Vietnam's Amended IP Law 2025 (Law No. 131/2025/QH15): Key Changes from 1 April 2026

Law No. 131/2025/QH15 amending and supplementing the Law on Intellectual Property was passed by Vietnam's National Assembly on 10 December 2025 and took effect on 1 April 2026. It is the fifth amendment to the 2005 IP Law (after 2009, 2019, 2022 and Law No. 93/2025/QH15). For rights holders the headline changes are much shorter examination periods, a new fast-track mechanism, wider industrial design protection and the first IP provisions on artificial intelligence.

At a glance

• Effective date: 1 April 2026. Implementing rules: Decree 100/2026/ND-CP (industrial property) and Decree 134/2026/ND-CP (copyright).
• Trademarks and industrial designs: publication within 1 month (previously 2), substantive examination within 5 months (previously 9 for trademarks, 7 for designs).
• Patents: substantive examination within 12 months (previously 18); deadline to request examination cut from 42 to 36 months.
• Fast-track examination within 3 months for patents and trademarks, but only in narrow cases under Decree 100/2026/ND-CP.
• AI: inventors and designers must be human; publicly available data may be used to train AI systems, subject to statutory conditions.

Shorter examination timelines

For trademarks, formal examination (1 month), publication (1 month) and substantive examination (5 months) add up to about 7 months, plus about 1 to 2 months for issuance, giving a statutory total of about 8 to 9 months from filing to registration certificate, compared with 12 to 18 months under the old law. Actual processing may take longer depending on the office's workload. See our guide to the trademark registration process and timeline.

The IP Office of Vietnam no longer issues a decision accepting an application as formally valid. Valid applications move straight to publication, and the list of applications transferred for publication is posted on the Office's website, so applicants should monitor it.

Fast-track examination (3 months)

New Article 119(2a) allows substantive examination within 3 months of publication for patent and trademark applications. Under Article 14a of Decree 100/2026/ND-CP, a trademark application qualifies only if all of these conditions are met:

• the mark covers goods made under a patent on the national list of strategic technologies, or an invention for emergencies (security, defence, natural disasters, epidemics); or the trademark certificate is a mandatory document for obtaining a business licence or registration;
• it is a national filing, not an international (Madrid) designation;
• it is not a collective, certification, three-dimensional or sound mark;
• where several goods or services are listed, the condition applies to all of them;
• the fast-track fee is paid.

For patents, the invention must be a strategic technology or emergency-related invention that is already commercially exploited, with early publication requested at filing, no more than 10 claims (at most 2 independent), not a divisional or converted application, and the fee paid. The request must be filed together with the application. The application reverts to normal timelines if the conditions are not met, an opposition or dispute arises, an earlier conflicting application is pending, or the applicant amends or divides the application. In practice, most ordinary trademark filings will follow the 5-month track.

Patents

• The deadline to request substantive examination is 36 months from filing or priority (previously 42), for applications filed from 1 April 2026.
• Inventions classified as state secrets in defence or security-related fields, created in Vietnam, may be filed abroad only with permission from the Ministry of National Defence or the Ministry of Public Security.
• Applications may be refused, and patents invalidated, where there are grounds to conclude that the inventor is not a human being.

Trademarks

• Signs indicating Vietnam as the national geographical origin of goods or services are deemed non-distinctive, unless widely used and recognised as a mark before filing or forming part of a distinctive collective or certification mark (new Article 74(2)(đ1)).
• The shorter timelines apply to any trademark application published from 1 April 2026, including applications filed earlier.

Industrial designs

• An industrial design is now "the external appearance of all or part of a product in physical or non-physical form", opening protection for partial designs and non-physical products such as graphical user interfaces and on-screen icons.
• Disclosure by the applicant, or by a person who obtained the design from the applicant, does not destroy novelty if the application is filed within 6 months of the disclosure; the same applies to improper publication by the IP Office or filing by a person without the right to register.
• Designers must be human.

Copyright and related rights

• Ideas, slogans and titles of works on their own are not protected by copyright (new Article 15(4)).
• Computer programs are protected as literary works in source or object code; lawful users may make one backup copy, and for software delivered as a service the licence terms govern backups.
• Applicants are responsible for the information in copyright registration dossiers, the declaration must be signed by the author or owner, and certificates may be revoked for inaccurate or untruthful declarations.
• Article 52 on issuance deadlines was repealed; under Decree 134/2026/ND-CP the review takes 22 working days and issuance a further 15 working days (about 37 working days in total). See copyright registration in Vietnam.

Artificial intelligence

• The Government will regulate how IP rights arise for subject matter created with the use of AI systems (new Article 6(5)).
• Published, lawfully accessible text and data relating to IP subject matter may be used for scientific research, testing and training AI systems, provided this does not unreasonably prejudice the legitimate interests of authors and owners; for copyright-protected works, Government rules also apply (new Article 7(5)).

Commercialisation and enforcement

• New Article 8a confirms IP rights may be used in civil, commercial and investment transactions, and encourages using IP as capital contributions or loan collateral. Owners must keep an internal register of IP assets not yet recognised in their accounts.
• Where actual losses cannot be quantified, court-assessed damages are capped at VND 1 billion (previously VND 500 million); non-pecuniary damages range from 10 to 100 times the statutory base salary (Article 205).
• Intermediary service providers and digital platform operators have express IP responsibilities, and a new remedy allows hiding or temporarily disabling access to infringing content, accounts, websites, apps or Internet identifiers.

Transitional rules

Applications filed before 1 April 2026 follow the law in force at filing, except that the new rules apply to formal examination of applications not yet accepted, and to opposition and substantive examination deadlines for applications published from 1 April 2026. Infringement cases accepted before that date continue under the old law.

Frequently asked questions

When did Vietnam's amended IP Law take effect?

Law No. 131/2025/QH15 took effect on 1 April 2026, together with Decree 100/2026/ND-CP on industrial property.

How long does trademark registration take in Vietnam now?

Under the statutory timelines, about 8 to 9 months from filing to certificate, though actual processing may be longer.

Can foreign applicants use the fast track?

Only national filings that meet the narrow conditions of Decree 100/2026/ND-CP qualify; Madrid designations of Vietnam are excluded for trademarks.

How LTV Law helps

LTV Law files and monitors trademark, patent, industrial design and copyright applications in Vietnam under the new rules. See our trademark registration service or contact our team.

This article is for general information only, reflects legislation in force as of October 2026, and does not constitute legal advice.