Many businesses are not interested in building a brand.

Not yet focused on brand building

To date, Nghe An has had 1,037 protected objects, including 955 trademarks, 59 designs, 11 utility solutions and 12 inventions.

Among the industrial property rights (IP) protection certificates of Nghe An province, trademarks account for the majority, with 955 trademarks, accounting for 92%.

Protected goods and services are quite diverse, from food to construction materials and services such as: buying and selling consumer goods, fashion design, restaurant services, vocational training services, training, advertising brokerage...

Nghe An agricultural products are processed and packaged beautifully. Photo: Thu Huyen

Compared to the whole country, the number of subjects granted protection certificates of Nghe An enterprises is ranked as average. Many enterprises and famous craft village products have been protected and developed well; products granted geographical indications and collective trademarks have increased the value of Nghe An's specialties and traditions, promoting socio-economic development.

However, there are still many products that have not really created a reputation in the market nationwide. According to the inspection results of the Department of Science and Technology: Of the 1,037 protected objects, only about 30% have been exploited by the owners and brought practical efficiency in production development. The number of trademarks attached to the products is not much, accounting for about 66%.

This shows that most rights holders in Nghe An do not have a reasonable strategy in the use and exploitation of the inherent value of IP rights. Very few enterprises and establishments establish rights with the purpose of sustainable development, but mainly to prevent infringement from other production and business entities (when there is a basis for infringement); try to follow the reputation of a few famous brands; produce and do business in the same field or industry, and when they see other establishments establishing rights, they also follow suit.

Therefore, many businesses are only at the initial stage in the process of building and developing a brand; lacking recognition from state agencies and relevant production and business establishments. And most importantly, the main factor that brings profit and reputation to a business’s products comes from consumers.

Chart of protected objects. Graphics: Lam Tung

According to Mr. Manh Ha - Chief Inspector of the Department of Science and Technology, the main reason for the above situation is due to the lack of awareness of production and business establishments and related individuals about the role and importance that IP rights can bring to them, as well as the lack of strategies and plans to build a brand identity, especially they are very confused and do not fully realize the importance of focusing on improving the quality of their products.

Need a synchronized solution

To support product branding, the province has issued many support policies, including the intellectual property development policy for the 2017-2020 period with a total budget of up to 40 billion VND. Up to now, there have been a number of products with geographical indications, many products with traceability stamps and collective trademarks. It is expected that by 2020, 5 more products with geographical indications, 5 certified trademarks, and 5 collective trademarks will be developed.

Mr. Nguyen Van Hung - Deputy Director of the Department of Science and Technology said: Supporting the registration of trademarks and affixing traceability stamps not only contributes to creating sustainable output in the modern shopping and consumption trend but is also a way to build brands for agricultural products. However, to create sustainable branded product value, it is necessary to strictly control the production and processing process to ensure quality and food hygiene and safety on a regular and more serious basis.

Many craft villages do not pay attention to product packaging and branding. Photo: Thu Huyen

Producing high-quality, novel and attractive products will satisfy consumer tastes, which will stimulate product innovation, creating conditions for businesses to consume products quickly in large quantities, increasing sales value. From there, businesses gain high profits, have conditions to stabilize production, further improve product quality, create motivation for business development, workers have stable jobs, increase income and have trust and attachment to the business, have awareness, responsibility and creativity in production to help businesses promote their competitiveness. Quality is the most certain guarantee for the brand development strategy of any type of product or service.

Many products have been granted protection certificates but are still not qualified to circulate on the market, such as not being granted a Certificate of Eligibility for Food Production Facilities, not having announced applicable standards, not having self-declared product (food) quality, not having labeled or having labeled incorrectly or incompletely; not having conducted periodic sample testing as prescribed; product packaging is not guaranteed: unreasonable design, bad appearance, not creating a good first impression for consumers; product quality is uneven and not guaranteed. Even though a protection certificate has been granted, this is still not shown on the product label to contribute to promoting to consumers...

Solanum procumbens and Gymnema sylvestre - products from precious medicinal herbs of Con Cuong displayed at a fair. Photo: Thu Huyen

Meanwhile, state agencies almost “passively” wait for businesses in need to come to them for advice and guidance, but rarely take the initiative to consider and research cases with potential protection to promote and recommend businesses to carry out procedures to establish rights. And after being granted a protection certificate, the right establishment activity is considered to have ended. In addition, the cumbersome and confusing nature of the right establishment dossier as well as the long waiting time; the high cost of consulting and travel expenses... have become major barriers that make many businesses not interested in establishing intellectual property rights.

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