Ms. Anne Jakapong Jakrajutatip - President of Miss Universe organization (2nd from left) at the event to announce the copyright of Miss Universe Vietnam in Vietnam.

In recent days, the dispute over the name “Hoa hau Hoan vu Viet Nam” between the two organizations has captured public attention.

On February 23, SG Unicorp said that from February 18, it had terminated cooperation with Miss Universe Organization in maintaining copyright and nominating Vietnamese contestants to the Miss Universe pageant. 

“Hoa hau Hoan vu Viet Nam” is a prestigious beauty contest brand founded and exclusively owned. The company successfully organized five seasons of “Hoa hau Hoan vu Viet Nam” in 2008, 2015, 2017, 2019, and 2022.

On February 24, Ms. Anne Jakapong Jakrajutatip - President of the Miss Universe Organization - and Miss Universe 2022 R'Bonney Gabriel attended the signing ceremony and announced the copyright of the Miss Universe Vietnam in Ho Chi Minh City.

Accordingly, the copyright of Miss Universe Vietnam belongs to the Miss Universe Vietnam Trading Joint Stock Company, which is run by model Lan Khue, and with VTV host Quynh Nga as the national director.

After the signing event, the Facebook page of the Universe Vietnam Trading Joint Stock Company was renamed from Miss Universe Vietnam - Hoa hau Hoan vu Viet Nam. 

Controversy over the right to use the name “Hoa hau Hoan vu Viet Nam” has brokek out from this moment.

The representative of Miss Universe Vietnam Trading Joint Stock Company - Ms. Thuy Nga - said that it is not a big problem to take the Vietnamese or English names. This unit said it holds the copyright to organize the Miss Universe Vietnam - “Hoa hau Hoan vu Viet Nam” contest and nominate the winner to compete at the Miss Universe pageant.

However, Mr. Tran Viet Bao Hoang - representative of the SG Unicorp - affirmed that any individual or organization intending to use the name “Hoa hau Hoan vu Viet Nam” is an unprofessional act and his firm will be drastically act to protect its brand.

On February 28, the management unit of the Miss Universe Organization - JKN Global Group - sent information to a number of Vietnamese media units. 

Accordingly, Mark D'Alelio - Legal Director of JKN - said that from February 20, SG Unicorp has no longer had the right to use the intellectual property of this unit because the license is not renewed and the use of any intellectual property (including the Miss Universe name and the Vietnamese translation "Hoa Hau Hoan Vu Vietnam") must be stopped.

SG Unicorp issued a statement on the evening of February 28 in response to information from JKN Global Group.


JKN asserted itself as the legal owner of the name Miss Universe Vietnam - "Hoa hau Hoan vu Viet Nam" and will take legal actions to protect its intellectual property.

Responding to this information, on the evening of February 28, SG Unicorp continued to send a statement to the press to clarify the issue. This unit said that from February 18, 2023, it changed the name and identity to separate the two brands of "Hoa hau Hoan vu Viet Nam" and Miss Universe Vietnam in the spirit of respecting JKN's ownership of Miss Universe brand and Miss Universe Vietnam of the unit owns the new copyright. At the same time, SG Unicorp confirmed its ownership of the "Hoa hau Hoan vu Viet Nam" brand.

SG Unicorp said that the protection of the Miss Universe Organization in Vietnam only includes the brand name and trademark "Miss Universe". The contest called "Hoa hau Hoan vu Viet Nam" has been held for many years completely independently, not under the protection and ownership of the Miss Universe Organization/JKN Global.

Therefore, SG Unicorp denied the statements of JKN Global sent to the Vietnamese press, objected to the use of the name "Hoa hau Hoan vu Viet Nam" by the current copyright holder of Miss Universe Vietnam, and at the same time it would continue to take relevant legal measures to protect the trademark.

VietNamNet will update the case.

My Trang