Industrial designs
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Protects appearance, not function. A maximum of 15 years, not 20 — a figure very commonly misreported.
An industrial design is the outward appearance of a product, or of a component of a complex product, expressed through lines, shapes, colours or their combination.
Three conditions
Novelty — significantly different from designs publicly disclosed before the filing or priority date. As with patents, putting the product on the market before filing can destroy novelty.
Creativity — not easily created by a person of ordinary skill in the field.
Industrial applicability — usable as a model for mass production by industrial or handicraft methods.
The line with patents
The critical distinction: a design protects appearance, not technical function.
Where a feature of a product's shape is dictated entirely by technical function — the product only works if it has that shape — that feature falls outside design protection. It belongs to a patent or utility solution.
Take a water bottle: the decorative curve of the body is design; the leak-proof cap mechanism is a patent. A design registration will not stop a competitor using your cap mechanism in a bottle that looks entirely different.
Not protected
Shapes dictated by the product's technical characteristics; the appearance of civil and industrial construction works; and features not visible during normal use.
Term — 15 years, not 20
A design title runs from grant until the end of 5 years from the filing date, renewable twice consecutively for 5 years each — a maximum of 15 years.
This figure is very commonly misreported. Many articles state "10 years, renewable twice for 5 years" — the 10-year figure actually belongs to semiconductor layout designs, an entirely different subject matter. If a source tells you designs last 20 years, check it against Article 93(4).
Costs scale with variants and figures
Substantive examination is charged per design variant (VND 700,000), search per subject matter (VND 480,000), and each figure beyond the first carries an extra VND 60,000 publication fee.
A carelessly assembled dossier with redundant variants and surplus images therefore costs considerably more than a tidy one. Conversely, an image set missing views is a common cause of amendment requests that add weeks to the process.
Going abroad
Vietnam joined the Hague Agreement (Geneva Act) on 30 December 2019, allowing a single international application to register a design across member states. It is the design equivalent of Madrid and still under-used by Vietnamese businesses.