Many cities and provinces in the Mekong Delta region have rolled out a host of solutions to support intellectual property and develop collective trademarks to raise economic value for agricultural products and specialties.

The Mekong Delta province of Kien Giang is the pioneer in building and developing collective trademarks, benefiting people, cooperatives and businesses in product promotion and sale.

The locality is home to 475 agricultural cooperatives, of them 366 specialising in cultivation and 109 in aquaculture.

The provincial Cooperative Alliance, based on the annual plan, has coordinated with relevant agencies to support the building of collective trademarks for cooperatives, prioritising products included in its economic restructuring plan like shrimp, crab, fruit, rice and pepper.

The Department of Science and Technology of the Mekong Delta province of Tien Giang also guided about 30 organisations and individuals to establish IP rights for their trademarks each year.

Registering trademark protection not only protects businesses but also ensures rights and interests in goods circulation, said Deputy Director of the provincial Department of Science and Technology Nguyen Tuan Phong.

The Department of Quality, Processing, and Market under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said to successfully build brands, it should begin with quality products that satisfy the needs and expectations of customers.

Therefore, it suggested businesses build and operate their trademark management systems, covering the quality of trademarked products; production and business activities in chains; product preservation and processing; and traceability, among others.

Kien Giang’s authorities said the locality will cooperate to help cooperatives that have already built collective trademarks, geographical indications and IP rights in both domestic sale and export.  

Tien Giang province’s Department of Science and Technology will also step up the communications work on IP rights protection, especially trademarks for cooperatives.

Many businesses also called on the government to soon complete policies and laws on trademark development and protection registration for agricultural products./.