Building Vietnam's defence against online infringers

摘要

In the last 20 years, the rapid advancements of science and technology in general, and of the internet in particular, have had significant impacts upon the socioeconomic development of many countries around the world. This includes Vietnam, where the internet boom has no doubt contributed positively to its changing economy. To date, the number of internet users has grown to over 31.1m, making Vietnam the 18th highest country in the world in its number of internet users. However, this development has to a great extent also bred adverse consequences. In the last five years, as business activities are increasingly preferred to be conducted online, the internet has gradually become a fertile environment for commercial fraud, unfair competition, and in particular, the violation of intellectual property (IP) rights. Indeed, online IP infringement continues to pose a serious concern to state authorities as well as IP rights holders trading in Vietnam.