyers in Vietnam however this write-up expects to provide some update on the development of regulations in this area.
As for management policies, the Decree stipulates the management of the provision and use of radio and television services in Vietnam, including radio and television services on the Internet, or across borders to users in the territory of Vietnam. Accordingly, foreign enterprises providing across borders radio and television services in Vietnam must be managed and comply with the provisions of Vietnam law.
For internet radio and television services (OTT TV), enterprises can choose from two service delivery models: (i) OTT TV provides both online channels and on-demand content (VOD) and (ii) OTT TV only provides VOD (OTT TV VOD). For OTT TV VOD service, enterprises are not required to provide program channels like traditional services and only needed to make a declaration according to the form of the Ministry of Information and Communications, instead of having to make a scheme as previously required to apply for a license to provide paid radio and television services. This regulation creates favorable conditions for domestic enterprises with the same technical conditions as foreign enterprises to participate in providing radio and television services on demand on the internet. Foreign enterprises wishing to participate in the market must also carry out the procedures for applying for a license like domestic enterprises.
The next highlight of Decree No. 71/2022/ND-CP is the addition of regulations on editing, classifying and translating radio and television content on demand (VOD). Enterprises are allowed to actively edit and classify VOD content as movies, sports and entertainment programs when meeting the conditions and criteria as prescribed by competent agencies which previously, according to the provisions of Decree No. 06/2016/ND-CP, all VOD content must be edited by a press agency with a radio and television license before being provided on the service. Accordingly, this content is divided into 03 groups to perform as follows:
(i) For news and current affairs programs; programs on politics, national defense, security, economy, and society must be produced and edited by a press agency that has licensed to operate radio and television before being provided on the service;
(ii) For films: Before providing services, enterprises must ensure conditions for the classification of films according to the Government’s regulations and take responsibility to the law for the content and results of film classification according to the classification criteria prescribed by the Vietnam Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism; In case enterprises have not yet met conditions for classification of films, it is requesting the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism or an agency authorized by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to classify films that have not been granted a Film Classification License or a Broadcast Decision;
(iii) For sports and entertainment programs: Enterprises must edit and classify before providing them on the service and display warnings while providing services, ensuring that they do not commit violations against regulations of Vietnam law. Enterprises shall work on the principles of editing, classifying, and warning content in accordance with regulations of the Ministry of Information and Communications and relevant laws to carry out editing and classification activities.
Regarding regulations on translation management, enterprises are allowed to take the initiative in translation activities. The translation of foreign programs and channels, enterprises must respect and preserve the purity of the Vietnam language, and ensure that they do not violate the prohibitions according to the provisions of Vietnam law.
In addition to supplementing regulations on management policies, Decree 71/2022/ND-CP has added regulations to reduce administrative procedures, and orient online application components to reduce costs for enterprises providing radio and television services. Accordingly, enterprises that wish to apply for a license i.e. a license to provide paid radio and television services, amend or supplement the content of the license, or re-issue the license, only need to prepare set of 01 (a) dossier (previously two sets, 01 sets of originals, 01 sets of copies) and can submit online on the online public service portal of the Ministry of Information and Communications for cases which electronic authentication certification is available. In addition, the processing time for the above procedures and documents are also significantly shortened, creating favorable conditions for enterprises when carrying out administrative procedures quickly, ensuring that the business operations are not affected.
Decree No. 71/2022/ND-CP officially took effect on January 1st, 2023.
ANT Lawyers, as a reliable law firm in Vietnam, we focus on providing possible solutions that best meet the needs of legal and business clients. We help customers achieve their goals while protecting their interests, minimizing risks, and complying with the law.
Tell us how we can be of service and one of our team members will contact you. Email: ant@antlawyers.vn, Tel: +84 28 730 86 529.
When Labour Dispute over Bonus Issue Arise and How to Resolve?
When Labour Dispute over Bonus Issue Arise and How to Resolve?
According to the provisions the Labor Code, the bonus, also known as the “other supplement”, is one of the main contents of the Labor Contract. Specifically, bonus is understood as a sum of money paid by an employer to the employees on the basis of annual business results and the level of work performance of employees. When the dispute arises, the employer or the employee could consult with labour dispute lawyers in Vietnam to handle the matter effectively.
Bonus regulations of each company must be decided and publicly announced by the employer at the workplace after consultation with the representative organization of the grassroots-level employees’ collective. However, there are companies that do not specify bonus regulations or companies with unclear bonus regulations referring to such generally as “based on capability”, or “based on work results” without referring to specific key performance indicator (KPI). Such regulations will easily cause labor disputes. In most of the case, the employee would face disadvantage because the employer will be the one whom make the final decision on whether or not the capability or work results are satisfied.
A labor dispute means a dispute over rights, obligations and interests among the parties during the establishment, execution or termination of labor relation; a dispute between the representative organizations of employees; a dispute over a relationship that is directly relevant to the labor relation. Labor disputes over bonuses can be individual labor disputes or collective labor disputes. The competence authority to settle labor disputes belongs to the Labor Mediator, the Labor Arbitration Council, and the People’s Court. Normally, individual labor disputes or collective labor disputes must go through the mediation procedure of the labor mediator before referring to the court to settle, unless otherwise provided for by law.
For individual disputes, in case the conciliation is unsuccessful or either party fails to implement the agreements in the minutes of successful conciliation or the settlement time limit expires but if the labour conciliator fails to conduct conciliation, each disputing party has the right to request a court or arbitration council for settlement.
For collective disputes over bonuses, in case the conciliation is unsuccessful or one of the two parties fails to implement the agreements in the minutes of successful conciliation, the parties have the right to request the President of the district-level People’s Committee to resolve the dispute. If the parties disagree with the decision of the President of the People’s Committee of the district or beyond the time limit but the President of the People’s Committee of the district does not settle, the parties have the right to request the Court to settle. In such situation, a litigation lawyer would be engaged to assist for productive result.
ANT Lawyers – A law firm in Vietnam, always follow up the labour matters to update clients on regular basis.
Source ANT Lawyers : https://antlawyers.vn/library/when-labour-dispute-over-bonus-issue-arise-and-how-to-resolve.html
How to Resolve Disputes in Labour in Vietnam?
How to Resolve Disputes in Labour in Vietnam?
A labour dispute is one of the most common disputes in society, in particular it means a dispute over rights, obligations and interests among the parties during the establishment, execution or termination of labor relation; a dispute between the representative organizations of employees; a dispute over a relationship that is directly relevant to the labor relation. In fact, labour disputes happen often, but there are many situations where employees often have little understanding of their rights, leading to disadvantages if the employer does not know or does not follow the law. Therefore, identifying labour disputes is very important. For employees, learning about labor law is to know their rights. Employers need to understand labor laws to ensure compliance. Both employees and employers can consult a dispute lawyer in labor to protect their rights.
For example, during the recent epidemic, many businesses faced difficulties in doing business and hence many common labour disputes arisen. For workers, a dispute could arise from not being paid on time. Other concerns are whether there is any violations that lead to the termination of the labor contract? Has the employer carried out restructuring procedures and notified state agencies according to the correct procedure before terminating the labor contract with the employee? Does the employer have an agreement with the employee before suspending the labor contract during the pandemic? When the business is not efficient, is the employer required to pay the 13th month salary to the employee?
At present, labour disputes are classified into different types based on the object who participated in the dispute: Labour disputes between the employee and the employer; labour between the employee and the organization that sends the employee to work overseas under a contract; labour dispute between the outsourced worker and the enterprise. Right-based or interest-based collective labour disputes between one or several representative organizations of employees and the employer or one or several representative organizations of employees.
The labour dispute settlement process must follow the following principles: Respect the parties’ autonomy through negotiation throughout the process of labour dispute settlement; Prioritize labour dispute settlement through mediation and arbitration on the basis of respect for the rights and interests of the two disputing parties, and respect for the public interest of the society and conformity with the law; The labour dispute shall be settled publicly, transparently, objectively, promptly, and lawfully; Ensure the participation of the representatives of each party in the labour dispute settlement process; Labour dispute settlement shall be initiated by a competent authority or person after it is requested by a disputing party or by another competent authority or person and is agreed by the disputing parties.
When a labour dispute arises, one party or parties may request a Labor Mediator; The Labor Arbitration Council or the People’s Court to settle the disputes. Matter on time limit is an important matter that the parties should pay attention. The time limit to request a labor mediator to settle an individual labour dispute is 06 months from the date on which a party discovers the act of infringement of their lawful rights and interests. For the form of dispute settlement through the Labor Arbitration Council, the time limit is 09 months from the date on which a party discovers the act of infringement of their lawful rights and interests. In case of requesting the Court to settle the labour dispute, the time limit is 01 year from the day on which a party discovers the act of infringement of their lawful rights and interests. Many of the labour disputes could be resolved effectively at court hence engaging a labour dispute lawyers in Vietnam to file a lawsuit will help parties involved.
Please note, upon the expiration of the above-mentioned time limitation, the disputing parties will not have the right to request the competent authorities to resolve the dispute. In case the requester is able to prove that the aforementioned time limits cannot be complied with due to a force majeure event or unfortunate event, the duration of such event shall not be included in the time limit for requesting settlement of individual labour dispute.
ANT Lawyers – A law firm in Vietnam, always follow up the labour matters to update clients on regular basis.
Source ANT Lawyers: https://antlawyers.vn/library/how-to-resolve-disputes-in-labour-in-vietnam.html
Da Nang City to carry out investment promotion in 2022
Da Nang City to carry out investment promotion in 2022 in the direction of innovation, initiative, focus, and prioritize on strategic markets
In 2022, Da Nang selected the theme as “Year of safe and flexible adaptation, effective disease control and socio-economic recovery and development”. Accordingly, the city has built the Investment Promotion Program in 2022 in the direction of innovation, initiative, focus, prioritizing strategic markets for key fields (high technology, information technology, high-quality service, etc.) to attract foreign investors to invest and set up company in Vietnam in genenal and Da Nang in particular.
To achieve this goal, Da Nang city has promoted research, assessed potential markets and investment partners, built images, promoted, introduced the investment environment, potential policies, and opportunities for investment association and connection. Along with that, the city has supported and guided to create favorable conditions for investment activities of international investors, built a list of investment attraction projects, publications and documents for investment promotion, etc. in order to attract foreign investors to establish company in Vietnam for doing business.
Accordingly, in 2022, Da Nang will study and implement the project “Building Da Nang into a regional financial center”; Project “Development of industry and services related to yachts”; Project “Promoting investment attraction to Da Nang city in the period of 2021 – 2025, vision to 2030”; The overall project of economic diplomacy in Da Nang city in the period of 2021 – 2025; Project on implementation of research – development, incubation – start-up, innovation and training of high-quality human resources… At the same time, Da Nang City implement investment procedures and call for businesses to invest in key projects. Access and connect with venture capital funds, start-up experts, large-scale technology enterprises, innovative start-up infrastructure investors, innovative start-ups. The City is focusing on promoting key investment projects, promoting projects in high-tech zones, concentrated IT zones, etc.
Besides, Da Nang City is organizing investment promotion conferences in the form of face-to-face and online to key markets such as the US, Korea, Japan, Europe, Taiwan, Singapore…; organize connection activities, promote private investment, event Route Asia Development Forum 2022 is held in Da Nang city.
The city will also increase proactive contact with high-level contacts with large corporations (belonging to Forbes 500), businesses in developed countries (G7, G8, OECD…), business associations, and big banks of other countries. The country is having the policy to shift investment capital to focus on calling for investment in Da Nang. Da Nang city is implementing the promotion of ODA projects, projects in the form of public-private partnership (PPP) …
In Da Nang Hi-Tech Park and Industrial Parks, in order to effectively implement the 2022 Investment Promotion Program of the City People’s Committee, the Management Board of Da Nang High-Tech Park and Industrial Parks has built and issued implementing investment promotion programs in the direction of innovation, prioritizing strategic markets for key fields such as high technology, information technology, high-quality services….
Through these activities, Da Nang City hopes that in 2022, many international investors will make investments in Da Nang to set up business, in order to create a vibrant and effective investment environment, taking advantage of the strengths, investment incentives from the city, thereby bringing high profits for their investment activities.
With highly professional staff and great experience in foreign investment, ANT Lawyers - a law firm in Vietnam would like to support you to establish company in Vietnam.
How Do I Get a Business Registration Certificate in Vietnam?
How do I Get a Business Registration Certificate in Vietnam?
Each association and individual wishing to set up an unfamiliar claimed organization in Vietnam will have to meet a few particulars conditions as declared under the Law on Venture and Regulation on Big business. The investor will also need to check with the law governing the investment area in certain areas that are being considered as conditional investments. The investor must submit an application for business registration once the investment registration certificate is completed.
The following is a description of the procedure for applying for a certificate of enterprise registration for a limited liability company or joint stock company with two or more members:
Dossiers:
i) Application form for enterprise registration
ii) The company’s charter.
iii) A list of founding shareholders and shareholders being foreign investors/ a list of capital contribution members.
iv) Valid copies of:
Copies of the ID cards or other forms of identification for individuals who are founding shareholders and foreign investors or members; list of organizations that are authorized representatives of foreign shareholders.
The decision to establish the organization, the business registration certificate, or another similar document, along with the authorization letter; the identification cards or other forms of identification used by organizations' authorized representatives, such as founding shareholders and foreign investors.
A copy of the certificate of business registration or an equivalent document must be notarized, legalized, and authenticated if the shareholders are foreign organizations.
The foreign investors' Certificate of Investment registration, as required by the Investment Law.
State Authority: Business registration office of the province where the enterprise’s headquarters is situated.
Period: within 03 working days from the full receipt of the dossiers
Result: Business enrollment office will give the authentication of big business enlistment or on the other hand on the off chance that the application isn't palatable, business enrollment office will advise the candidate regarding important corrections and supplementation to organization.
The government of Vietnam generally supports direct foreign investment. In the event that the financial backer countenances difficulties at state authority, whom don't give notice or solicitation of supplementation to the application for big business enrollment, the financial backer virus hold up a grievance as endorsed by guidelines of regulation on protests and reprimand to the state power to safeguard its right in carrying on with work and interest in Vietnam. The investor could benefit from the assistance of a law firm in Vietnam with expertise in both business registration certificate and dispute resolution.
The venture is qualified for carry on with work from the issuance date of the endorsement of big business enlistment. Businesses are permitted to participate in conditional business lines if they meet all requirements and are able to maintain compliance with those requirements throughout their operations.
How to Resolve Disputes Settlement through Arbitration in Vietnam?
How to Resolve Disputes Settlement through Arbitration in Vietnam?
Arbitration, mediation, negotiation, and litigation are all methods of dispute resolution. In order to resolve disputes, a litigation dispute law firm in Vietnam needs dispute lawyers who have the expertise and experience necessary to resolve complex cross-border, commercial, and civil disputes.
Most business agreements could include a provision stating that disputes must be resolved through arbitration in the current business environment. A valid written arbitration agreement, either as an arbitration clause in a contract or a separate agreement, is required for a dispute to be referred to arbitration. The arbitration clause is treated as independent if it is included in a contract, and the arbitration clause's validity is unaffected by contract modifications, extensions, or terminations. As long as the parties clearly state their intention to resolve any dispute through arbitration, Vietnamese law permits a written arbitration agreement to take any form. The residing court is required to drop the case if a dispute falls within the scope of a valid arbitration agreement and a party attempts to initiate court proceedings. Additionally, the arbitration organization authorized to resolve disputes without supplemental agreement is not required to be specified in an arbitration agreement. Even if there is a valid arbitration agreement, the Vietnamese Arbitration Law states that a dispute must also fall into one of three categories before it can be arbitrated:
(1) disputes arising from “commercial activities”;
(2) disputes where at least one party is engaged in commercial activities;
(3) other disputes where the law stipulates that arbitration is a permissible means of resolution.
The definition of the term "commercial activity" in category (1) can be found in Commercial Law No. “activity for profit-making purposes comprising the purchase and sale of goods, provision of services, investment, commercial enhancement, and other activities for profit-making purposes,” according to 36-2005-QH11 (31 December 2005). Noncommercial disputes, such as civil disputes, in which at least one party is engaged in commercial activities, frequently fall into the second category. However, disputes between consumers and providers of goods or services do not fall under this category. The law stipulates that the party may select arbitration or litigation in this instance. The dispute cannot be arbitrated without the consent of the consumer, even if the agreement includes a standard arbitration clause in the contract for the supply of goods or services. Legislators have complete discretion over whether or not to expand or maintain the categories of disputes that can be resolved through arbitration. A dispute arising from investment activities governed by the Law on Investment is an illustration of a dispute in category (3).
Due to the fact that many businesses would rather avoid the high costs of litigation, arbitration has grown in popularity.
Arbitration lawyers in Vietnam at ANT Lawyers - a Vietnam law firm with accreditation in national and international arbitration practice can assist in providing clients with legal advice and guidance throughout the process of resolving disputes. The intervention attorneys could likewise exhort the clients on different issues from decision of authority, decision of assertion rules, specially appointed or institutional discretion, spot of mediation, implementation of arbitral honor.
How do I establish company in Vietnam?
How do I establish company in Vietnam?
To establish a limited liability company, joint stock company or partnership company in Vietnam, foreign investors may invest 100 percent of their capital.
To receive investment registration certificates, first-time foreign investors in Vietnam must have investment projects and complete investment registration or examination procedures at state investment agencies. Business registration certificates and investment certificates must be issued simultaneously. Since the investment certificate was issued, a company with entirely foreign capital has been in existence.
-Registration/Request for issuance of Investment Certificate;
-A report on financial capability of the investor;
-Draft of the company’s charter;
-List of members of company;
-Copy of the people’s identity card, passport or other lawful personal certification, for individual members;
-Copy of the establishment decision, business registration certificate or other equivalent document, for member organizations;
-Copies of the authorization document, the people’s identity card, passport or other lawful personal certification, for authorized representatives.
-Copies of the business registration certificates of the foreign member organizations must be authenticated within three months before the date of submission of the business registration dossier by agencies where such organizations are registered;
-Written authorization of the investor in case investor is organization and valid copy of the lawful personal certification of the authorized representative. Documents in foreign languages must be translated into Vietnamese, notarized and legalized;
-The joint-venture contract or Business Cooperation Contract (BCC);
-Other documents required by Vietnam law.
Starting a business in Vietnam would take anywhere from 30 days. The additional time may be required on the off chance that the venture region is contingent or the State government necessities to look at the speculation project. In some investment projects, minimum capital, special licenses, or other conditions may be required.
ANT Lawyers would like to assist you in establishing a business in Vietnam. We have staffs that are highly skilled and have a lot of experience with foreign investment.
How Dispute Lawyers in Hanoi Could Help?
How Dispute Lawyers in Hanoi Could Help?
ANT Lawyers – A law firm in Vietnam, could assist clients on dispute resolution matters throughout Vietnam.
We have dispute lawyers in Hanoi who are qualified and have experience helping clients resolve disputes in Vietnam.
We have represented clients in disputes involving a variety of industries, including disputes involving international trade, commercial transactions, partnership or shareholder agreements, property sales and purchases, real estate, intellectual property, banking and finance, and maritime matters.
We are able to provide our clients with appropriate and adaptable solutions to their problems thanks to our knowledge, experience, and comprehension of Vietnamese culture. Our dispute lawyers in Hanoi also help clients through the various stages of litigation at Vietnam's national or provincial courts, arbitration centers, and courts of appeal.
Our dispute attorneys in Hanoi are well-trained and certified internationally in the US and EU, and they have adapted their skills to Vietnamese cultures to assist clients in resolving conflicts without a formal proceeding in order to save money, time, and maintain the relationship between the disputed parties. If it is at all possible, we recommend alternative dispute resolution, such as mediation.
Our dispute resolution practice at ANT Lawyers helps our clients with the following:
Negotiation: reviewing relevant contracts and documents, advising possible courses of action and negotiating with relevant parties before initiating the legal proceeding.
Litigation and legal representation: representing clients before Vietnamese courts and other Vietnamese authorities.
Arbitration: advising on choice of arbitration, drafting arbitration clause, and representing clients for recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitral awards.
Alternative proceedings: certain alternatives may be available for dispute resolution in Vietnam.
ANT Lawyers have litigation and dispute lawyers in Hanoi, that help clients dealing with dispute resolution and alternative dispute resolution in Vietnam.
Cancellation Against of Trademark
Cancellation Against of Trademark in Vietnam
It typically takes a significant amount of time and effort on the part of your business to win customers' confidence in your products and trademark. However, if there is another trademark for the same goods that is identical to yours, it will likely cause customers to make mistakes or become confused, resulting in a number of negative effects for your business, including a decrease in sales, a loss of reputation, and the ability to distinguish yourself.
In fact, after partnering with domestic businesses to distribute or sell goods, many international businesses discover that their trademarks are stolen by partners who register their trademarks for intellectual property protection in national offices. It is simple for trademark thieves to steal trademarks because each nation protects trademarks differently.
You should ask the Vietnam Intellectual Property Authority to cancel the trademark that was used in violation of your rights and benefits. ANT Lawyers would like to assist you in canceling against a trademark in Vietnam in the following ways because they have excellent IP experience in Vietnam and a highly professional staff.
Cancellation against of trademark in Vietnam
A certificate of trademark registration may be revoked entirely or partially at the request of a third party in accordance with Article 96 of the IP Law of Vietnam.
In the specified circumstances, the applicant may submit a written request to the National Office of Intellectual Property (NOIP) to cancel protection titles subject to payment of fees and charges.
To request cancellation against of trademark in Vietnam due to other legal reasons: the period for lodging such a request is within 5 years as from the granting date.
The case for cancellation against of trademark in Vietnam
Any third party may request that a certificate of trademark registration be revoked entirely or partially in the following circumstances:
The registration applicant does not possess the right to register an invention, industrial design, layout-design, or mark, nor has this right been granted to them;
At the time the protection title is granted, the subject matter of industrial property does not meet the protection conditions.
Required documents
Proofs (if any);
Power of attorney;
Written justification of the request, including relevant documents and clearly stating the protection title's serial number, reason, and contents for terminating or canceling a portion or the entire protection title.
Time and procedures for cancellation against of trademark in Vietnam
In the event that a third party makes a request to have their trademark protection title revoked, the NOIP is required to provide the protection title holder with written notice of the third party's opinions and set a response deadline of two months from the date of notification.
The NOIP must decide whether to cancel all or a portion of the protection title or notify the parties of its refusal to cancel the trademark protection title after taking the opinions of the parties into consideration.
The requester or a party involved may file a complaint regarding the decision or the relevant notice if they disagree with the NOIP's handling of the request for cancellation of the trademark protection title
Within two months of its signing, a decision to cancel a trademark protection title must be published in the Industrial Property Official Gazette and added to the National Register of Industrial Property.
ANT Lawyers - IP Services in Vietnam firm that regularly informs clients of legal developments pertaining to trademarks by following up with authorities.
Real Estate and Construction in Vietnam
Real Estate and Construction in Vietnam
We handle a wide range of complex transactions for nearly every type of product thanks to our extensive experience in the real estate industry. Our cost-effective teams and understanding of real estate industry fundamentals set us apart from other law firms.
In the negotiation and acquisition of residential apartments, houses, and tenant leases for office, industrial, retail, and other commercial space, our real estate dispute lawyers in Vietnam represent landlords, tenants, investors, and real estate buyers.
We have particular expertise in negotiating and structuring engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contracts for construction projects. In order to structure and negotiate EPC arrangements that satisfy the competing requirements of owners, contractors, lenders, and other project participants, our real estate dispute lawyers in Vietnam collaborate closely with our clients. Our attorneys are prepared to expect issues and perceive open doors in the venture advancement setting.
We are able to provide better solutions because we have a thorough understanding of the industries we serve.
ANT Lawyers, a law firmin Vietnam always follow up real estate dispute cases and their development to update clients on regular basis.
Let ANT Lawyers help your business in Vietnam.
How Really does Debate Settlement System of WTO Work
How Really does Debate Settlement System of WTO Work?
The dispute settlement procedures used by the World Trade Organization (WTO) are based on the GATT 1947 dispute settlement rules, which have been in place for nearly 50 years. Finding a positive solution to the dispute is the fundamental goal of this dispute resolution method. Because Vietnam is a member of the World Trade Organization, it may use the WTO's dispute settlement mechanism in disputes with other WTO members.
The parties to a dispute at the World Trade Organization (WTO) will first hold consultations to come up with a mutually agreed-upon solution to the dispute (Consultation – the stage of mediation). Third parties, who are members with a significant interest and desire to participate in the dispute resolution process, may participate in each case if they feel they have a significant interest in the case and should be considered by the panel. On account of a fruitless request, a board of 3 to 5 individuals will be laid out and entrusted with looking at a specific issue in debate based on WTO rules refered to by the petitioner's country.
According to Article 12.3 of the DSU, the first thing a panel to review the complaint must do is establish a timetable for its proceedings. The contents of Article 12 and Annex 3 of the DSU are typically covered by the panel procedure, which allows for some flexibility to guarantee the quality of the report without delaying the proceedings. The parties can be more proactive in presenting evidence, bases, and arguments in their submitted documents by understanding the contents and deadlines of a timetable.
The panel will enter the internal discussion phase (deliberation) following the hearings to evaluate the assessment of relevant legal and practical issues in accordance with WTO regulations. The deliberation must be kept secret. The parties to the dispute were not present when these reports were written; rather, they were written based solely on the information that was provided and the remarks that were made earlier. Individual assessments of hearers introduced in a board report will exclude the names of speakers of such sentiments.
Within two weeks of the panel's conclusion of the mid-term review, the final report will be sent to the dispute parties. Regularly, every report of the board has extremely huge substance, to work with the investigation of audit by the redrafting body and to cite case regulation, the report should show the chapter by chapter list and sections which are discrete numbered in the request for the report. After the DSB adopts a panel report, the dispute resolution process will immediately proceed to the implementation stage if there is no appeal. The case will be reviewed at the appellate level if there is an appeal.
As a member of the World Trade Organization, Vietnam must be well-versed in the dispute resolution process and fully prepared for disputes with other WTO members in international trade disputes.
ANT Lawyers have Litigation and Dispute lawyers in Hanoi, Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City that help clients dealing with dispute resolution and alternative dispute resolution in Vietnam.
How has streamlined the registration procedures for business in Vietnam in 2023?
How has streamlined the registration procedures for business in Vietnam in 2023?
By the end of 2019, more than 30,000 FDI projects with a registered capital of approximately 362 billion USD had chosen Vietnam as their investment destination. As a result of Vietnam's recent focus on the private sector, foreign investors are flocking to the country's market.
Vietnam's participation in various free trade agreements has provided a strong impetus for foreign investors from developed nations to take their first steps in Vietnam. The country has established diplomatic ties with nearly 190 nations worldwide and signed approximately 15 Free Trade Agreements with important trading partners.
Investors must submit an application for the Investment Registration Certificate in order to register a business in Vietnam. The investor must then apply for an Enterprise Registration Certificate after receiving the Investment Registration Certificate.
Investors must first select a business name that is not identical to or confusingly similar to the name of another business that is already registered in the National Database of Business Registration on a national scale. This does not apply to business that have been dissolved or that have had effective court decisions declaring them bankrupt.
The investors or authorized person must then prepare a comprehensive set of application dossiers in accordance with the law and submit them to the Business Registration Office where the planned head office will be located. Based on the appointment date on the receipt, the Business Registration Office will verify the validity of the application dossier. Investors or authorized individuals can either go to the Business Registration Office to receive the application results or register to receive them by mail. After receiving the valid dossier, the deadline for considering and processing it is three working days.
The investor will be granted an Enterprise Registration Certificate when fully meeting the following conditions:
-The registered business lines are not in the prohibited business sectors;
-The business’s name is set in accordance with the provisions of law;
-Fully paying the enterprise registration fee as prescribed by law
Investors have increased their faith in Vietnam's business and investment climate over time. The socio-political and macroeconomic steadiness are conspicuous highlights for the development of Vietnam's business potential. The Vietnam not set in stone to work on the cycle for speculation application. As a result, Vietnam is and will continue to be an appealing location for investment as well as a promising location for foreign investors to apply for an investment registration certificate and register a business when compared to other countries in the region that are neighboring Vietnam.
ANT Lawyers is a law firm in Vietnam that will always contact the authorities to obtain legal updates on issues pertaining to the registration of investments or the establishment of business in Vietnam.
Public Consultation on the Investigation of the Application of Anti-dumping Measures on a Table and Chair Products
Pursuant to Article 70 of the Law on Foreign Trade Management in 2017 and Article 13 of Decree No. 10/2018/ND-CP detailing a number of articles of the Law on Foreign Trade Management regarding trade remedies, the investigating authority will hold a public consultation in the case of investigating the application of anti-dumping measures on a number of table and chair products original from Malaysia and the People’s Republic of China (case AD16).
Language: The spoken and written language used in the consultation is Vietnamese. The relevant parties have the right to use other spoken and written languages, but there must be a translation from those languages into Vietnamese. Information and documents not in Vietnamese provided by relevant parties must be translated into Vietnamese. The relevant parties must ensure truthfulness, and accuracy and take responsibility before the law for the translated content.
The investigating authority requests relevant parties register to participate in the consultation and send their registration form.
If Client needs any more information or request for legal advice or potential dispute regarding trade remedies measures including, anti-dumping, countervailing duty and safeguard measures or international trade dispute matters, our competition, anti-dumping, and countervailing duty lawyers of International trade and tax practice at ANT Lawyers, a law firm in Vietnam always follow up anti-dumping cases and its development to update clients on regular basis.
Why Client Should Retain Real Estate Dispute Lawyers in Vietnam?
Why Client Should Retain Real Estate Dispute Lawyers in Vietnam?
Foreigners are becoming increasingly interested in investing and purchasing real estate as a result of changes in the law that are attracting foreigners to live and invest in Vietnam. However, the law regarding real estate ownership and transactions is complicated, particularly for foreigners, given that real estate is a valuable asset.
In Vietnam, the entire population owns land, with the State acting as the owner's representative and managing the land uniformly. Therefore, land users will have the right to use the land in Vietnam without private ownership. Foreigners are prohibited from owning land use rights in Vietnam under the Land Law of 2013. It only permits businesses with foreign investments to use land through leases or allocations.
According to the Law on Housing, foreigners are permitted to own homes in Vietnam even though they do not have rights to use land. Furthermore, the Law on Land Business has specific impediments for unfamiliar financial backers to direct land business in Vietnam and should meet the legitimate necessities.
To minimize risks, foreign investors investing in Vietnam who intend to use the land for business purposes, conduct real estate business in Vietnam, or simply purchase and own real estate in Vietnam should be aware of the legal provisions governing the conditions of implementation, orders, and procedures. In Vietnam, the assistance of real estate dispute lawyers will be valuable.
In Vietnam, real estate lawyers would be well-versed in the Land Law, Housing Law, Real Estate Law, and related regulations. In addition, they would have practical experience supporting real estate transactions, resolving disputes, and carrying out legal procedures in Vietnam. The real estate dispute lawyers in Vietnam could talk about the conditions for doing business in real estate and the restrictions on foreign organizations and individuals' land use rights in Vietnam. In order to better work with state agencies to obtain land use rights for businesses and individual home ownership rights, the foreigners could benefit from the assistance of lawyers upon request.
Real estate lawyers may also offer assistance with legal due diligence of the real estate in order to reduce clients' legal risk when carrying out real estate-related transactions like buying, selling, transferring, renting, and leasing. Before the developer and the people who are eligible to enter into the transaction, it is essential to evaluate the property's legal status, the owner, and whether the property is the subject of a dispute or additional government requirements. Likewise, the lawyers in Vietnam can encourage clients to draft or survey the arrangements, deal as well as the cycle to authorize the interaction to consent to the law in Vietnam.
ANT Lawyers, as a reliable law firm in Vietnam always follow up real estate dispute cases and their development to update clients on regular basis.
How to Establish a Business in Vietnam
How to Establish a Business in Vietnam?
Lately, Vietnam has turned into an appealing objective for unfamiliar speculation because of its benefits of safety, political soundness, and great geological situation to exchange with the world. This serves as both the gateway to the economies in the western Indochina Peninsula and the region's connection hub. In addition, in order to make it easier for foreign investors to begin doing business in Vietnam, the government of Vietnam has been increasingly implementing more preferential policies.
Investors in Vietnam must first select an appropriate type of business based on the number of capital contributors, amount of capital contributed, and purse size before starting a business in Vietnam. Foreign individuals and organizations are permitted to establish a limited liability company, joint stock company, partnership, or private enterprise under Vietnam law.
The business line is the next issue to take into consideration. The company must register the appropriate business lines related to business activities in order to continue operating. On the off chance that the chose line of business doesn't need conditions, the venture can go into activity after the foundation of the organization. The majority of businesses would engage in this non-conditional business activity. However, if the investor selects a conditional business line, the company must first meet the necessary requirements, submit an application for a business license in accordance with the requirements, and then begin operations. This is regarded as a conditional investment area, with restrictions such as a license requirement, minimum charter capital, and foreign ownership ratio...
Investors must also select a location for their business that is legally permissible for business operations. The address of the business must be on Vietnam's territory and meet the requirements of the business's purpose, such as not being in a dormitory or apartment building solely for living; The factory must be in the right area for business...
Newly established businesses must have their own proper name, which cannot be the same as or similar to a business that has already been registered in order to serve the management of the state and facilitate business activities. When naming an organization, businesses are not permitted to use the names of functional agencies or state management agencies. The proper name and type of business must be included in the business's name. Businesses can use abbreviations or English names to avoid competing with other businesses. However, they must ensure that the company name does not create confusion by not including any cultural symbols, prefixes, or suffixes.
In Vietnam, investors must apply for an Investment Registration Certificate at an appropriate authority. All projects wishing to establish a new legal entity in Vietnam must go through this procedure. Depending on the project, an investment certificate application takes about 30 days to process. Foreign individuals and businesses must prepare an application for an Enterprise Registration Certificate at the Department of Planning and Investment within seven days of receiving an Investment Registration Certificate. The enterprise now possesses legal status in accordance with the provisions of the Vietnam Law on Enterprises.
The company could perform monthly compliance services on its own or with the assistance of professionals, such as submitting foreign labor reports, investment reports, tax reports, and health and insurance reports to authorities in order to avoid penalties from the start.
ANT Lawyers is a law firm in Vietnam that will always contact the authorities to obtain legal updates on issues pertaining to investment registration or conducting business in Vietnam.
New Conditions on Real Estate Purchase and Sale in Vietnam
New Conditions on Real Estate Purchase and Sale in Vietnam
The activities of real estate businesses have a significant impact on socio-economic development. As a result, the government has issued Decree 02/2022/ND-CP (the "Decree") detailing the implementation of a number of articles of the Law on Real Estate Business in order to promptly amend and supplement inadequate regulations to be consistent with reality in order to ensure the legal framework for the current real estate business activities. where the terms for the transfer of lease-purchase, purchase-sale, and construction-related contracts are mentioned.
Although there are no regulations regarding the transfer of contracts for the sale of non-residential real estate that will not be formed in the future, there is a high demand on the market for the transfer of purchase and sale contracts, lease-purchase of houses, real estate, and construction works. Consequently, there is no lawful premise to complete these exchanges as a general rule. As a result, Decree 02/2022/ND-CP has undergone a number of modifications and additions, has overcome some limitations compared to the past, and is anticipated to address deficiencies and issues.
As a result, Decree 02/2022/ND-CP combines specific regulations with conditions for the transfer of contracts for the purchase and sale of future homes and lease-purchase contracts for existing homes and construction projects.
First, a legally binding purchase and sale or lease purchase contract is required for the transfer of the contract. Therefore, these contracts must ensure that each transferred real estate object complies with the terms of the transfer agreement form, whether it's a Contract for Sale, Purchase, Lease, and Purchase of an Apartment, Tourist Apartments (Condotel), Office Apartments with Accommodation (Officetel), etc. Also, the signed contract must be present in cases where the parties signed it before Decree 02/2022/ND-CP went into effect. As a result, parties should ensure the legality of their respective contracts in terms of form and date of establishment when transferring these kinds of contracts.
Second, the transfer contract must be in the category that has not yet submitted a request to a competent state agency for the issuance of a certificate of ownership of houses and other land-attached assets, as well as land use rights. This arrangement has been referenced in the past guidelines for the exchange of land contracts shaped from now on. This has remained a necessary regulation up until this point in order to eliminate the possibility of a real estate bearing two or more certificates for the same object and prevent the handling of licensing procedures from overlapping.
Thirdly, there must be no disputes or lawsuits in the contract of sale, purchase, lease-purchase, and construction work. As a result, the disputed contract will not be utilized for transfer. The prohibition against transferring property rights to the disputed property is in line with this provision. Therefore, in order for the parties to have a foundation for the transfer of the contract, they must first settle the dispute. Real estate dispute lawyers in Vietnam must be consulted for appropriate dispute resolution in many complex cases.
Fourthly, houses and development works that are the subject of procurement and deal or rent buy contracts should not be dependent upon distraint or home loan to get the presentation of commitments as recommended by regulation. As of late, the peculiarity of moving these agreements has expanded with genuinely disregarded the arrangements of the law, making it hard for pertinent equipped power to deal with, in any case making harms the transferee without grasping the legitimate issues for the transferor in the agreement. Nonetheless, with the rule of regarding the understanding of the gatherings, the law actually permits the task of the agreement for this situation in the event that the mortgagee concurs and this assent should be recorded explicitly to keep away from questions later.
It is evident that the highlight of Decree 02/2022/ND-CP has initially resolved the deficiencies in the transfer contract for office apartments (Officetel) and tourist apartments (Condotel), providing the relevant competent authority with a legal foundation on which to handle the requirements. Additionally, Decree 02/2022/ND-CP has contributed to the development of a more transparent mechanism that enables participants to actively comply with regulations on effective real estate business contracts, thereby reducing contract disputes in Vietnam and fostering a safer and more long-term real estate market there.
ANT Lawyers, as a reliable law firm in Vietnam always follow up real estate dispute cases and their development to update clients on regular basis.
Languages in Arbitration Proceedings in Vietnam
What are Languages in Arbitration Proceedings in Vietnam?
Article 10 of the Vietnam Law on Commercial Arbitration says that if both parties are Vietnamese, the language used in arbitration proceedings to settle a dispute is Vietnamese, or a language agreed upon by both parties if one of them is a foreign-owned business. Specifically:
Except for disputes in which at least one party is a foreign-invested enterprise, the language of arbitration is Vietnamese for disputes with no foreign component. A dispute party may employ an interpreter if it is unable to speak Vietnamese.
For questions including unfamiliar components or debates to which no less than one party is an unfamiliar contributed undertaking, the gatherings will agree on the language to be utilized in arbitral procedures. The arbitration council will decide on the language to be used in arbitration proceedings if they do not have such an agreement.
Arbitration lawyers in Vietnam can also help clients with a variety of issues, such as choosing an arbitrator, choosing the rules for the arbitration, choosing an ad hoc or institutional arbitration, choosing a location for the arbitration, and getting an arbitral award enforced.
Trademark Infringement lawyers in Vietnam assist trademark infringement
Trademark Infringement lawyers in Vietnam assist trademark infringement
Self protection of trademark infringement in Vietnam
Owners of trademarks may need a lot of time and effort to protect themselves from trademark infringement in Vietnam. It is recommended to talk with brand name encroachment attorneys in Vietnam for help in light of the fact that the comprehension of specialized matters, lawful grounds and business practice in Vietnam.
The trademark owner in Vietnam has the self-protection right to: (i) apply technological measures to prevent acts of trademark infringement in Vietnam; (ii) request the organization or individual who commits an act of trademark infringement to terminate such act, make a public apology or rectification, and compensate damages when detecting the act of trademark infringement; iii) Make a request to the appropriate authority to deal with trademark infringement in accordance with the laws.
To begin, the infringing party can inform the infringing party that the infringed trademark is protected and that the infringing party is not to infringe in order to implement technological measures to prevent acts of trademark infringement. This information can include information about the original of emergence, the trademark certificate, the protection and duration scope, as well as other information about the right of the trademark owner. In addition, the owner of the trademark that is being infringed upon may employ the technical means or measures to mark, identify, distinguish, and safeguard the trademark that is being infringed upon.
Besides, the proprietor could likewise demand association or person who commits a demonstration of brand name encroachment to end such demonstration, make a general acknowledgment or correction, and remunerate harms. In particular, trademark owners can send information about the origin of the infringement, a trademark certificate, the protection scope, the duration of the protection, and a reasonable time frame for the infringer to stop the act of infringement to the infringer, or they can authorize an IP attorney in Vietnam to send this information to the infringer.
Additionally, the content of the written request will vary based on the situation and degree of infringement. This could be referred to as a prior-should-use measure taken prior to implementing technological measures. Both parties will save time and money if the violating party cooperates and stops the infringement.
Thirdly, proprietor of brand name could demand the capable position to manage demonstrations of brand name encroachment as per the arrangements of regulations.
When the trademark owner sends the above-mentioned request to the infringing party and the infringing party refuses to cooperate and continues the infringement, the infringing party may send the following information to the competent authority: date that the request was made; the name and address of the violator or their representative; name of getting demand authority; the name and address of the party infringing; in the event of a request for a temporary cessation of customs clearance for exports or imports suspected of infringement, the name and address of the suspected violator; brief data of encroached brand name and encroachment; suggested ways to deal with infringement; documents and evidence that are included with the request
The petitioner may request administrative, civil, criminal, or customs measures from the appropriate authorities based on the seriousness of the violation. It should be noted that additional information on the mode of import or export, country of exportation, mode of packaging, the lawful importer or exporter, and features of lawfully imported or exported goods for distinction from infringing goods must be provided when a request for temporary cessation of customs clearance for imports or exports suspected of infringement is sent to the custom authority.
In general, it is crucial to safeguard intellectual property rights. In addition, working with an IP attorney in Vietnam will make the registration, management, and protection of intellectual property from infringement as well as the handling of disputes against IP violators in Vietnam through administrative measures, civil litigation, or even criminal prosecution, all more efficient.
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