Trademark is a valuable asset to a business. A prestigious trademark shall help raising up the value of goods/services and the business competitiveness. A registered trademark in Vietnam only has the scope of protection within the Vietnam territory, not in other countries.

In order to be protected in a foreign country, a trademark must be registered therein. Right to such trademark shall be available through registration or use according to the law of that country.

For days now, we have been known of trademark disputes in among domestic sides, also domestic and foreign sides; for example famous trademark of domestic companies such as "Trung Nguyên", "Petro Vietnam"... was taken away abroad, especially in US. The question is how can Vietnamese businesses do to effectively protect their trademark not only in Vietnam but also in the US – a prosperous market for Vietnam exportation?

To answer this question, the United State Patent and Trademark Organisation (USPTO), the National Office of Intellectual Property in Vietnam (NOIP) and STAR-VIETNAM (Project to assist Vietnam in the implementation of the US-Vietnam Trade Agreement) co-organised a seminar on trademark protection in Vietnam and US from 11-19 August 2003 in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang and Hai Phong. Main subjects of the seminar are as follows:

• Trademark protection: Businesses demands and State’s requirements (Presenter: Mr. Tran Viet Hung, Vice Director of the NOIP);

• Legal system of trademark protection in US, registration and appeal solving procedures at the USPTO (Mrs. Lynne Beresford, Deputy Commissioner for Trademark Examination Policy and Projects);

• Influence of the US-Vietnam Trade Agreement and the TRIPS Agreement on the protection system of trademark in Vietnam (Mr. Hank Baker, Legal Counsel to STAR-VIETNAM; Mr. Le Hoai Duong, Lê & Lê Managing Partner; and Mr. Tran Viet Hung, Vice Director of the NOIP).