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The Intellectual Property Office of Vietnam (IP Vietnam) issued Notice No. 13822/TB-SHTT dated 23 November 2020 on the application of regulations concerning persons with legal status to sign documents on behalf of the applicant in the registration procedure for establishment of industrial property rights and the related procedures. This Notice has the following noteworthy points:
The representative for the applicant is the legal representative as provided for in Article 136 of the Civil Code or the one who is authorized by the applicant through a power of attorney (authorizing individuals, organizations or authorizing industrial property agents). The signing of the power of attorney is done by that individual himself and the authorized party and the authorization must comply with the provisions under sections 3 and 4 of Circular No. 01/2007/TT-BKHCN.
a) In case the person who signs the Application and the transaction papers has such the titles as Chairman of the Members’ Council, Chairman of the Board of Directors, President, General Director, Director, the signer only needs to certify that he/she is the legal representative of the applicant through his/her signature and seal (as prescribed, if any);
b) In case the person who signs the Application and the transaction documents has such other titles as the deputy of the titles mentioned in item a) above, the titles of Chief of Office, Head of Department or Deputy of these titles, etc., or titles of foreign organizations such as attorney in fact, authorized signatory, proxy, officer, etc., the applicant must provide a document which proves that the signer is authorized by the legal representative of applicant and which is sealed (as prescribed by law, if any).
In case the person who signs the Application and the transaction papers is a person belonging to an organization authorized by the legal representative, in addition to complying with the provisions on legal representative specified in Section 2.1 above, the applicant must also provide a document to prove such authorization.
Industrial property agents shall represent the applicant through a power of attorney. Accordingly, the person signing the power of attorney on behalf of the applicant (the authorizing party) must meet the requirements specified in Section 2.1 or 2.2 above and must comply with the provisions of sections 3 and 4 of Circular No. 01/2007/TT-BKHCN.
3.1 The contents mentioned in Sections 1, 2.1 and 2.2 above are applicable to both the Vietnamese applicants and the applicants who are foreign organizations and individuals.
3.2 In the case that an individual representing an organization who is a foreign applicant cannot prove his/her legal representative or authorized status under the provisions of sections 3 and 4 of Circular No. 01/2007/TT-BKHCN, transaction documents submitted to the IP Vietnam must be consularly certified, consularly legalized with respect to the individual’s signature.
