In the past, customers weighed rice and carried it home. Now, prepackaged, branded bags of rice are more popular.

Mr. Nguyen Van Bay - Deputy Director of the Department of Intellectual Property, Ministry of Science and Technology - affirmed that there is an increasing interest in copyright, trademarks and related intellectual property protection.

Mr. Nguyen Van Bay - Deputy Director of the Department of Intellectual Property of the Ministry of Science and Technology - presented a paper on Overview of intellectual property in the agricultural sector, including rice - Photo: QUANG DINH

Attending the workshop on Building a national brand for Vietnamese rice on December 10 in Soc Trang, Mr. Nguyen Van Bay - Deputy Director of the Department of Intellectual Property, Ministry of Science and Technology - said that in reality, more and more people and organizations are interested in intellectual property rights, especially trademarks.

Presenting the paper "Overview of intellectual property in agricultural products, including rice. Solutions to protect copyright of intellectual property products", he recalled that in the past, consumers went to buy rice at rice stores and saw many types of rice sold in baskets.

"After weighing, put it in a plastic bag and take it home. Now, consumers tend to choose bags of rice with brands like this," said Mr. Nguyen Van Bay, citing bags of ST25 rice from Labor Hero, engineer Ho Quang Cua (Soc Trang province) as an example.

He said that if a trademark is registered in a country, it will be protected in that country. For example, the trademark Ông Crab rice or the trademark Neptune registered in Vietnam can only prevent others from using that trademark in Vietnam. In other countries, anyone who wants to use it can use it.

Up to now, there are about 300,000 protected trademarks in Vietnam, of which agricultural products account for about 96%.

It can be seen that there is an increasing interest from entities, including organizations, individuals and businesses, in copyright, trademarks and related intellectual property protection.

However, there are still many challenges, especially in some issues, where varieties are the first issue. For example, the red-fleshed dragon fruit and rice varieties.

"For example, rice farmers take good care of their crops. After harvesting, they keep a portion of the rice to use as seeds for the next crop. If everyone did that, there would be no new varieties.

Returning to the story of respecting copyright, when it comes to intellectual property rights, it stimulates creative investment activities. No one wants to invest effort, time, and money to create new varieties without protection and without recognition," Mr. Bay said.

Guests attending the workshop on Building a national brand for Vietnamese rice, organized by Tuoi Tre newspaper on December 10, 2024 in Soc Trang - Photo: QUANG DINH

Mr. Bay also believes that people leaving seeds from the previous crop will lead to seed degeneration. Initially buying real seeds, after many years of production with the same seeds, the product will no longer be of good quality as before.

Journalist Tran Xuan Toan, deputy editor-in-chief of Tuoi Tre newspaper, mentioned the registration of VietNam Rice abroad, Mr. Bay said that when building an image, it must have a unique character. For example, Phu Quoc fish sauce, Soc Trang purple onions...

With Vietnamese rice, which image do we promote and which customer segment do we target?

We must choose a special feature to build a brand, through which we can promote and increase the value of Vietnamese products. Only when the rice seller attaches it to the packaging and sees the benefit will they attach it. Only then will people pay the fee.

Mr. Bay said he wanted to raise the above issues to discuss with scientists, local leaders, departments and experts.

The workshop on Building a national brand for Vietnamese rice was organized by Tuoi Tre newspaper in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the People's Committee of Soc Trang province in Soc Trang city on December 10, with more than 150 guests including businessmen, leaders and experts from home and abroad. Many issues were mentioned in the workshop, such as building a rice brand, national brand, discussing "Building a brand - a difficult problem for Vietnamese rice", "Building a Vietnamese rice brand - challenges and opportunities"...

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/xua-can-gao-roi-khach-xach-ve-nay-tui-gao-dong-san-co-nhan-hieu-duoc-chuong-hon-20241210164241721.htm