Claiming the name
Building collective trademarks for agricultural products is necessary for businesses to enter and then stay in a market.
Buon Ma Thuot in the central highlands province of Dak Lak has long been famous in Vietnam for its coffee but its collective trademark has been registered by a company in China. Two trademarks - “Buon Ma Thuot” (in Chinese characters) and “Buon Ma Thuot Coffee 1896” - along with a logo, can be found on the coffee products of the Guangzhou Buon Ma Thuot Coffee Company in Guangdong province, China, which was granted protection of the two trademarks in the country in November 2010 and June 2011.
“The process for regaining the trademark will take two or three years at an expected cost of about VND600 million ($30,000),” said a representative from the Dak Lak Provincial People’s Committee. The real cost, though, could be much higher.
Collective trademarks are even less common in Vietnam than company trademarks, which in recent years have at least begun to be at the forefront of local marketing strategies. There have been some projects geared towards creating collective trademarks for famous Vietnamese agricultural products, but despite the significant sums of money spent “results have been rather modest,” said Mr Ta Quang Minh, Head of the National Office of Intellectual Property (NOIP).
A recent NOIP reports says there are about 800 famous agricultural products in most localities throughout Vietnam. There are just nine collective trademarks, 62 certification trademarks (regarding, for example, ISO standards being met), and 24 geographical indications for well-known agricultural products.
According to the report, 53 agricultural products have been supported in registering geographical indications under the NOIP’s recent programme to develop and support the trademarks of the country’s agricultural products.
Lack of thought
Many Vietnamese businesses are simply reluctant to join in any effort to build collective trademarks because they can’t see what the benefits may be. For most it is just too complicated. To participate in a collective trademark, businesses would have to print two logos on their product packaging: a collective logo and their own company logo. It may also involve printing two slogans.
Mr Nguyen Quoc Thinh, Head of the Branding Management Department at the Vietnam Commercial University (VCU), said that in the early stages of building collective trademarks the trademark of powerful members have the function of supporting the collective.
Only when the collective trademark is recognised by customers does it support all participants, especially new businesses entering the market. “This has led to businesses with reputable trademarks not being keen on participating in building a collective trademark, while the ‘weaker’ businesses want to take every opportunity to do so,” Mr Thinh told VET. “Building collective trademarks can easily fail without the involvement of powerful enterprises because promotion faces numerous obstacles.”
Building collective trademarks might be difficult task, but maintaining them is even harder. Some have been established at great cost, but two or three years down the track have only resulted in conflict between participating businesses. “Collective trademarks will be quickly forgotten when there is no consensus among the majority of members, in which powerful businesses play a key role,” Mr Thinh said.
Many Vietnamese businesses are also only interested in exporting raw materials and give no regard to the long-term benefits from finished products with trademarks. Some businesses and farmers are just happy to be selling their products in a narrow range of villages or provinces.
“Coffee and other agricultural products are still exported as raw materials to foreign firms, then processed and exported to other countries with the trademark of the foreign firms,” Mr Thinh added. “The collective trademarks for Thanh Ha litchi, Hung Yen longan, and Phuc Trach pomelo, which are associated with a geographical region famous for quality in the domestic market, have not been registered for overseas trademark protection.”
Sustainable development
Many experts acknowledge that developing collective trademarks is not as simple as establishing a brand identity system, which would include the brand name, logo, and slogan for a product and then seeking protection in the target market. The most important thing is providing products that satisfy customer requirements.
This means that products must not only meet hygienic standards but also maintain credibility with customers regarding delivery, environmental protection and respect for the target market’s cultural and community values. “To complete these tasks, the participants in a collective trademark all need to make certain commitments and look at long-term development,” said Mr Minh from NOIP. “It is an association that should create momentum and cohesion between all participants.”
Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Thanh Bien said that leadership is needed to guide the development of collective trademarks. “Associations lack the ability to manage and link businesses together,” he said. “Many believe that building collective trademarks is the State’s responsibility. The State can support associations and businesses, but only when a clear roadmap has been prepared.” The building of a collective trademark for coffee, he said by way of example, must be firstly be undertaken by the Vietnam Coffee-Cocoa Association (VCCA). The State can then support the association and businesses in terms of policies, guidelines, communications and professional skills.
In terms of enforcing the role of associations, Mr Thinh suggested that they establish an independent board that provides an objective evaluation on the results of having a collective trademark. “Associations also need to hire experts to take charge of researching and consulting on strategies for developing their collective trademark,” he said.
To avoid the risk of losing famous brands of agricultural products, Mr Minh said that each business must actively identify their traditional markets and potential markets, and jointly conduct the process of registering for trademark and geographic protection. “The NOIP and local Departments of Science and Technology can provide support in these procedures,” he said. “Representative offices can also provide services in carrying out the registration procedures in foreign countries.”
An image as the “kitchen of the world” has been suggested for Vietnam in its efforts to build a national brand, by Mr Philip Kotler, the “father” of modern marketing. So it is time for Vietnamese businesses and relevant authorities to build collective trademarks for famous agricultural products and other groups of famous products and then register for protection overseas. Mekong Delta rice, Gia Lai pepper, Binh Phuoc cashew nuts and Thai Nguyen tea having trademark protection overseas is expected to give the country greater export value in the future.
According to vneconomy
