Nghe An: Prioritizing community brand development

(Baonghean.vn) - On the morning of July 27, the Provincial People's Committee held a workshop: "Establishing, managing and developing geographical indications and collective trademarks in Nghe An province: current situation and solutions"

The workshop was attended by Mr. Le Ngoc Lam - Deputy Director of the Department of Intellectual Property, Mr. Dao Duc Huan - Director of the Center for Rural Development and delegates from a number of Central Ministries and branches.

On the side of Nghe An province, there were: Comrade Huynh Thanh Dien - Member of the Provincial Party Committee, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee and representatives of provincial departments, branches and sectors.

Delegates visited the booth of specialty products with protected trademarks of Nghe An province.

In recent times, Nghe An has implemented many intellectual property activities. Thanks to that, state management activities on industrial property rights have had many innovations, attracting the attention of businesses.

By 2016, there were 632 protected objects (including 582 trademarks, 34 designs, 5 utility solutions, 11 inventions). There are 139 craft villages recognized by the Provincial People's Committee as craft villages. Nghe An has a geographical indication "Vinh" for the province's Vinh orange product. A certification mark for Van Phan fish sauce, 10 objects were granted collective trademark protection certificates; 9 objects had applications received at the Intellectual Property Office; 9 applications for registration of collective trademarks and most of them were accepted by the Intellectual Property Office.

Comrade Huynh Thanh Dien emphasized the role of the Department of Science and Technology in taking the lead, along with relevant departments, branches and associations, to strongly participate in continuing to develop geographical indications and collective trademarks in the province in the coming time.

In addition to the achieved results, the activities of establishing, managing and developing Geographical Indications, Intellectual Trademarks, and Certification Marks (GIs, ITSs, and CTSs) still face many difficulties: the awareness of many businesses and localities about the important role of registering protection of GIs, ITSs, and CTSs for local specialties is still limited.

At the workshop, Mr. Le Ngoc Sy - Deputy Head of Industry and Trade Department of Nam Dan district, discussed the difficulties in using Nam Dan Soy Sauce brand.

By May 2016, Nghe An only had 12 products granted protection certificates in the form of NHTT, CDDL, NHCN. The number of objects protected annually is still too modest compared to the total number of production, business establishments, and craft villages.

In addition, products bearing CDDL, NHTT, and NHCN participating in the market are still not many and not widespread; coordination between State management agencies and organizations and individuals who are owners of CDDL, NHTT, and NHCN is still loose...

Mr. Le Ngoc Lam - Deputy Director of the Department of Intellectual Property discussed the issues and solutions for the management of geographical indications, trademarks, and industrial designations in the coming time for some typical products of Nghe An province.

At the conference, delegates exchanged and discussed: The role of protecting geographical indications and collective trademarks (GIs), the general situation, the issue of establishing, managing and developing GIs and collective trademarks in Nghe An; building some typical brands; potential, current situation and solutions for developing traditional craft village products; Managing GIs for agricultural products in the province.

In addition, the delegates also focused on discussing issues and lessons learned for the management of geographical indications, national identity cards, and national identity cards in the coming time for a number of products: Vinh oranges, Cua tiles, Nghe An tea, Quy Chau incense, Nam Dan soy sauce, and Van Phan fish sauce. Sharing experiences in establishing, managing, and developing geographical indications and national identity cards for a number of typical local products.

At the workshop, delegates also proposed mechanisms, policies and solutions to establish, manage and develop CDDL, NHTT and NHCN in the province in the coming time.

Vinh orange, the only product in the province that has been granted the geographical indication "Vinh" (Illustration photo)

In his concluding remarks at the workshop, Mr. Huynh Thanh Dien - Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee affirmed that Nghe An identified the development of community brands in particular and intellectual property in general as one of the top priorities at present. The Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee assigned the Department of Science and Technology, in the coming time, to support the registration, management and development of domestic and foreign intellectual property for local products and goods in the form of geographical indications, trademarks and intellectual property rights.

Connecting a number of professional consulting units to support and accompany in building, orienting, and criticizing policies on the issue of building, developing, and protecting intellectual property in the province. Issuing and implementing programs on developing the province's intellectual property, selecting typical products for investment, and developing product brands.

The Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee also requested the Vinh Orange Production and Business Associations to carry out procedures to protect trademarks and certification marks; assigned the People's Committees of Quy Chau and Tan Ky districts, Nam Dan district; Vinh City People's Committee, districts and towns to promptly investigate, evaluate and make statistics on intellectual property assets in the area, clearly stating priority development orientations in the coming time.

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