Protecting Intellectual Property Rights in Vietnam: Opportunities and Challenges

Abstract

With economic growth of ASEAN member countries, and their entrance into international trade agreements (World Trade Organization), there are pressures to develop institutions to adapt to external pressures. This chapter focuses on how the intellectual property (IP) law system both creates benefits and burdens to a developing country like Vietnam, and to the extent which it creates challenges to governance. Relying on secondary data such as articles, reports and statistics, the chapter shows the extent to which the IP system generates advantages, as well as the adverse outcomes to developing countries, and how such countries are pressured by international factors to adopt IP law. Analysis shows that a strong IP system may help the country attract more foreign direct investment, encourage innovation and transfer of technology and contribute to the process of integrating to the global economy. Yet, to maintain the high level of IP protection, there are challenges to governance including (1) the high cost of capacity building for the IP offices, (2) ineffective implementation of the IP-related regulations, and (3) the impression that the IP laws run counter to cultural practice. The chapter concludes that although there are some disadvantages, the IP law plays an important role in Vietnam’s strategy of international economic integration.