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The National Assembly’s adoption of the Law amending and supplementing certain provisions of the Law on Intellectual Property on 10 December marks a pivotal shift in Vietnam’s approach to intellectual assets. For the first time, intellectual property rights are placed within the full operational logic of a market economy, recognized as assets that can be valued, traded, mortgaged, and commercially exploited, rather than merely serving as legal protection tools as before.
Businesses should consider using Intellectual Property Services of Full Service law firm in Vietnam before conducting business activities using IP assets that haven’t been registered.
Under the new law, intellectual property right holders are permitted to use their rights to conduct civil, commercial, and investment transactions, including capital contribution and securing loan obligations.
The State not only recognizes but also encourages the economic exploitation of intellectual property assets in accordance with laws on investment, enterprises, and credit. This opens the possibility for knowledge, inventions, designs, and brands to become substantive components in the asset structure of enterprises.
Building a market for intellectual property assets: Valuation, data, and transparency
One of the key points of the amended law is the orientation toward forming a market for intellectual property rights transactions. The law assigns the Government the responsibility to establish a transparent valuation system, with a national database of intellectual property transaction prices serving as the market’s reference standard.
In practice, the valuation of intellectual property assets has always been the greatest “bottleneck” preventing these assets from being recognized in financial statements or used as collateral. The codification of mechanisms for building a price database shows that Vietnam is approaching the issue systematically, rather than leaving the market to develop spontaneously through private negotiations.
The law also places intellectual property rights within the broader digital transformation of the state administration system. Digital infrastructure, big data, and artificial intelligence are prioritized for application to automate administrative processes, ensure information security, enhance transparency, and reduce transaction costs. Innovation centers are identified as hubs promoting intellectual property rights transactions, acting as connectors between research, enterprises, and the market.
Vietnam: Early or late in the global trend of assetizing intellectual property?
Compared with international experience, Vietnam is not a pioneer but is also not standing outside the global trend. In the United States and Europe, intellectual property rights have long been regarded as economic assets that can be recognized in financial statements, bought and sold, and widely licensed. Japan and South Korea have developed patent-based collateral mechanisms since the early 2000s to support technology firms in accessing bank financing.
China, over the past decade, has proactively established technology exchanges, credit-guarantee mechanisms based on patents, and hybrid state-private valuation systems to promote commercialization of research. However, even in these countries, intellectual property valuation remains a complex issue, requiring sufficiently large transaction data and high transparency.
In this context, Vietnam’s decision to officially codify the assetization of intellectual property rights at this point can be considered appropriate for the country’s development stage. As innovation, the digital economy, and high technology are identified as new growth drivers, further delay could leave intellectual property “lying dormant on paper” without generating commensurate economic value.
Artificial intelligence, digital design, and rights conflicts: Adjusting for the future
The amended law also reflects efforts to keep pace with new legal challenges arising from technology. For the first time, principles relating to artificial intelligence in the field of intellectual property are clearly recognized. Accordingly, AI is not a rights holder; products created autonomously by AI without substantive human creativity will not be protected. This approach aligns with the current stance of many developed countries, where human creativity remains the decisive criterion.
Conversely, the law recognizes AI as a tool supporting creativity. Where humans use AI and make clear creative contributions, they remain recognized as authors or inventors.
At the same time, the law allows the lawful use of published works and data for research and AI training purposes, provided that such use does not unreasonably prejudice the rights and legitimate interests of right holders. Technical details will continue to be prescribed by the Government to balance technological innovation and rights protection.
In the field of industrial designs, the law expands protection to non-physical products such as digital designs, digital interfaces, and products existing in digital environments, if they meet industrial applicability requirements. This is a necessary adjustment as economic value increasingly lies in digital design and user experience rather than solely in tangible products.
The law also establishes a mechanism for resolving conflicts of intellectual property rights, under which later-arising rights must cease to be exercised if they conflict with earlier rights, based on court judgments. At the same time, the law affirms that intellectual property protection cannot be used to obstruct the use of the National Flag, National Emblem, or National Anthem in digital environments.
From protection to value extraction: A strategic shift
Alongside the Law on Intellectual Property, the National Assembly’s approval of the amended Law on High Technology on the same day demonstrates a unified policy framework: treating high technology, innovation, and intellectual property as pillars of long-term development.
These two laws, entering into effect in 2026, lay the legal foundation for a shift from “protecting creativity” to “extracting value from creativity.”
In the long term, the actual effectiveness of the new provisions will depend on the implementation of valuation systems, the capacity of intermediary institutions, and the readiness of the financial market.
However, in terms of policy direction, Vietnam has officially entered a phase where intellectual property rights are considered strategic economic resources rather than merely legal defensive tools. This is a necessary condition for the formation of a knowledge-based, innovation-driven, and technology-enabled economy in the coming decade.
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