Protection term calculator
How long each type of intellectual property right lasts under Vietnamese law, with the calculation method and legal basis for every term.
Copyright
Literary, artistic and scientific works — including computer programs.
Moral rights (except the right of publication)
Protected indefinitely.
- Note: The rights to title the work, to be named as author, and to the integrity of the work last indefinitely. Even after a work enters the public domain you must still credit the author and must not mutilate or distort the work.
- Legal basis: Điều 27 khoản 1 Luật SHTT
Ordinary works — the author's life plus 50 years
The author's lifetime plus 50 years after death, ending at the close of 31 December of the final year.
- Note: Applies to most works: literature, music, journalism, software, architecture and so on. For works of joint authorship the term runs from the death of the last surviving co-author. The term ends at 24:00 on 31 December of the final year.
- Legal basis: Điều 27 khoản 2 điểm b Luật SHTT
Cinematographic, photographic, applied-art and anonymous works
75 years from first publication; if unpublished within 25 years of fixation, 100 years from the date of fixation.
- Note: 75 years from first publication. If the work is still unpublished 25 years after it was fixed, the term becomes 100 years from fixation. For anonymous works, once the author's identity becomes known the life-plus-50 rule applies instead.
- Legal basis: Điều 27 khoản 2 điểm a Luật SHTT
Performers' rights
A performance fixed in a sound or audiovisual recording.
50 years from the year following the year the performance was fixed
50 years from the date of fixation.
- Note: A singer covering someone else's song holds related rights in their own recording, while the songwriter keeps copyright in the song. The two layers coexist.
- Legal basis: Điều 34 khoản 1 Luật SHTT
Rights of producers of sound and audiovisual recordings
Sound recordings and audiovisual recordings.
Published recording — 50 years from the year following publication
- Legal basis: Điều 34 khoản 2 Luật SHTT
Unpublished recording — 50 years from the year following fixation
50 years from the date of fixation.
- Legal basis: Điều 34 khoản 2 Luật SHTT
Rights of broadcasting organisations
Broadcasts of a broadcasting organisation.
50 years from the year following the year the broadcast was made
50 years from the date of fixation.
- Legal basis: Điều 34 khoản 3 Luật SHTT
Patent (invention)
A technical solution in the form of a product or a process.
20 years from the filing date, non-renewable
20 years from the filing date, not renewable.
- Note: Protection starts at grant but the clock runs from the filing date — examination time eats into the effective term.
- Legal basis: Điều 93 khoản 2 Luật SHTT
- Contents: A patent requires an annual maintenance fee. Forgetting to pay it is the most common reason a patent lapses before its term ends.
Utility solution
A technical solution that is not common general knowledge.
10 years from the filing date, non-renewable
10 years from the filing date, not renewable.
- Note: A lower bar than a patent, so the grant rate is higher. A patent application refused for lack of inventive step can often be converted into a utility solution.
- Legal basis: Điều 93 khoản 3 Luật SHTT
Industrial design
The external appearance expressed by lines, shapes and colours.
5 years from filing, renewable twice consecutively for 5 years each
5 years from the filing date, renewable for 5 years each time, up to 2 times.
- Note: The maximum total is 15 years. Online sources frequently get this wrong and quote "10 years, renewable twice" — the 10-year figure belongs to layout designs.
- Legal basis: Điều 93 khoản 4 Luật SHTT
Trademark
Words, figures, 3D shapes, colours and — since 2022 — sound marks.
10 years from filing, renewable indefinitely for 10 years at a time
10 years from the filing date, renewable for 10 years each time, with no cap on renewals.
- Legal basis: Điều 93 khoản 6 Luật SHTT
- Contents: Renewals are unlimited, so a trademark can last forever if fees are paid. However a mark unused for five consecutive years can be cancelled on request.
Geographical indication
A place name attached to a product whose characteristics derive from that place.
Indefinite, as long as the conditions for protection remain met
Protected indefinitely.
- Note: Geographical indications are state-owned. Producers in the region hold a right of use, not ownership.
- Legal basis: Điều 93 khoản 7 Luật SHTT
Semiconductor integrated-circuit layout design
The spatial layout of circuit elements and their interconnections.
Up to 10 years from the filing date
10 years from the filing date, not renewable.
- Note: The term actually ends at the earliest of three dates: 10 years from filing, 10 years from first commercial exploitation, or 15 years from creation. This tool computes only the first — check the other two yourself.
- Legal basis: Điều 93 khoản 5 Luật SHTT
Trade secret
Information obtained from financial or intellectual investment, undisclosed and commercially usable.
Indefinite, until the information ceases to be secret
Protected indefinitely.
- Note: A strategic trade-off: the Coca-Cola formula has stayed secret for over a century, whereas a patent would have expired long ago. But if someone independently develops the same thing, you cannot stop them.
- Legal basis: Điều 6 khoản 3 điểm c và Điều 84 Luật SHTT
Trade name
The name an organisation or individual uses in business.
Lasts as long as lawful use continues
Protected indefinitely.
- Note: Registering a company name with the business registry is not a trademark right. This is the single most expensive misconception among new businesses.
- Legal basis: Điều 6 khoản 3 điểm b Luật SHTT
Plant variety rights
Propagating material and harvested material of a new variety.
Woody plants and vines — 25 years from the grant date
25 years from the filing date, not renewable.
- Legal basis: Điều 169 khoản 2 Luật SHTT
Other varieties — 20 years from the grant date
20 years from the filing date, not renewable.
- Legal basis: Điều 169 khoản 2 Luật SHTT