Renewing and maintaining your titles
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Every right is maintained differently — trademarks renew forever, patents pay annually, designs cap at 15 years. Forgetting a fee is the most common way to lose a right.
A protection title is not "grant once, use forever". Each right is maintained differently, and forgetting a fee is the single most common reason a right lapses early. The table below groups the mechanism for each type.
Maintenance by right type
| Right | Term | What you must do to keep it |
|---|---|---|
| Copyright and related rights | Life + 50 years, 75/100 years, or 50 years | No renewal, no maintenance fee |
| Patent | 20 years from filing | Pay an annual maintenance fee; cannot extend beyond 20 years |
| Utility solution | 10 years from filing | Pay an annual maintenance fee; non-renewable |
| Industrial design | 5 years, renewable twice × 5 = 15 years max | Pay a renewal fee before each 5-year cycle |
| Trademark | 10 years, renewable indefinitely | Pay a renewal fee before each 10-year cycle |
| Geographical indication | Indefinite | No renewal, while the conditions for protection remain met |
| Plant variety | 20/25 years from grant | Non-renewable |
Trademarks — unlimited renewals with a hidden condition
The trademark is the only right that can last forever: renew every 10 years, with no limit. But there is an important hidden condition: a mark unused for five consecutive years can be cancelled on a third party's request. Paying every renewal is not enough — the mark must also be genuinely used.
Patents — annual fees, no renewal
A patent has no concept of "renewal" beyond 20 years. Instead the owner pays an annual maintenance fee from grant. This is an ongoing operating cost many businesses forget to price in when deciding to file — and the reason many patents lapse well before 20 years.
Note too that a patent's effect runs from grant but the 20-year clock runs from the filing date — examination time eats into the real term. The longer examination takes, the shorter the effective monopoly.
Industrial designs — two renewals of five years
A design starts at 5 years, renewable at most twice consecutively for 5 years each — 15 years maximum in total. Renew before each 5-year cycle; missing one cycle forfeits the later ones.
If you miss a fee deadline
Several maintenance and renewal fees may be paid late within a defined window with a surcharge. But the surcharge, the late window and their scope must be checked against current rules at the IP Office and Circular 263/2016/TT-BTC before you rely on them — this is not a place to guess.
Set the calendar when you file
Rather than remembering "when is it due", record the milestones the moment you file: trademark renewals every 10 years, design renewals every 5 years, and patent maintenance as an annual task. The term calculator computes each expiry date; combining it with calendar reminders avoids a loss that is entirely preventable.
Cited documents
- Consolidated document 67/VBHN-VPQH — Law on Intellectual Property — In force
- Circular 263/2016/TT-BTC on industrial property fees and charges — Partly in force