Businesses advised to protect brands in digital economy

Businesses need to be active in protecting their brands in the digital economy

Unfocused on protecting brands

The protection of brands, digital assets and intellectual property is a concern for small- and medium-sized enterprises in the context of the fourth industrial revolution.

A survey of nearly 4,000 businesses in Ho Chi Minh City shows that only 1.63 percent of surveyed firms have trained human resources in intellectual property and 2.25 percent have issued internal regulations on intellectual property. It means that businesses, especially small- and medium-sized enterprises, are not interested in intellectual property and unaware of the role of digital assets in their business operations.

Dr. Nguyen Quang Trung of the RMIT University, research group leader on managing smart transformation, said Vietnamese small- and medium-sized enterprises are only in the early stage of digital transformation, facing many challenges due to poor corporate governance, low innovation capacity, limited access to capital and high operating expenses.

Trung said they may continue to face such difficulties unless the government and firms themselves come up with appropriate solutions. Digital transformation requires enterprises to rearrange their production process and restructure the apparatus, while developing and protecting brands and other digital assets to avoid risks and disputes.

Higher attention needed

ST25 rice is the result of 25 years of work by Ho Quang Cua and his colleagues

Dinh Huu Phi, director of the Intellectual Property Office of Vietnam under the Ministry of Science and Technology, said support will be provided to small- and medium-sized enterprises, enabling them to use intellectual property rights to build stronger, more competitive and resilient businesses given their key role in the development of the digital economy.

In the face of major challenges in the digital economy, Vietnamese businesses need to pay higher attention to intellectual property. The trademark applications for ST25 rice by five US firms, submitted to the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), have triggered concerns that Vietnamese exports of this rice to the US would be affected and provide the clearest example of the need for trademark protection.

In addition, technology companies, such as Amazon, Google, Momo, Tiki, KPMG, FPT Software and TraceVerified, have also provided solutions and online platforms for e-commerce and e-payments, helping firms understand more about data protection, barcodes, digital payments, traceability and blockchain.

Through the USAID Linkages for Small and Medium Enterprises (LinkSME) project, businesses will be provided with technical support to develop and protect trusted brands and digital assets. The guidance will help them learn how to adjust marketing strategies and leverage technologies to improve product traceability, thereby increasing opportunities to join e-commerce platforms and to access new markets.

According to experts, in addition to paying higher attention to the protection of brands, digital assets and intellectual property, businesses should also consider their business models through the lens of technology.