Vietnamese–English IP glossary
Vietnamese and English intellectual property terminology side by side, with definitions and legal basis.
| Tiếng Việt | English | Definition | Legal basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bí mật kinh doanh | Trade secret | Information obtained from financial or intellectual investment, not yet disclosed and usable in business. Not registered; protected indefinitely until disclosed. | Điều 4 khoản 23 Luật SHTT |
| Bản ghi âm, ghi hình | Sound / audiovisual recording | The fixation of sounds or images of a performance, or of other sounds and images. | |
| Bản mô tả sáng chế | Patent specification | The document disclosing the technical solution fully enough for a person skilled in the art to carry it out. | |
| Bảng phân loại Nice | Nice Classification | A system of 45 classes (34 for goods, 11 for services) used when filing trademarks. The number of classes claimed dominates the cost. | |
| Chuyển nhượng quyền | Assignment | The owner transfers ownership outright. Moral rights (except the right of publication) cannot be assigned — you cannot buy the right to be named as someone else's author. | Điều 45 và Điều 138 Luật SHTT |
| Chỉ dẫn địa lý | Geographical indication | A sign identifying a product as originating from a specific area where its reputation or quality is due to that origin. Geographical indications are state-owned. | Điều 4 khoản 22 Luật SHTT |
| Công bố tác phẩm | Publication of a work | Issuing copies of a work to the public in reasonable quantity. The publication date is the starting point for the term of cinematographic, photographic, applied-art and anonymous works. | |
| Doanh nghiệp cung cấp dịch vụ trung gian | Intermediary service provider | A business providing infrastructure or services to host or transmit third-party digital content — social platforms, hosting services, internet service providers. | |
| Giám định sở hữu trí tuệ | IP expert examination | A competent body's expert opinion on whether infringing elements exist. The opinion is key evidence in a request for enforcement action. | |
| Giải pháp hữu ích | Utility solution / utility model | A technical solution that is new and industrially applicable but lacks the inventive step needed for a patent. Protected for 10 years rather than 20. | |
| Gỡ bỏ nội dung vi phạm | Notice and takedown | The process by which a rights holder asks an intermediary service provider to remove or block access to infringing content, on deadlines fixed by decree. | Điều 113 và Điều 114 Nghị định 17/2023/NĐ-CP |
| Hành vi xâm phạm quyền | Infringement | Using protected subject matter without permission and outside the statutory limitations and exceptions. | |
| Kiểu dáng công nghiệp | Industrial design | The outward appearance of a product or a component, expressed by lines, shapes and colours. | Điều 4 khoản 13 Luật SHTT |
| Li-xăng (chuyển quyền sử dụng) | Licence | Permitting another party to use the subject matter within an agreed scope and period, while the owner keeps ownership. Distinct from an assignment. | Điều 47 và Điều 141 Luật SHTT |
| Nguyên tắc nộp đơn đầu tiên | First-to-file | Where several people file for the same industrial property subject matter, the title goes to the valid application with the earliest priority or filing date. Who invented first matters less than who filed first. | Điều 90 Luật SHTT |
| Ngày nộp đơn | Filing date | The date the office receives a valid application. It is the date from which the patent (20 years), design (5 years) and trademark (10 years) terms run — not the grant date. | |
| Nhãn hiệu | Trademark | A sign used to distinguish the goods or services of different organisations or individuals. | Điều 4 khoản 16 Luật SHTT |
| Quyền liên quan đến quyền tác giả | Related rights / neighbouring rights | The rights of performers, producers of recordings and broadcasting organisations in their performances, recordings and broadcasts. | Điều 4 khoản 3 Luật SHTT |
| Quyền nhân thân | Moral rights | Rights personal to the author: to title the work, to be named, to publish it, and to its integrity. Except for the right of publication, they last indefinitely and cannot be assigned. | Điều 19 Luật SHTT |
| Quyền tài sản | Economic rights | The commercial rights: to make derivative works, perform, reproduce, distribute, communicate to the public and rent. These are the rights that can be assigned or licensed. | Điều 20 Luật SHTT |
| Quyền tác giả | Copyright | The rights of an organisation or individual in a work they created or own. | Điều 4 khoản 2 Luật SHTT |
| Quyền ưu tiên | Right of priority | The right to claim the first filing date in a Paris Convention country for later filings elsewhere: 12 months for patents, 6 months for trademarks and designs. | |
| Sáng chế | Patent / invention | A technical solution in the form of a product or process addressing a defined problem. | Điều 4 khoản 12 Luật SHTT |
| Thuộc về công chúng | Public domain | A work whose economic rights have expired, free for anyone to use without permission or payment. Note that moral rights survive, so attribution and integrity still apply. | |
| Thời hạn bảo hộ | Term of protection | The period during which a right is protected. For copyright the term ends at 24:00 on 31 December of the final year. | Điều 27 và Điều 93 Luật SHTT |
| Tác phẩm | Work | A creative product in the literary, artistic or scientific field expressed in any medium or form. | Điều 4 khoản 7 Luật SHTT |
| Tác phẩm phái sinh | Derivative work | A work created from an existing one: translation, adaptation, arrangement, transformation, compilation, annotation or selection. Making one without permission infringes, however creative the new work may be. | Điều 4 khoản 8 Luật SHTT |
| Tên thương mại | Trade name | The name an organisation or individual uses in business to distinguish itself. It arises from lawful use rather than registration at the IP Office — and is no substitute for a trademark. | Điều 4 khoản 21 Luật SHTT |
| Yêu cầu bảo hộ | Claims | The part of a patent application defining the exact scope of exclusivity. The number of independent claims directly determines the examination fee. | |
| Đại diện sở hữu công nghiệp | Industrial property agent / IP attorney | A licensed firm or individual acting for applicants before the IP Office. Mandatory for foreign applicants without residence in Vietnam. | |
| Định hình | Fixation | Embodying a work, performance, sound or image in a material form so it can be perceived, reproduced or communicated. Copyright arises upon fixation, not when the idea occurs. |