Strengthen criminal penalties for intellectual property violations

The Prime Minister has just signed and promulgated Directive No. 02 on strengthening the enforcement of intellectual property rights. One of the contents mentioned is to strengthen criminal penalties, research and amend the Penal Code in the direction of expanding the scope of regulation and raising the level of criminal penalties for crimes of infringing upon industrial property rights, copyright rights and related rights.

According to the Directive, the situation of intellectual property rights infringement is still complicated, with increasingly sophisticated methods and tricks, appearing in both traditional commerce and e-commerce. These acts affect the investment environment, legal rights and interests of people and businesses, and impact the national image and reputation.

The cause comes from many factors, including some legal regulations that are not consistent with reality and have not kept up with technological developments. The system of tools and means to detect and handle acts of intellectual property rights infringement is still limited and does not meet set requirements.

Faced with this reality, the Prime Minister requested ministries, branches and localities to drastically implement solutions to improve the capacity, effectiveness and efficiency of intellectual property rights enforcement. The handling of violations must ensure the motto “6 clarity”: clear person, clear job, clear time, clear responsibility, clear product and clear authority.

The Directive clearly states that the Ministry of Science and Technology shall preside over research and propose amendments to documents guiding the implementation of the Intellectual Property Law and regulations on sanctioning administrative violations in the field of industrial property. The content focuses on clarifying violations and adding sanctioning authority to ensure deterrence.

The Ministry of Science and Technology coordinates with the Ministry of Public Security and relevant agencies to build a national database on intellectual property rights enforcement, completed and put into operation in 2026. This database is the foundation for the application of AI and blockchain in detecting, tracing origins and protecting intellectual property rights in the digital environment.

The directive requires strengthening inter-sectoral coordination in enforcing intellectual property rights, reforming administrative procedures, and facilitating the registration of industrial property rights protection. Acts of illegally copying, using or exploiting works, audio and video recordings; Illegally posting, distributing, and communicating works to the public, especially on the internet and digital platforms, will be subject to increased inspection and handling.

The Prime Minister requested the Ministry of Public Security to step up inspection, control, and increase the application of criminal sanctions to cases of intellectual property rights infringement, ensuring strictness and compliance with the law.

Along with that, the Ministry of Public Security is assigned to preside over and coordinate with the Ministry of Justice and relevant ministries and branches to research and propose competent authorities to amend and supplement the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations to expand the scope of regulation for goods with counterfeit trademarks and geographical indications, completed in 2026. The Penal Code will also be studied and proposed to be amended in the direction of expanding the scope of regulation of crimes infringing on industrial property rights, copyrights and related rights. At the same time, increase the level of criminal penalties to increase deterrence.

According to the current Penal Code, acts of infringement of copyright, related rights and industrial property rights are only prosecuted for criminal liability when they reach a certain threshold in terms of scale, severity or consequences. The main penalty frame is fine, non-custodial reform or term imprisonment.

Crimes of infringement of copyright and related rights have a maximum criminal penalty of up to 3 years in prison for individuals in cases of serious crimes. For the crime of infringing on industrial property rights, the maximum penalty is 3 years in prison.