Intellectual Property Law Amendments 2025: When Intellectual Property Becomes an Asset to Be Leveraged

While previous versions of the Intellectual Property Law primarily focused on the establishment and protection of rights, the 2025 Amended Intellectual Property Law (IP Law 2025) marks a significant shift: intellectual property rights are now placed at the center of business and investment activities.

1. A New Approach to the Management and Exploitation of Intellectual Property Rights

The IP Law 2025 introduces Article 8a, which for the first time formally recognizes statutory principles governing the management and exploitation of intellectual property (IP) rights.

Accordingly, IP rights holders:

• Are responsible for the internal governance and management of their IP rights;

• Are entitled to use IP rights in civil, commercial, and investment transactions;

• Are encouraged to contribute IP rights as capital, license them, transfer them, or use them as collateral.

📌 IP rights are no longer viewed as “passive” assets, but as operational assets actively deployed in business activities.

2. Protection of Industrial Designs in the Digital Environment

The IP Law 2025 expands the scope of protection for industrial designs to include non-physical products, such as digital designs and digital interfaces, provided they meet the requirement of industrial applicability.

Accordingly, an “industrial design” is defined as:

“The outward appearance of a product or a part thereof, in physical or non-physical form, expressed by shapes, lines, colors, or a combination thereof, and visible during the use of the product.”

This amendment is particularly significant for technology companies, fintech businesses, gaming enterprises, and digital platforms.

3. Faster Procedures – Higher Responsibilities

Under the IP Law 2025:

• The substantive examination period for invention patents is reduced from 18 months to 12 months;

• At the same time, stricter confidentiality obligations are imposed throughout the IP registration process.

  
  

4. A Clear Message for Business Owners and Investors

The IP Law 2025 sends a clear and consistent message:

👉 Failing to exploit intellectual property rights means wasting a strategic asset.

Our services

We support our clients in:

• Managing and structuring intellectual property asset portfolios;

• Advising on capital contribution, licensing, transfer, and security interests using IP rights;

• IP valuation in fundraising, M&A transactions, and corporate restructuring.

Intellectual property only creates value when it is properly managed and effectively exploited.

Article: Prepared by LLVN.

Image: LLVN

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Lawlink Vietnam (LLVN) is a business law firm providing world-class legal solutions to businesses, entrepreneurs on investment, corporate & business, Mergers & Acquisitions; Litigations and Dispute Resolution. We offer a complete range of consulting services from type of company/investment, operating models, licensing, contracts, capital structure and arrangement, and representation sevices.

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