From instant noodles to spices: Trademark infringement is becoming more and more sophisticated and complex

According to the leader of the General Department of Market Management, in the past, counterfeit goods occurred a lot in clothes, cosmetics, and shoes, but now even very sophisticated items such as functional foods...

Mr. Tran Huu Linh, Director General of the General Department of Market Management, gives instructions on how to distinguish some products that violate intellectual property rights. (Photo: Duc Duy/Vietnam+)

"In the past, counterfeit goods were common in clothing, cosmetics, and shoes, but now even counterfeit products such as functional foods, medicines, etc. also appear,"

This is the sharing of Mr. Tran Huu Linh, General Director of the General Department of Market Management ( Ministry of Industry and Trade ) at the Seminar: "Protecting brands against the problem of counterfeit goods, fake goods, and goods violating intellectual property rights," organized online by Industry and Trade Magazine on June 30.

The first casualty is the consumer.

Since mid-2022, when the COVID-19 pandemic showed signs of stopping, the issue of counterfeit goods, fake goods, and goods infringing intellectual property rights has started to heat up again. Mr. Tran Huu Linh assessed that in the past year or so, the force Market management Continuously receive requests, questions and cooperation proposals from major companies in the world or those with factories in Vietnam.

For example, Ajinomoto produces MSG, Acecook of Japan produces instant noodles, and even very famous brands of Procter & Gamble Group such as cosmetics, shower gel, soap... also have counterfeit products in the domestic market.

“Even a very famous children's toy company in the world, Lego from Denmark, has worked with us twice in the past month about intellectual property rights infringement of Lego products in the Vietnamese market,” Mr. Tran Huu Linh stated the fact.

Not only foreign goods, many Vietnamese product brands are also threatened by counterfeit goods. Recently, the Hanoi Market Management Department has caught a very large case related to self-producing functional foods and selling them online. This is very dangerous, affecting people's health.

Discussion: Protecting brands against counterfeit goods, fake goods, and goods that violate intellectual property rights. (Photo: Duc Duy/Vietnam+)

The head of the market management force expressed concern that the path of counterfeit goods is becoming more and more complicated and sophisticated, not only smuggled from abroad and produced in the domestic market, but also e-commerce channels are being exploited to consume products that violate intellectual property rights.

Meanwhile, counterfeiters are very sophisticated as they also study the law very carefully to deceive the enforcement agencies. Notably, many counterfeit products are made to look almost like genuine products and are also copyrighted. In such cases, it takes a lot of time to handle disputes, and sometimes law enforcement forces are even sued by the fraudulent traders.

“Based on the information I just mentioned, in the first six months of the year we have inspected nearly 3,000 cases related to counterfeit goods and imposed fines of nearly VND30 billion. However, those cases are still not enough to fully illustrate the current problem of counterfeit goods. The first victims of counterfeit goods and goods that infringe on rights are consumers,” Mr. Tran Huu Linh added.

Prioritize preventive activities

From the figures given, Lawyer Nguyen Tien Lap, Arbitrator of the Vietnam International Arbitration Center, said that the authorities cannot do everything with three heads and six arms and need a systematic and comprehensive approach.

He emphasized that enterprises are both the subject and an important channel in brand protection, therefore, enterprises must be proactive and not wait for authorities.

“Consumers who want to protect themselves must rely on associations to represent them, or lawyers to form a cooperation mechanism between all parties to solve common problems, and that is the way and method,” said lawyer Nguyen Tien Lap.

Lawyer Nguyen Tien Lap, Arbitrator of the Vietnam International Arbitration Center, shared at the seminar. (Photo: Duc Duy/Vietnam+)

From the business perspective, Ms. Bui Thi Thu Hien, representative of the Legal Department, URC Vietnam Limited Liability Company, also agreed with the above assessment and shared about the brand protection at this enterprise. Accordingly, URC has taken many actions to prevent counterfeit goods, such as through coordination with authorities to prevent and stop the above problem.

“We have made recommendations to the authorities to handle any violations, if any. In addition, we also provide brand identification guidelines for agents, distributors and consumers to help customers identify the company’s brands through official communication channels such as the company’s website or hotline,” added the URC representative.

Regarding the authorities, Mr. Tran Huu Linh emphasized that the inspection by the authorities is only the tip of the iceberg, when there are signs, they will go and inspect. Furthermore, he reiterated the opinion of lawyer Nguyen Tien Lap that all subjects, from sellers, manufacturers to consumers who are buyers, must be responsible in this fight against counterfeit goods.

On the part of the market management force, the focus is on preventing and combating trade fraud, counterfeit goods, and goods that infringe intellectual property rights of goods in the domestic market as a priority, as well as focusing on key routes and key areas to avoid forming hot spots.

Mr. Linh said that recently the Prime Minister has approved the Project against counterfeit goods in the e-commerce environment until 2025, the Market Management force is directly assigned to preside over the implementation of this Project, in which the General Department has invited all relevant ministries and branches from the Ministry of Public Security, Ministry of Information and Communications, Ministry of Science and Technology, Ministry of Finance... to jointly deploy synchronous activities against counterfeit goods in the e-commerce environment, from how to prevent tax losses in e-commerce to how to use internet technical measures to trace the traces of online sellers, on e-commerce trading floors, social networks...

He recommended stronger participation of businesses, especially domestic businesses, in direct coordination with functional forces to immediately inspect and handle goods showing signs of being counterfeited.

“In the coming time, the General Department will coordinate with many functional forces to focus on this content. We would like to reaffirm that counterfeit goods and counterfeit goods on the internet will be the number one priority of the market management force from now until 2025,” said Mr. Tran Huu Linh.

Source: https://baoquangninh.vn/gia-tu-my-tom-den-gia-vi-vi-pham-nhan-hieu-ngay-cang-tinh-vi-phuc-tap-3247817.html