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Brand-name theft stings
Vietnamese
By Tran Dinh Thanh Lam
HO CHI MINH CITY - To those who appreciate rice
pancakes in Vietnam, the name of that food is synonymous
with Ngoc Linh, the family business that makes the most
famous brand of pancake.
Banh re, as the
pancakes are known in Vietnamese, enjoy an enthusiastic
following outside Vietnam too, and particularly in
Japan.
It came as a rude shock, then, to the
Ngoc Linh family when they recently learned that their
pancakes were banned from entering Japan. Shock turned
to confusion when the family discovered that "Ngoc Linh"
had been registered as a trademark in Japan, for the
production of rice pancakes.
The family had not
registered it, counting on its patrons' goodwill as it
had done for decades?
"When we heard that our
trademark had been usurped in Japan our consternation
and shame were great," said Van Thanh, a family member.
It turns out that several months ago, a group of
Japanese tourists visited the Ngoc Linh workshop and
asked family members for permission to videotape their
production activities. Gracious hosts that the family
members are, they not only let the tourists film their
production processes but also offered them samples of
their rice paste, the unique mixture that gives Ngoc
Linh banh re its singular texture and flavor.
Like many other family-based enterprises in
Vietnam, the Ngoc Linh clan did not register its
trademark. In the opinion of family members, since they
have used it for so many years, and have seen it
recognized by patrons and the market, the trademark is
their own by default.
Unfortunately,
intellectual property rights (IPR) regimes deem
otherwise, as they have to their dismay discovered from
the Japan fiasco.
Ngoc Linh banh re has
been a recent sufferer, but other old favorites found in
Vietnam's markets - Phu Quoc fish sauce, Buon Ma Thuot
coffee, Hoa Loc mangoes, Hung Yen longan and Nang Huong
rice - are in as much danger, as Vietnam Chamber of
Commerce and Industry (VCCI) deputy chairman Vu Tien Loc
told a workshop on trademarks recently in Ho Chi Minh
City.
Famous they may be, but without IPR
protection they are sitting ducks for opportunistic
elements abroad.
"Not many Vietnamese
enterprises understand the need to register their
trademarks abroad," said Pham Dinh Chuong, head of the
Industrial Property Department under the Ministry of
Science, Technology and Environment. "That is the reason
why they have trouble entering the world market. For
example, tobacco company Vinataba saw its trademark
usurped in Cambodia and 11 other countries by PT Putra
Staba Industri from Indonesia."
Vinataba has
filed a counterclaim, but so far only Cambodia has
responded. The tobacco company said that Cambodia's
Department of Intellectual Property has stated that the
Ministry of Trade of Cambodia has annulled the
Indonesian group's registration.
Likewise, Trung
Nguyen, a producer of processed coffee, also saw its
trademark grabbed by foreign companies. But it fought
back to register its trademark abroad, and also
franchise 10 outlets in Japan, China, the United States
and Singapore.
These, however, are the
exceptions.
The saga of Phu Quoc Fish Sauce is
rather more common. A popular sauce whose origin lies in
the Phu Quoc Island, it had been prevented from entering
the US market, along with other Vietnamese goods, by an
embargo. Seizing upon the popularity of the sauce, a
Thai business registered the trademark and exported the
sauce to the United States and the European Union.
This added insult to injury, for Phu Quoc was a
much-sought-after sauce among the Vietnamese communities
living in France, and then among the hundreds of
thousands of "boat people" who had settled abroad,
particularly in Australia, Canada and the United States.
To date, however, efforts to regain the trademark rights
have come to naught.
Food multinational Unilever
has bought the right to use "Phu Quoc" on its Knorr
fish-sauce brand, but that is scarce compensation for
the global loss. "In the case of stolen trademarks such
as Phu Quoc fish sauce, the state should intervene to
take back our trademark," said VCCI vice chairwoman Pham
Chi Lan.
However, the reverses suffered by the
Ngoc Linh family and the makers of Phu Quoc fish sauce
are leading to a growing recognition - from private
enterprise and government authorities alike - of the
need to safeguard Vietnam's IPR.
The Ministry of
Trade recently decided to invest VND750 billion (US$49
million) in assisting large companies in the foods,
beverage, footwear, garment and textile, seafood, art,
craft and furniture industries to build their trademarks
globally.
The criteria for qualifying for state
assistance are for the moment geared to companies with
an annual export turnover of more than $500,000. The
products of these companies are to be branded with a
national product label - "Vietnam Value Inside" - which
is to be projected as a symbol of quality Vietnamese
goods.
"Trademarks are not only the greatest
property of an enterprise but also the country's
possessions and pride," said the VCCI's Lan.
Indeed, possessions and pride, if properly
branded and protected, can command a significant
premium. From March 2002 to February this year, Vietnam
was the largest producer of coffee behind Brazil and
ahead of Colombia, according to data from the
International Coffee Organization.
Yet on
average a ton of exported Vietnamese coffee fetches a
price of about $800, whereas a ton of Brazilian coffee
will sell for up to $850, even though - as the VCCI's
Loc pointed out - the quality of both is comparable.
A repeat of what happened to Ngoc Linh may be
prevented, in the view of the authorities, but only if
Vietnamese companies "invest actively to develop their
own images", as Lan advises.
(Inter Press
Service)
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