With the adoption of Law No. 131/2025/QH15 amending and supplementing a number of provisions of the Law on Intellectual Property, partial industrial designs will officially be recognized for protection in Vietnam when this Law takes effect on April 1, 2026. This marks an important advancement in the field of industrial design protection, keeping pace with current development trends and addressing the practical needs of applicants.
Pursuant to Point 13, Article 4 of the former Law on Intellectual Property (as adopted on September 9, 2025), an industrial design was defined as:
“the outward appearance of a product or a component intended for assembly into a complex product, represented by shapes, lines, colors, or a combination thereof, and visible during the use of the product or the complex product.”
Under this definition, a subject matter could only be regarded as an industrial design if it constitutes a complete product or a complete component intended for assembly into a product, provided that it is detachable and capable of being independently marketed. The design of a component that can be detached and independently marketed for assembly into a multi-component product is sometimes mistakenly interpreted as granting protection for a “partial industrial design.” In fact, this is not considered a partial industrial design, but rather the industrial design of a product part/component that can be separated from the product itself.
However, in practice, there has been a growing need to protect only the most distinctive features of a product’s outward appearance rather than the overall shape of the entire product. The previous legal framework did not allow protection for such subject matter. In response, the Amended Law on Intellectual Property, adopted on December 10, 2025, has supplemented and expanded the definition of an industrial design as follows:
“An industrial design is the outward appearance of the whole or a part of a product, in either physical or non-physical form, represented by shapes, lines, colors, or a combination thereof, and visible during the use of the product.”
Accordingly, under the new definition, a part of a product—whether detachable or non-detachable, and whether or not it can be independently marketed—may also be considered a protectable industrial design subject matter. In other words, the revised provisions expressly allow the protection of “partial industrial designs.” This enables applicants to maximize the protection of creative design features and core design elements, even in cases where the overall product may not be entirely novel.
In addition, the recognition of partial industrial designs for protection contributes to the effective prevention of copying and imitation of products on the market. In this context, a copied product may be considered infringing if it is not substantially different in a fundamental design feature, without requiring similarity to the product as a whole.
Furthermore, permitting the protection of partial industrial designs provides applicants with greater flexibility in registration strategies. Applicants may register multiple variations of a product by modifying only the non-protected parts, thereby fostering creativity in this category of industrial property.
Another notable breakthrough in the revised definition of industrial design is the introduction of the phrase “in physical or non-physical form.” Previously, the term “product” in the context of industrial design protection in Vietnam was implicitly understood to refer to a physical, tangible product perceptible through human senses. Under the new definition, the scope of industrial design protection has been broadened to include products that do not exist in material form but are embodied in digital form.
Accordingly, graphical user interfaces (GUIs) and icons of specific computer software (classified under Class 14-04) have been accepted as protectable industrial designs in Vietnam.
Nevertheless, under the revised regulations, subject matters classified under Class 32 are still not eligible for protection, as they are not yet regarded as a part of a specific physical or non-physical product.
In conclusion, the Amended Law on Intellectual Property adopted on December 10, 2025, may be regarded as a significant breakthrough in the protection of industrial designs in Vietnam. The scope of protection has been expanded in a manner that aligns with global technological developments and the practical needs of applicants. This represents a notable effort by the Vietnamese Government to integrate with international practices in the field of intellectual property.
