Rice brands contribute to enhancing value and increasing consumer awareness. Businesses are very interested in registering and establishing intellectual property rights.
Rice brands contribute to enhancing value and increasing consumer awareness. Businesses are very interested in registering and establishing intellectual property rights.
According to Mr. Nguyen Van Bay, Deputy Director of the Department of Intellectual Property (Ministry of Science and Technology), current consumption trends have changed a lot. If in the past people had the habit of buying rice at stores that were displayed in many types, contained in baskets, now people prioritize choosing pre-packaged rice bags with clear brands.
This confirms that rice brands contribute to enhancing value and increasing consumer awareness. Therefore, many organizations, individuals and businesses are increasingly interested in registering trademarks and protecting intellectual property rights.
Mr. Nguyen Van Bay, Deputy Director of the Department of Intellectual Property (Ministry of Science and Technology) gave an overview of intellectual property and solutions to protect product copyright, especially in the rice sector. Photo: Kim Anh.
According to statistics from the Department of Intellectual Property, the country currently has about 300,000 protected trademarks in all fields, of which agricultural products account for about 16%.
However, Mr. Bay also pointed out the reality of building, registering trademarks, and counterfeiting trademarks. For example, in the case of the Ong Cua Rice brand of Ho Quang Tri Private Enterprise, there are many suppliers of ST25 rice bags. The question that arises when talking about the ST25 rice variety is who created it, is it protected? Or on the rice bag, it only shows the supplier, there is no specific trademark owner.
There are even cases where the product design and packaging are completely similar to the Ong Cua Rice brand, but inside is a normal rice product, not made from the ST25 rice variety.
According to Mr. Bay, if a product is put on the market without permission to produce or trade rice varieties, it violates intellectual property rights.
For the first time, the Mekong Delta Rice Research Institute has conducted an auction to transfer the right to use rice varieties to make the exploitation and production of rice varieties transparent. Photo: Kim Anh.
In addition, according to traditional production habits of farmers, after harvesting rice, farmers will keep a portion to use as seeds for the next crop. This potentially causes the risk of seed degeneration, reducing product quality over each crop season.
The issue of trademark registration and protection in the international market is also facing many difficulties, especially in large markets such as the EU, the United States, Australia, etc., which have very high intellectual property protection standards. This makes Vietnamese enterprises vulnerable to unfair competition.
“There are many stories about products going to foreign markets. In the case of two entities registering a similar trademark, the entity that submitted first will be granted the certificate. The trademark is protected in whichever country it is registered in. For example, the trademark Ông Crab Rice, if registered in Vietnam, will only prevent others from using this trademark in Vietnam. In other countries, anyone who wants to use it can use it,” said Mr. Bay.
Therefore, effective enforcement of plant variety protection in general and rice varieties in particular is an important legal tool in stimulating innovation activities. Because if plant varieties are not protected, researchers and businesses will lose the motivation to invest in developing new varieties, because the fruits of their labor can be used for free.
Nowadays, rice industry enterprises are increasingly interested in registering rice trademarks and intellectual property rights. Photo: Kim Anh.
To address this challenge, Mr. Bay suggested that farmers and businesses need to raise awareness of intellectual property rights. At the same time, authorities need to increase inspections and strictly handle violations, ensuring a healthy competitive environment for businesses.
In the future, Vietnam’s agricultural sector will not only depend on production but also on the ability to protect product value. Effective implementation of measures to protect plant varieties, especially rice varieties, will not only increase economic value but also affirm the brand of Vietnamese agricultural products in the international market.
Source: https://nongsanviet.nongnghiep.vn/thuc-thi-hieu-qua-quyen-so-huu-tri-tue-bao-ho-nhan-hieu-gao-d412823.html
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