Recurring acts of counterfeiting the trademark BIA SAIGON

Recently, counterfeit products of BIA SAIGON brand have shown signs of re-infringement in the markets of Binh Duong and Binh Dinh provinces.

On March 16, 2023, the People's Court of Ba Ria - Vung Tau province fined Saigon Beer Vietnam Corporation and its representative VND 3.7 billion for infringing on the protected industrial property rights of the BIA SAIGON trademark of SABECO.

Although the verdict has come into effect, recently counterfeit products of the BIA SAIGON trademark have shown signs of re-infringement when SABECO discovered that these products had appeared in the markets of Binh Duong and Binh Dinh provinces.

Counterfeiting the BIA SAIGON trademark can lead to customers being easily confused or unable to distinguish which is the "genuine" product, causing confusion for customers and leading to customers losing confidence when using the product.

Counterfeit products of SAIGON BEER brand appeared in Binh Duong

Intentionally producing counterfeit SAIGON BEER brand goods

Returning to the criminal case of "Infringement of industrial property rights" regarding the protected trademark BIA SAIGON of Saigon Beer - Alcohol - Beverage Corporation (SABECO) that occurred in September 2020. Defendant Le Dinh Trung (56 years old, director of Saigon Beer Vietnam Group Joint Stock Company) and the legal entity Saigon Beer Vietnam Group Joint Stock Company (headquartered at 264 Le Thanh Ton, Ben Thanh Ward, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City) were both prosecuted for the crime of infringing industrial property rights under Article 226 of the Penal Code for counterfeiting the trademarks "BIA SAIGON" and "BIA SAIGON, dragon image" which are protected and qualified to be considered famous trademarks of SABECO.

Defendant Le Dinh Trung and the legal entity Saigon Beer Vietnam Corporation were both prosecuted for the crime of infringing industrial property rights under Article 226 of the Penal Code for counterfeiting the trademark "SAIGON BEER".

Accordingly, Mr. Le Dinh Trung is a long-time employee at Saigon Beer - Alcohol - Beverage Joint Stock Company (SABECO). After leaving SABECO, in May 2019, Mr. Trung founded Saigon Beer Vietnam Group Joint Stock Company.

In July 2019, Saigon Beer Vietnam Corporation filed an application for a trademark combining the image and text: "BIA SAIGON VIETNAM and a standing dragon shield" with the National Office of Intellectual Property. Although he has not yet received a trademark protection certificate, Mr. Trung used this trademark to sign a contract with Biva Beer production facility to produce beer under the brand name "BIA SAIGON VIETNAM".

On June 23, 2020, the Market Management Department of Ba Ria - Vung Tau province discovered more than 4,700 beer crates, 116,700 beer cans and 3,300 beer crates bearing the "BIA SAIGON VIETNAM" brand at the Biva beer production facility, so it temporarily detained the exhibits and transferred them to the police agency for handling because there were signs of infringing on SABECO's industrial property rights. The total value of the counterfeit BIA SAIGON brand goods produced by the Biva Beer Production Facility under the order of Saigon Beer Vietnam Group Joint Stock Company is more than 1 billion 250 million VND.

Counterfeit product of SAIGON LAGER BEER brand, old packaging of SABECO

After the first instance trial, on March 16, 2023, the People's Court of Ba Ria - Vung Tau province fined Saigon Beer Vietnam Corporation and its representative VND 3.7 billion for the crime of infringing industrial property rights and infringing the Saigon Beer trademark.

Although the case has been closed with appropriate punishment for the counterfeiter of Saigon Beer brand, recently these counterfeit products have continued to appear in Binh Dinh and Binh Duong, causing confusion among consumers with the products of the BIA SAIGON brand, a leading brand in Vietnam.

With a history of 148 years of conquering the market with many product lines suitable for many audiences, Saigon Beer is a famous brand in Vietnam with a market share of over 40%. The famous brand BIA SAIGON has been established in reality, through a long and continuous use in the domestic and international markets, through record figures in investment costs for production, business, promotion, marketing, through domestic and international awards, through contributions to the budget, contributions to the community and certainly through the huge intellectual property that SABECO has worked hard to create and protect.

Counterfeit product of SAIGON LAGER BEER brand, old packaging of SABECO

Counterfeiting the BIA SAIGON brand can seriously affect the revenue and market share of Saigon Beer. Consumers are also affected because they lose the right to use genuine products. More dangerous is the possibility of using fake, poor quality products, affecting the health of consumers.

To create a healthy environment for businesses to develop production and business, contribute to protecting consumer rights and protecting the legitimate rights and interests of brand owners, authorities need to have sanctions with enough deterrence to strictly handle acts of infringement of businesses' trademark rights.

Counterfeit products of SAIGON BEER brand appear in Binh Dinh

What are the penalties for counterfeiting protected trademarks?

In reality, many organizations and individuals, for the purpose of illegal profit or to reduce the reputation for unfair competition, have seriously infringed on the trademarks of organizations and individuals that have been registered for protection through the act of counterfeiting that trademark. This is a violation of the law and depending on the level of violation, the counterfeiting may be subject to administrative sanctions or criminal prosecution.

Our country's law strictly prohibits acts of infringing industrial property rights, buying and selling, producing counterfeit goods, and imitation goods in any form. All cases of infringing industrial property rights, producing and selling counterfeit trademark goods... are absolutely prohibited. If any individual or organization violates, they will be handled according to the provisions of the law, in the following forms: Civil handling, Administrative handling and Criminal handling.

Article 192 of the 2015 Penal Code, amended and supplemented in 2017, stipulates that for acts of manufacturing counterfeit trademarks, trading in counterfeit goods, counterfeit goods... in addition to administrative penalties, violators can be imprisoned from 07 years to 15 years depending on the severity of the violation.

Article 226 of the Penal Code stipulates the following acts of infringement of industrial property rights:

For individuals: administrative fines can be up to 1 billion VND and non-custodial reform for up to 03 years. If the violation is a second time, the penalty is imprisonment from 06 months to 03 years.

For commercial legal entities: may be fined from 2 billion VND to 5 billion VND or have their operations suspended for a period of 06 months to 02 years; be banned from doing business or operating in certain fields or be banned from raising capital for a period of 01 to 03 years.

SABECO