Illustration: Greenhouse for growing plants — Source: Wikimedia Commons (CC).
A Dutch seed company breeds a drought-tolerant chilli variety it wants to protect in the EU while producing seed in Vietnam. At the same time, it files a patent for an extraction process for compounds from the chilli. Two IP assets, two countries, two systems — with differences enough to wreck the plan if not understood upfront.
Vietnam: the IP Law after the major 2025 amendments
The current framework is Law on Intellectual Property 50/2005/QH11 through successive amendments, now consolidated in Consolidated Document 67/VBHN-VPQH (2026). The latest round — Law 131/2025/QH15 adopted by the National Assembly on 10 December 2025, effective 1 April 2026 — brings changes businesses should know:
Faster procedures. Substantive examination for patent applications drops from 18 to 12 months; trademarks from 9 to 5 months; industrial designs also down to 5 months. The law adds a fast-track examination mechanism allowing substantive examination within about 3 months where Government conditions are met. For technology businesses, shorter pendency means shorter time to market.
Plant variety protection gets more attention. Law 131/2025 amends plant variety provisions — including the technical examination timeline (point d, clause 3, Article 176 of the IP Law per consolidated document 67/VBHN-VPQH sets a twenty-four-month period for applications filed but not yet technically examined). Vietnam is a UPOV member, so its plant variety system runs on the international standards of novelty, distinctness, uniformity and stability (DUS).
Enforcement is a separate battlefield. Registration is only half the journey. Enforcing rights in Vietnam through administrative bodies and courts has its own character — Dutch companies used to EU enforcement should budget, financially and mentally, for a different environment.
The Netherlands: protection inside the EU frame
The Netherlands operates within the EU intellectual property system, with two points businesses must grasp:
Plant varieties: one filing, EU-wide protection. The EU Community plant variety system allows a single application effective across the bloc — unlike Vietnam, where an application takes effect nationally. A Dutch company holding a Community right still files separately in Vietnam; conversely, a Vietnamese right has no automatic effect in the EU.
Patents: the European plus national route. Patents in the Netherlands can go through the European Patent Office (EPO) and then be validated in the Netherlands, or be filed nationally direct. For businesses seeking parallel protection in Vietnam and the Netherlands/EU, the PCT application is the common bridge: one international filing, then national phases in each place.
Four practical differences that decide strategy
First, filing timing. Both systems apply first-to-file for patents. For plant varieties, novelty is assessed against commercialisation — selling the variety before filing can destroy novelty. The commercial plan and the filing plan must move together.
Second, language and cost. Applications in Vietnam are in Vietnamese; in the EU/Netherlands, in the accepted languages of the respective system. Translation costs and local IP representation in each country must be budgeted — skimping here can sink the whole strategy.
Third, enforcement and customs. Both Vietnam and the EU offer customs cooperation against infringing goods. Record rights with customs in key markets — prevention costs a fraction of repeated litigation.
Fourth, transfer and licensing. Bringing a Dutch variety into Vietnamese production usually involves a licence or technology-transfer contract — governed by Vietnam’s technology-transfer law (note Law 115/2025/QH15 amending the Law on Technology Transfer, effective 1 April 2026). Draft the licence alongside the protection strategy, not after.
Frequently asked questions
With an EU plant variety right, must I still file in Vietnam?
Yes. IP rights are territorial — an EU right does not automatically protect in Vietnam. To stop unauthorised propagation in Vietnam, you need a Vietnamese right.
Does a PCT filing replace the national filing in Vietnam?
No. The PCT only defers the national filing deadline (usually 30/31 months from the priority date). A Vietnamese right still requires entering the Vietnamese national phase on time.
Can a variety bred from a protected variety be protected?
It depends on distinctness. If the new variety meets the protection conditions (novel, distinct, uniform, stable) it can be protected independently; but commercialising it may still need the original owner’s consent in some cases (essentially derived varieties). Assess case by case.
A Vietnamese business wants variety protection in the Netherlands — where to start?
By fixing the route: a Community EU filing or a Dutch national filing, preparing DUS documentation, appointing EU representation. And most importantly: do not commercialise the variety in the EU before filing.
This article has been quality-reviewed by the FLAW AI Legal Council
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