When Hai Duong OCOP products are protected by intellectual property rights

"Pass"

As a long-standing green bean cake manufacturer in Hai Duong, Hoang Giang Joint Stock Company (Hai Duong City) currently has 10 types of green bean cakes, of which 9 are recognized as 4-star OCOP, and 1 type is proposed for 5-star recognition. In addition to domestic consumption, the company also exports to foreign countries. Mr. Dao Quang Chuyen, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the company, said that in the face of the company's products being counterfeited and counterfeited, and to affirm the quality as well as expand the consumption market, the company focuses on registering intellectual property rights for trademarks. On March 23, 2020, 9 green bean cake products were registered for intellectual property protection domestically and on December 16, 2020, they were registered for intellectual property protection in Japan.

To be protected by intellectual property rights in a strict market like Japan, businesses must meet many technical standards, food hygiene and safety, etc. “Having Japan protect intellectual property rights for 9 green bean cake products is a great success for the business. When protected by Japan, we brought our products to the US, Canada, Korea, etc. and were all easily accepted. Intellectual property rights are like a passport for products to be consumed more conveniently in the market,” said Mr. Chuyen.

Previously, the incense products of Tran Duc Hung Incense Production Facility in Quoc Tuan Commune (Nam Sach) were imitated and counterfeited by a number of establishments inside and outside the province. Mr. Hung registered intellectual property rights for these products in April 2019. The products have affirmed their position when participating in many fairs and exhibitions inside and outside the province. Mr. Hung said: "Many customers feel secure when buying incense from the production facility because it has been protected by intellectual property rights."

Required conditions

On February 23, 2023, the Prime Minister issued Decision No. 148/QD-TTg promulgating a set of criteria for evaluating and classifying products of the One Commune One Product Program. Accordingly, one of the mandatory conditions for OCOP products proposed for consideration and recognition of 4 stars or higher is that they must have a registered trademark, products associated with local communities with protected geographical indications, certification marks, collective marks and signs of geographical origin protection must be used in practice; for 3-star OCOP products, registration for intellectual property protection is encouraged.

The regulation requiring 4-star OCOP products to register for intellectual property protection for trademarks has received support from many entities. Mr. Bui Van Thanh, Director of Thanh Nhan Clean Agricultural Products Cooperative in Thuong Quan Commune (Kinh Mon) said: "I think this regulation is necessary because it will avoid counterfeiting and imitation in the market, while increasing the value when consumed."

According to the representative of the Rural Development Department (Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Hai Duong province), Hai Duong currently has 118 4-star OCOP products with intellectual property protection for trademarks, reaching 100% of 4-star OCOP products in the province.

In reality, some OCOP product owners only focus on improving product quality without paying attention to protecting products that take a lot of time and effort to make. When a product is famous in the market and known to many consumers, some people take advantage of it to imitate and counterfeit it. This reduces the reputation and causes damage to the owners, while consumers use poor quality products. Mandatory registration of intellectual property protection for OCOP products is necessary to help the owners protect their products.