After inventing furniture products which can help prevent and treat spinal diseases, Pham Thi Kim Loan quickly registered to obtain a patent for invention and utility solutions.

After inventing furniture products which can help prevent and treat spinal diseases, Pham Thi Kim Loan quickly registered to obtain a patent for invention and utility solutions.

The sales of the product exceeded the VND100 billion threshold in 2013 and since then have been increasing steadily by 150 percent per annum.

The chairs derived from the patent and related products have received 12 patents for invention and utility solutions, 25 patents for industrial designs in Singapore, New Zealand and Australia, while six patent applications in accordance with PCT (Patent Corporation Treaty) are being considered in 55 countries.

According to Loan, patents have two benefits to inventors. First, the high competitiveness based on technology. Second, the high capability of exploiting the market thanks to the monopoly.

While it costs VND1 million only to obtain a patent in Vietnam, millions of dollars are needed to obtain a patent overseas.

However, there are very few Vietnamese inventors register their invention overseas like Loan.

In 2014, only five applications were made. Meanwhile, the figure was a little bit higher – 12 applications.

Loan said in order to register and maintain patents, her company has to pay millions of dollars. If inventions are not protected by laws, scientists will find it difficult to protect their intellectual properties overseas from being copied.

The drug made of the extract of trinh nu hoang cung (Crinum latifolium) which can support the treatment of cancer diseases by Nguyen Thi Ngoc Tram, a pharmacist, has gained initial encouraging results: the sales have exceeded VND200 billion, while the product has been exported to the US. 

However, Tram said that she has had to spend big money to prepare for the market by applying for patents to protect the product.

“In the US, I registered for the protection of the plant variety and it costs $50,000,” she said, adding that the big sums of money needed could prevent investors.

The total amount of money inventors have to pay for patent registration in Vietnam is about VND1 million only in total. Meanwhile, the registration would cost at least several thousands of dollars in the US.

Therefore, registering for patents overseas remains a dream of many scientists, mostly because of limited financial capability.

In Vietnam, the fee isn’t a problem for scientists but it always takes three to four years to obtain patents.

In HCM City, in the 2011-2015 period, there were only about 1,000 applications and only 131 patents/utility solutions were granted.

The figures were higher than the average in Vietnam, but do not truly reflect the city’s technological and inventional potential.


Kim Chi