The Guangdong Intellectual Property Protection Center (Guangdong Sub-Center for Overseas IP Dispute Response, hereinafter “Guangdong Sub-Center”) recently identified that a Vietnamese individual has allegedly submitted a large number of trademark applications in Vietnam across multiple categories, including cosmetics. This activity affects 70 enterprises across Guangdong cities such as Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Foshan, Shantou, Zhongshan, Qingyuan, and Zhuhai. The behavior shows clear signs of malicious trademark squatting and poses a potential threat to the brand reputation and overseas market expansion of enterprises in Guangdong.

In response, the Guangdong Sub-Center promptly activated its emergency mechanism, leveraging its cross-regional collaborative network to provide enterprises with full-process professional services, from early warning to countermeasures, effectively consolidating protection efforts and strengthening the defense against overseas IP risks.

1. Rapid Response through Early Warning Network

Upon detecting the risk, the Guangdong Sub-Center immediately established a coordinated notification mechanism with the relevant district market supervision bureaus and municipal IP protection centers. Through precise and efficient information channels, early warning alerts regarding squatting risks were directly delivered to the affected enterprises, enabling them to quickly grasp the situation and take proactive measures.

2. Systematic Coordination to Consolidate Protection Efforts

Relying on a “Center – District/Municipal Protection Center – Enterprise” three-tier coordination model, the relevant bureaus and municipal centers took swift action, providing on-site guidance and consultation. Expert advisory meetings were also promoted to ensure that services reached enterprises effectively, creating a vertically and horizontally integrated protection network.

3. Targeted Guidance to Address Typical Challenges

The Guangdong Sub-Center organized the “Expert Advisory Session on Responding to Trademark Squatting Risks in Vietnam”, offering a systematic interpretation of Vietnamese trademark law and opposition procedures, outlining key points for evidence collection and response strategies, and guiding enterprises on high-priority categories based on squatting patterns. This provided professional and practical action guidance for enterprises.

4. In-Depth Case Support with Customized Solutions

Building on collective guidance, the Guangdong Sub-Center offered one-on-one, tailored support to enterprises, assisting them in analyzing trademark status, evaluating feasible response options, and planning subsequent IP layout strategies. Customized enforcement and protection plans were developed to meet the specific needs of each enterprise.

5. Long-Term Empowerment to Promote Proactive Risk Prevention

Beyond immediate dispute response, the Guangdong Sub-Center aims to enhance enterprises’ long-term risk management capabilities through international IP compliance programs, offering risk assessments and guidance on system building. This approach helps enterprises establish regular monitoring and forward-looking IP planning, shifting from a reactive enforcement model to proactive risk prevention.

Moving forward, the Guangdong Sub-Center will continue to strengthen overseas IP protection efforts, optimizing the full-chain service mechanism from monitoring and early warning to dispute response. It will provide more diversified and professional training, consulting, and case-specific guidance, and enhance collaboration with all stakeholders to build a stronger protection network. These efforts aim to support Guangdong enterprises in achieving sustainable growth in international markets, contributing solid IP strength to high-quality development and high-level opening-up.