Procedure for separating patent/utility solution applications

Before the Intellectual Property Office issues a decision to refuse to accept the application, to grant or refuse to grant a protection certificate, the applicant may, on his/her own initiative or at the request of the Intellectual Property Office, separate the application. The separate application shall bear a new application number and shall take the filing date of the original application or the priority dates of the original application (if any).

1. The application file includes:

(i) Patent registration form, typed according to form No. 01 Appendix I of Decree No. 65/2023/ND-CP; on the patent registration form, the application number and filing date of the original application must be specifically stated);

(ii) Description of the invention/utility solution, in which the subject matter requested for protection in the divisional application must be the subject matter contained in the original application and must be different from the subject matter requested for protection in the original application after the divisional application; explanation of the subject matter requested for protection and the content changed compared to the original application when filing the divisional application;

(iii) Document requesting separation of patent/utility solution registration application;

(iv) Power of attorney (if the application is filed through an industrial property representative service organization);

(v) Fees and charges for a divisional application are calculated as for the original application. For a request for a divisional application submitted for the original application, a fee of VND 160,000 must be paid for the review of the request for amendment.

- Processing time of a divisional application: The divisional application is examined as to form and continues to be processed according to procedures that have not been completed for the original application.

2. Application form:

Applicants can choose to submit a paper application or submit an online application via the Intellectual Property Office's online public service portal, specifically:

(i) Paper application form

Applicants can submit a split application directly or by post to one of the application receiving points of the Intellectual Property Office, specifically:

- Head office of the Intellectual Property Office, address: 386 Nguyen Trai, Thanh Xuan district, Hanoi city.

- Representative office of the Department of Intellectual Property in Ho Chi Minh City, address: No. 31 Han Thuyen, Ben Nghe Ward, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City.

- Representative office of the Department of Intellectual Property in Da Nang city, address: 3rd floor, 135 Minh Mang, Khue My ward, Ngu Hanh Son district, Da Nang city.

In case of submitting a split application by post, the applicant needs to transfer money via postal service, then photocopy the Money Transfer Receipt and send it with the application to one of the above-mentioned application receiving points of the Intellectual Property Office to prove the amount of money paid.

(Note: When transferring fees to one of the above application receiving points of the Intellectual Property Office, the applicant must send the application via post to the corresponding application receiving point).

(ii) Online application form

- Conditions for submitting an application online: Applicants must have a digital certificate and digital signature, register an account on the Online Application Receiving System and have their account approved by the Intellectual Property Office to carry out IP registration transactions.

- Procedure for submitting an online application: The applicant must declare and submit a separate application on the Online Application Receiving System of the National Office of Intellectual Property. After completing the declaration and submitting the application on the Online Application Receiving System, the System will send the applicant a Confirmation of Online Document Submission. Within 01 month from the date of submitting the online application, the applicant must go to one of the application receiving points of the National Office of Intellectual Property on working days during business hours to present the Confirmation of Online Document Submission and accompanying documents (if any) and pay the prescribed fees/charges. If the documents and fees/charges are complete as prescribed, the officer receiving the application will issue an application number to the Declaration on the Online Application Receiving System. If the documents and fees/charges are not complete as prescribed, the application will be rejected. In case the Applicant fails to complete the application procedure as prescribed, the online document will be cancelled and a Notice of Online Document Cancellation will be sent to the Applicant on the Online Application Receiving System.

[Article 115 of the Law on Intellectual Property and Article 17 of Decree 65/2023/ND-CP]