Vietnam trademark search: what to check before packaging

Suppose a founder in Ho Chi Minh City makes granola and calls it “Sạch Ngon” (roughly “Clean Tasty”). The name is easy to remember, and you know what it sells the moment you read it. A Google search turns up nobody, and neither do Shopee or Facebook. The designer finishes the logo, the print shop delivers 5,000 Tết (Lunar New Year) gift boxes, and the marketplace store has its first reviews. Only then does the founder file a trademark application. A few months later, the Intellectual Property Office of Vietnam sends a notice of intent to refuse.

This is an illustration, but the order of work in it is very familiar: pick a name, make a logo, print packaging, open a store, and think about the legal side last. Our view at 126Insights is that naming a brand is an asset decision, so a Vietnam trademark search belongs before the design brief. Nobody builds a house and then checks the land title certificate (the “red book”). And the names marketers like best, the ones that describe the product and are easy to advertise, tend to be the hardest to protect.

How a Vietnam trademark search differs from a Google search

Biznext writes that many businesses run a quick check on Google, Facebook or e-commerce marketplaces and conclude that nobody uses the name. But a name that is not common on the market is not necessarily a name that has not been registered with the Intellectual Property Office.

The market tells you who is selling. The trademark database tells you who has filed an application or been granted a registration. The two lists do not match, and only the second decides whether your application passes.

Database searches have a blind spot too. According to LTV Law, the Office's data lets you search published applications and registered marks, but not applications that have not yet been published. The amended Intellectual Property Law, effective 1 April 2026, cut the publication period for applications from 2 months to 1 month (VietnamPlus), but the gap remains. LTV Law suggests also checking the WIPO Global Brand Database, which holds trademark data from more than 100 countries, including international marks filed under the Madrid system. A “clean” result only means you have not seen a conflict yet.

Photo by Christin Hume on Unsplash

Conflicts are judged by class and by similarity

According to LTV Law, one reason applications are refused is a name that is identical or similar enough to cause confusion with a mark already registered or under examination in the same class of goods or services.

Two words matter here: “class” and “similar.” A class is the category of goods or services you list in the application. According to Biznext, from 1 January 2026 the Office applies the Nice Classification, 13th edition (2026). The same name can be fine in one class and collide in another. There is one exception: per LTV Law, a name can still be refused if it risks confusion with a well-known mark, even in a different class.

“Similar” is broader than most people assume. LTV Law gives two examples: VINALINK and VINALING are spelled differently but sound almost the same, and GOLDEN LION and SƯ TỬ VÀNG are in different languages but mean the same thing. Changing one letter or translating the name into English is not enough to get clear.

Something you can do today: search the class of any product line you plan to add. Say the granola brand expects to launch nut milk in two years. Search the name in the nut milk class now, while changing it costs nothing.

Why names that are easy to advertise are easy to refuse

Marketers like names that describe the product for practical reasons. Customers understand them at a glance, ads need no explaining, and the name matches the keywords people search for. Suppose a café calls itself “Cà Phê Ngon” (“Tasty Coffee”). Anyone walking past knows what it sells.

That is exactly where the problem starts. According to LTV Law, signs made of words for the type, quality, quantity or geographic origin of goods are treated as lacking distinctiveness. Ageless lists phrases such as “Tốt nhất” (“Best”), “Ngon bổ rẻ” (“Tasty, nutritious, cheap”) and “Sạch và đẹp” (“Clean and beautiful”) as likely refusals, unless they are stylized in a distinctive way or combined with other elements so that the mark as a whole can tell one seller from another. Biznext gives “Cà Phê Ngon,” “Gạo Sạch” (“Clean Rice”) and “Fast Delivery” as examples. Ageless also covers slogans: “Chua cay hơn, ăn là mê” (roughly “Tangier and spicier, one bite and you’re hooked”) is likely to be refused for seasoning or instant noodles, because it describes the ingredients and flavor of the product.

Here is how we see it: if one seller were given exclusive rights to the two words “Gạo Sạch,” every other seller of clean rice would have no words left to describe their own goods. A name that describes the product belongs to the whole industry, so it is hard for it to belong to you alone.

Our position: the higher ad cost of an unfamiliar name at the start is the price of owning that name. A descriptive name is like a rented house. You can live in it and run ads from it, but nobody lets you build a fence. We wrote about the same kind of risk in sales channels in Meta blocks ads linking to TikTok: don’t build your funnel on rented land. If you still want a descriptive word, make it the secondary part, next to a distinctive element of your own.

Try asking yourself: if a competitor printed the exact two words from your name on their packaging tomorrow, what would you have in hand to make them stop?

What does filing in the wrong order cost in time?

The amended Intellectual Property Law of 2025 took effect on 1 April 2026. According to VietnamPlus, the examination period for trademark applications falls from 9 months to 5. The law also adds a fast-track examination mechanism for trademark applications (Thư viện Pháp luật).

That is the statutory deadline. Law firms report much longer real-world timelines. Luật Minh Khuê says that in practice trademark examination can take 18 to 24 months. Ageless, in an article written before the new law took effect, says registration takes about 2 years in practice. A launch schedule should account for both the on-paper deadline and these real-world figures.

Published applications face one more round. According to Luật Việt An, for applications published from 1 April 2026, third parties have 3 months from the publication date in the Industrial Property Gazette to file an opposition.

Back to “Sạch Ngon.” If the name is knocked out at the search stage, the founder loses one meeting. If it is knocked out after packaging is printed, the founder has to redo the logo, the gift boxes, the product photos, the store name and the reviews tied to the old name, plus all the months spent waiting. Vietnamese has a saying, “cẩn tắc vô áy náy” (roughly “be careful and you’ll have no regrets,” or better safe than sorry), and here the careful route is far cheaper.

What to do when you receive a notice of intent to refuse

According to Luật Việt An, the Office issues a notice of intent to refuse with a response deadline. If you do not respond, or the response is invalid, the Office issues a formal refusal decision. Your options are to submit arguments, amend the application, or file a complaint. According to Lexology, Circular 10/2026/TT-BKHCN shortened some procedural deadlines further, so the deadline that applies to you is the one printed on the notice you receive.

First, read that deadline on the day the notice arrives. Then look at the reason: the name may be judged identical, similar, or lacking distinctiveness, and each reason calls for a different response. Don’t leave the document sitting in your inbox until the end of the month.

For reference only, not a substitute for legal advice; check current regulations with the Intellectual Property Office of Vietnam.

Trademark search checklist before the design brief

Print this page and put it on the desk before you call the designer:

1. List 3 to 5 candidate names. With a single name you have nothing to fall back on.
2. Search each name in the Intellectual Property Office database and the WIPO Global Brand Database. Include near-homophones and translations into other languages.
3. Write down the class of goods or services you sell now and the classes you plan to enter in the next few years.
4. Cross out names that only describe type, quality or flavor. If you keep a descriptive word, pair it with a distinctive element of your own.
5. Check whether the domain name and social media handles are free.
6. File the application before printing packaging. If your launch date is tight, ask about the fast-track examination the new law adds.
7. Track the application after filing, and read the deadline on every notice from the Office as soon as it arrives.

Completing all seven steps does not guarantee approval. It lets you see the risk early, while renaming is still cheap. In the same spirit, 126Insights wrote about the most expensive assumption in product development and why you should test before you build: a name is an assumption too, and it should be checked before a whole identity is built on top of it.

At your next design brief, hand the designer a list of names that have already been searched.