How do I protect the intellectual property of my design?

First off, I’m very sorry to hear that someone has been falsely claiming your work as their own.

                                                       Industrial Design in Vietnam 

As you’ve probably gathered at this point, this entire scenario hinges on the contract (or lack thereof) between you and the event organisers.

Given how little information that we have to work with, i’ll answer generally from the perspective of Vietnam copyright law. Regardless of jurisdiction, you are right in thinking that this is flagrant breach of copyright.

This shouldn't be considered legal advice, but that I hope it helps you potentially avoid this situation in the future.

Is it possible to start legal proceedings against the thief?

The answer to this question depends entirely on information that you haven't included in your question. You said that you were the official designer for the event that the poster was designed for, so were you employed by the event organisers? or was the work commissioned? Is there a clause in the contract that states that you retain your ownership of the copyright despite it being work for hire? Each would point to a different set of options.

Basically it comes down to three potential situations:

If you are employed by the event organisers in all likelihood the work will be deemed to have been carried out in the course of your employment and thus under a contract of service and copyright will lay with your employer.

If are you are an independent contractor it is possible that the work was done under a contract for services in which case, it is possible that you retain the copyright ownership (unless the contract stipulates otherwise).

If you were commissioned to do the work you likely retain authorship unless the contract stipulates otherwise.

If you have retained authorship:

You are well within your rights to proceed with legal action against this person for breaching your copyright in the work.

If you don’t own the work:

You will need to try and get the event organisers (or whoever does hold copyright in the work) to bring an action against this guy.

OR you can attempt to sue him for breach of your Moral Rights-

As the creator of an artistic work, regardless of ownership, you have the right to be recognised as the creator (right of attribution).

To go down this road you’ll need to be able to prove that you are the creator of the work (easy enough with the meta-data from the files, the exchanges you will have had with the event organiser who asked for the work and the payments made for the work etc).

How can you protect your work in the future?

This might sound obvious now but include a watermark, send low resolution files for approval (BTW - how did this person get the file in the first place? Maybe you need to have a chat with the event organisers about ‘circulating’ files of this kind).

It might be worth considering including clauses in future contracts that retain ownership of the work thus putting yourself in the strongest possible position to challenge any infringers.

How should you confront the guy?

Since you know who this person is, start with a direct communication between the two of you, tell him that he is breaching your copyright and that he needs to stop. Dont go full on litigious unless you have no other options because it’s guaranteed to be drawn out and expensive.

However, if he doesn't care/respond then ramp it up: have a lawyer send a letter on big, scary law firm stationary demanding that he stop or you’ll start the appropriate proceedings.

And if that doesn't work and you’re in a position to do so, take him to court for breach of copyright.

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How easy is it to register a trademark?

Honestly, you could probably figure it out on your own. However, particularly when dealing with IP issue, there are certain fears/concerns about protecting all of your rights. Of the many reasons to hire a lawyer for a TM, here are few...

Register trademark inVietnam

1. The process can be complex and lengthy. You are most likely focused on developing your company and are probably working full-time in that capacity. Taking up this task on your own can really limit your ability to focus on your company.

2. The research and background work required for TM's is also exhaustive and can be tricky. Although you may be able to do this yourself, there is a chance you might make a mistake, overlook something, or simply take a path that is not the best for your company. A lawyer is a safe-guard against these problems.

3. Hiring a lawyer who is business savvy and well-versed in your particular industry cannot only help you with your TM, but can also develop a strong business plan moving forward. IP is a particularized field, and getting a lawyer on board who has helped similar clients in the past with IP issues can make a HUGE difference for your business.

If you want to find a lawyer, you should check out our site ANTLawyers.vn. You can connect with the trademark attorneys in Vietnam on our legal platform 24/7. We offer free consultations and price quotes so check us out!

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How do most companies protect their software through intellectual property law?

Source code could potentially be a trade secret for a software company, but in order to qualify for protection it would have to be actively guarded and not disclosed to anyone outside of the company. Trade secret protection is really for something like a secret recipe that has great value to the company solely because it is a secret known only by the company.

 Software Compliance Law Firm in Vietnam

A copyright is thebetter form of protection for software. As far as understanding what has been copyrighted — copyrights exist as soon as the work is fixed in a medium. So, any work (here, software) that you see has an implicit copyright on the original aspects of the work. The question of what parts of the work are original and thus protected by the copyright is a legal question that should be answered by an Intellectual Property Lawyers.

For that reason most companies will have copyrights on their software to some extent. Patents on software are more difficult to obtain than copyrights for a couple of reasons. First, the patent application process requires a strict review to ensure that the application meets the requirements — as opposed to a copyright which exists as soon as an author puts pen to paper. Second, patents are generally reserved for tangible inventions. It is possible that software can qualify for a patent, but it is much harder to show.

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What works are protected by copyright registration?

What is copyright?  

Copyright is the right of authors to control the use of their work for a limited period of time. In order to qualify for copyright protection, a work must be “fixed in a tangible medium of expression.” A work must be the result of some creative effort on the part of its author in order to qualify for copyright protection. For works first published after March 1, 1989, an author need not include a copyright notice to gain protection under the law. However, although a notice is not required, it’s helpful if you obtain one. When a work contains a valid copyright notice, an infringer cannot claim in court that s/he wasn’t aware the work was copyrighted. Thus, an author has a greater chance to win a copyright infringement case and spend much less litigating in the process if s/he has a copyright notice.

Copyright in Vietnam 

If a work is created on or after January 1, 1978 then it is protected for a term of the life of the author plus 70 years. However, if the work is a work for hire or is published under a pseudonym, the copyright lasts between 95 and 120 years, depending on the date the work is published.

Protected Works

A work becomes copyrighted when it is fixed in a tangible medium of expression. There are categories of work that fall under this definition:

Literary works

Musical works, including the accompanying words

Dramatic works, including the accompanying music

Pantomimes and choreographic works

Pictorial, graphic and sculptural works

Motion pictures and other audiovisual works

Sound recordings

Computer software

Architectural works

Not copyrightable:

Works not fixed in a tangible form of expression (ex. something said but not recorded)

Ideas, methods, principles and systems

Titles, names, and slogans

Works found in the public domain

Works that are strictly informational and contain no authorship

If you're looking for an affordable copyright attorney, check out ANTlawyers.vn. ANTlawyers.vn was established to meet these needs by providing fast, effective and economical solutions. Hope that clears things up a bit. Feel free to message me directly to chat further about any other IP questions that you face.

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Can I create a brand name that contains another brand name?

I’ll echo what others are saying—this is a bad plan. An established brand name is going to have trademark protections and will have no problem proving that they were already situated in the market long before you. Trademark law relies heavily on what the consumer thinks. If a consumer I confused by your brand name then it will only lead to problems. 

Register trademark in Vietnam

Your best option is to create a unique brand name. It may take a little more time and thought, but it’s possible.

If you have more questions about IP law, then you should consult an attorney. ANTLawyers.vn can put you in touch with a seasoned Intellectual Property lawyers in Vietnam that can help you with the process of trademarking your own brand name. Check out our website and get in touch if you’d like to set up a consultation.

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What is the importance of intellectual property rights?

Intellectual property protection is extremely important. When it comes to protecting Intellectual property  two areas of protection should be taken in account:

1.protecting your liability

2.protecting your intellectual property (IP)

Liabilities like the terms and conditions prevent claims initiated by people who use your website. The other liability known as privacy policy is legally required for websites that collect user data. Protecting your intellectual property (IP) requires confidentiality agreement. Every employee, developers and programmers should sign a non-disclosure agreement in order to avoid disclosure of trade secrets, in case they are involved in your website development. IP assignment agreement is also essential for the protection of intellectual property (IP) when you hire people to work on your website.

Intellectual Properties Rights in Vietnam

Among the assets of intellectual property protection a patent is the most expensive and complex form of protection. A patent helps to prevent others from exploiting the owner’s invention. It is a territorial right exclusively applicable in the area or geographical region where a patent has been granted. It is highly recommended that you consult a patent attorney if you’re going to head in this direction.

intellectual property protection asset like a trademark is a sign that can distinguish a good or a service of an enterprise from the other. It is protected by intellectual property rights registered with a national or regional office of emblem, in order to confer an exclusive right to use the registered logo.

Copyright is the legal term that describes the rights of the creators on their creative inventions that could be a design, a painting; literary work etc. in simple words copyright protects the work of a creator.

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How do I copyright a website?

Copyright protects original works of authorship, including the text, graphics, photographs, sound recordings and audiovisual elements of websites and their underlying computer programs. To be copyrightable, website material must meet two criteria:

1.It must be an original work of authorship. It must originate with the copyright owner and show some minimal amount of creativity. You cannot copyright a domain name or the title of a website.

2.It must be fixed in some sort of tangible medium that allows it to be perceived, reproduced or otherwise communicated. This includes computers and digital media. You cannot copyright ideas, procedures, systems or methods of operation.

Who Owns the Copyright to Your Website?

A website is often a compilation of things – text, graphics, photographs, video and computer programs – created by several people. You only own the copyright to the parts of a website that you created, unless copyrights to the other parts have been transferred to you.

Copyright Enforcement Law Firm in Vietnam

If the website was created by your employees as part of their regular job, you will own the copyright.

If you hire someone to create a website for your business, the person you hired owns the copyright to whatever they created. If you want to own the copyright to all of the copyrightable portions of your business website, you will need work for hire agreements or agreements transferring the copyrightable content to you. An attorney can assist you with this.

Similarly, if you are a website designer, you own the copyright to the copyrightable portions of your designs and content, unless you have signed a written agreement transferring those rights to someone else.

Why Should You Register a Copyright?

There are several advantages to registering your copyright with the Vietnam Copyright Office. These advantages include:

Registration serves as a public record of your copyright ownership.

You cannot sue someone for copyright infringement unless you have registered your copyright.

If you register your copyright within three months of publication or before an infringement occurs, you can recover statutory damages and attorneys fees if you win a copyright infringement lawsuit. Statutory damages are awarded for each work infringed and do not require you to prove your monetary loss or the infringer’s gain.

Special Rules for Website Copyright Registration

A copyrightregistration only covers the copyrightable elements of your website that you identify and submit to the copyright office as part of your registration.

Updates to websites must be registered separately unless they fall within limited exceptions for automatic updates and serials. Details about these exceptions can be found on the copyright office website.

If you developed a computer program, such as an html program, that establishes the format of text and graphics when a website is viewed on a computer screen, you can register a copyright in the computer program, but the registration will not cover the content of the website.

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