Intentionally registering a trademark that is identical or similar to a real trademark, then counter-suing

Mr. Nguyen Thai Binh , Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Ho Chi Minh City Law Newspaper, spoke. Photo: Quang Huy

In his opening speech, Mr. Nguyen Thai Binh, Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Ho Chi Minh City Law Newspaper, commented that the fight against counterfeit goods and fake news is increasingly complicated, causing serious harm to consumers and businesses.

According to Mr. Nguyen Thai Binh, counterfeit goods have infiltrated many essential goods such as food, milk, medicine, functional foods and are even sold openly, showing that control tools are still weak. In addition, fake information spreading on cyberspace also causes loss of social trust and severely affects businesses.

At the seminar, specialist doctor II Do Thi Ngoc Diep, President of the Ho Chi Minh City Food and Nutrition Association, warned that counterfeit and fake goods are silently harming health, contributing to the increase in non-communicable diseases which account for 74% of the disease burden and 80% of current deaths, and each year there are about 185,000 new cancer cases.

According to Dr. Do Thi Ngoc Diep, fake food and medicine can cause acute and chronic poisoning and accumulate toxins, leading to serious diseases such as cancer.

From a business perspective, lawyer Truong Anh Tu, Chairman of TAT Law Firm, legal representative for Binh Minh Plastic Joint Stock Company, said that many organizations intentionally register trademarks that are identical or similar to real brands, then counter-sue the owner, taking advantage of legal loopholes to appropriate intellectual property rights.

Lawyer Truong Anh Tu. Photo: Quang Huy

According to lawyer Truong Anh Tu, along with legal attacks, many businesses are also attacked with fake information, which is an equally dangerous form.

Typically, during the peak of the anti-counterfeiting communication campaign earlier this year, a brand in the functional food industry had information spread on TikTok that it was “related to counterfeit drugs”, although the conclusion of the assessment had not yet been announced. As a result, revenue dropped 40% in just 2 weeks, the distribution system was confused, and shareholders were worried.

From there, lawyer Truong Anh Tu proposed that the law should be amended to recognize priority rights based on actual, public and continuous use of the trademark, similar to the "first-to-use" principle of the US. In addition, it is necessary to strengthen supervision of the motives of entities registering a series of imitation trademarks to prevent speculation and appropriation...

On the market management side, Mr. Nguyen Thanh Nam, Deputy Director of the Department of Domestic Market Management and Development ( Ministry of Industry and Trade ) said that subjects often use social networks and e-commerce platforms to distribute goods of unknown origin, create fake accounts, and counterfeit famous brands for illegal profit. Many cases of businesses being spread false information, distorting and defaming their brands, but encounter many difficulties in tracing the source of the spread and handling according to the law.

Mr. Nguyen Thanh Nam informed at the seminar. Photo: Quang Huy

To prevent counterfeit goods, fake goods and fake information from harming businesses, Mr. Nguyen Thanh Nam proposed that it is necessary to clearly define legal responsibilities for social networking platforms and e-commerce platforms in controlling, preventing and removing infringing and misleading content; shorten the process of appraising infringing goods, establish a "quick appraisal" mechanism to promptly serve investigation and handling; promote the application of digital technology in market management, from building an interdisciplinary database, a traceability system, to early warning of violations; strengthen international coordination, especially with cross-border platforms such as Facebook, TikTok, Amazon... to handle acts with foreign elements.

In the first 6 months of 2025, the market management force nationwide inspected 11,568 cases; handled 9,919 violations; the total amount of administrative fines was 266 billion VND; collected 141 billion VND for the state budget; and transferred 76 cases with signs of criminality to the investigation agency.

Source: https://hanoimoi.vn/co-tinh-dang-ky-nhan-hieu-trung-hoac-gan-giong-thuong-hieu-that-sau-do-kien-nguoc-708658.html