Patent Complaint Resolution Process

1. Complaint handling

a) Within 10 days from the date of receipt of the complaint, the person competent to resolve the complaint must examine the complaint according to the formal requirements and issue a written notice to the complainant on whether the complaint is accepted or not, stating the date of acceptance of the complaint or stating the reason for not accepting the complaint.

b) A complaint will not be accepted if it falls into one of the following cases:

(i) The subject of the complaint is not the official decisions or notices specified in Clause 2, Article 35 of this Circular;

(ii) The decision, notice or action being complained about is not directly related to the legitimate rights and interests of the complainant;

(iii) The complaint is not submitted in accordance with the provisions of Clause 2, Article 36 of this Circular;

(iv) The complaint is filed outside the prescribed statute of limitations, except for the cases specified in Clauses 3 and 4, Article 15 of Decree No. 65/2023/ND-CP;

(v) The complaint has a second decision to resolve the complaint;

(vi) The complaint has been accepted by the Court or has been resolved by a judgment or decision of the Court, except in cases where there is a decision by the Court to suspend the settlement of the administrative case;

(vii) The complainant continues to complain after the 30-day period from the date of the decision to suspend the complaint settlement as prescribed in Article 10 and Clause 8, Article 11 of the Law on Complaints has expired;

(viii) The complaint does not indicate the illegal elements of the decision, notice, or act being complained about and only requests amendments and supplements to the application that are the subject of that decision or notice.

(ix) Complaints against notices, administrative decisions, and acts related to industrial property objects within the scope of state secrets.

c) If the complainant does not pay the appraisal fee for cases that require re-appraisal to serve the complaint settlement according to the notice of acceptance of complaint settlement specified in section (ii) point a of this clause, the complaint shall be settled on the basis of documents in the file.

2. Stakeholders

a) For accepted complaints, the competent authority to resolve complaints shall notify in writing the content of the complaint to the person with directly related rights and interests ("related party") and set a deadline of 01 month from the date of notification for that person to provide comments.

b) The relevant party has the right to provide information and evidence to prove his/her argument within the time limit specified in Point a above. The person with authority to resolve the complaint is responsible for considering such information and evidence when resolving the complaint.

c) The complaint handler shall notify in writing the content of the relevant party's opinion and set a deadline of 02 months from the date of notification for the complainant to respond to the relevant party's opinion;

d) If at the end of the specified period one party has not commented, the complaint will be resolved on the basis of the documents contained in the complaint, including documents expressing the opinions of the other party.

3. Decision to resolve complaints

a) Based on the arguments and evidence of the complainant and related parties, the person with authority to resolve the complaint must issue a decision to resolve the complaint within the time limit for resolving the complaint as prescribed by law on complaints.

b) Before making a decision to resolve a complaint, the person with authority to resolve the complaint shall notify the complainant and the relevant parties of the arguments and evidence of the other party used to resolve the complaint as well as the conclusion of the complaint resolution.

c) The decision to resolve a complaint must have the contents prescribed by law on complaints.

4. Announcement

The decision to resolve the complaint shall be published on the Electronic Information Portal of the complaint resolution agency within 15 days and in the Industrial Property Gazette within 02 months from the date of signing the decision.

3.5. Validity of complaint settlement decision

a) The decision to resolve the first complaint by the Director of the Intellectual Property Office shall take legal effect after 30 days from the date of signing if the complainant does not file a second complaint; for remote areas with difficult travel, the time limit may be extended but not more than 45 days;

b) The second decision to resolve the complaint by the Minister of Science and Technology shall take legal effect after 30 days from the date of signing; for remote areas with difficult travel, the time limit may be extended but not more than 45 days.

[Article 27 of the Law on Complaints; Article 119a.1 of the Law on Intellectual Property; Article 38, Article 39, Article 40 of Circular 23/2023/TT-BKHCN)