An exact replica of your branded product, which you did not manufacture, is being openly sold on e-commerce platforms for half the price of the genuine item. Every passing day, counterfeit and trademark-infringing goods eat into your revenue and erode the trust you have built over years. Mishandled, your business might lose the opportunity to stop the infringement or even face a counter-lawsuit.
What can a business do to stop the rampant sale of knockoff products? Which authority should be notified, and is it possible to recover lost damages? Is asking the platform to remove the product or posting a warning to customers enough, or are there lingering risks? These are questions many brand owners, from large enterprises to startups, face when their rights are infringed upon for the first time. Being counterfeited does not mean you did anything wrong; it is almost the price of a brand becoming valuable. The good news is that Vietnamese law provides robust tools for enforcement, but using the right tools in the right order is crucial. This article analyzes the current 2026 legal framework, the four paths to enforcement, and the mistakes to avoid.
Counterfeit goods and trademark infringement: Two concepts, two approaches
Many businesses broadly refer to all knockoffs as “counterfeit goods,” but the law makes a clear distinction, and this distinction determines which legal path to take and which authority to approach.
“Counterfeit goods” under Decree 98/2020/ND-CP is a broad concept covering goods with no or false use value, goods of fake quality, and goods with forged labels or packaging. This category directly affects consumer rights and health, so market surveillance and police forces often actively inspect and handle these cases, even without a prior complaint.
When someone attaches a sign identical or confusingly similar to your registered trademark onto a product, it falls under intellectual property law and is precisely termed “trademark-infringing goods.”
“Trademark-infringing goods are goods or their packaging bearing a mark or sign or stamp or label containing signs identical or confusingly similar to the trademark currently protected for those very goods, without the permission of the trademark owner.” Article 213, Intellectual Property Law (Điều 213, Luật Sở hữu trí tuệ)
Besides counterfeit goods, the law also addresses “infringement of trademark rights,” which means using an identical or similar sign for similar goods to the extent that it causes confusion as to the origin, according to Article 129 of the Intellectual Property Law. The key point for every brand owner to remember: you only have solid grounds for enforcement when your trademark has been registered and is within its protection period. Vietnam applies the “first-to-file” principle, so no matter how great a brand is, if unregistered, you can fall into a passive position or even have the trademark registered by the counterfeiter themselves.
Four legal paths to handle counterfeit and knockoff goods
When trademark rights are infringed, the owner has more than one option. The Intellectual Property Law allows you to proactively protect your rights in various ways: applying technological measures, demanding the infringer cease and remove the infringing content, requesting state authorities to enforce, or initiating a lawsuit in court (Article 198). Depending on the nature and severity, violations can be handled through three groups of measures.
“Organizations and individuals that commit acts of infringing upon the intellectual property rights of other organizations and individuals may, depending on the nature and severity of the infringement, be handled through civil, administrative or criminal measures.” Article 199, Intellectual Property Law (Điều 199, Luật Sở hữu trí tuệ)
Administrative measures are the fastest and most common method: requesting competent authorities to inspect, seize, and sanction the infringer, which is suitable when you need to stop the goods urgently at a low cost. Civil measures involve suing in court to force a cessation, demand a public apology, and most importantly, claim damages for the business itself. Criminal measures are reserved for serious violations on a commercial scale. Beyond these three groups, for imported and exported goods, businesses can also request customs authorities to suspend procedures for suspected shipments (Article 216), effectively stopping counterfeit goods right at the border before they reach the market.
Step-by-step process for administrative measures
This is the path most businesses choose when they first discover knockoffs, as it is faster and less expensive than litigation. The practical sequence usually consists of four steps.
Step 1: Gather evidence
Purchase a sample of the infringing product, keep the receipt, take screenshots of the online store and link, and record the place of sale. Since digital evidence is easily deleted, it is advisable to establish a bailiff's deed (vi bằng) to fix the evidence before the infringer can remove it.
Step 2: Intellectual property assessment
The business sends the sample to an intellectual property assessment organization (such as the Vietnam Intellectual Property Research Institute) for a conclusion on the infringement element. This is not a mandatory legal procedure, but in practice, an assessment conclusion is a pivotal basis that gives authorities the confidence to issue a sanctioning decision.
Step 3: Submit an enforcement request
The application is sent to the competent authority, depending on the violation and location, which may include market surveillance, specialized science and technology inspectorates, economic police, customs authorities, or People's Committees. One change to note in 2026: after the General Department of Market Surveillance model ended on March 1, 2025, market surveillance forces have been transferred to local management, operating under the provincial Department of Industry and Trade. Identifying the right place to file from the start prevents your dossier from being passed around.
Step 4: Inspection, sanction, and forced remediation
The competent authority will inspect, seize, mandate the destruction or removal of the infringing elements, and impose a monetary fine based on the value of the infringing goods. Under Decree 99/2013/ND-CP (amended in 2024), fines for manufacturing and trading trademark-infringing goods can reach up to 250 million VND for individuals and 500 million VND for organizations. For counterfeit goods generally, Decree 98/2020/ND-CP (amended by Decree 24/2025/ND-CP, effective from February 21, 2025) also increases penalties for violations on e-commerce platforms.
An upcoming point that brand owners should know: from July 15, 2026, Decree 186/2026/ND-CP introduces stronger measures against infringements in the digital environment, such as forcing the revocation or blocking of access to infringing domain names, compelling changes to enterprise names containing infringing elements, and expanding sanctioning authority. This is a clear signal that the handling of online knockoffs is being significantly tightened.
IMPORTANT NOTE The trademark registration certificate and the intellectual property assessment conclusion are two documents authorities almost always require. Without either, your enforcement request is very likely to be rejected or delayed, even if you are certain you are being counterfeited.
When to sue for damages, when to pursue criminal charges
Administrative measures help stop the goods and fine the infringer, but the fine goes to the State and does not compensate the business. To recover your own losses, you must file a civil lawsuit. The court can order the infringer to stop the act, make a public apology, destroy the counterfeit goods, and pay compensation for damages (Article 202 of the Intellectual Property Law).
“In case the level of material damage cannot be determined according to the bases prescribed in Points a, b and c of this Clause, the level of material damage compensation shall be decided by the Court, depending on the extent of the damage, but shall not exceed one billion VND.” Article 205, Intellectual Property Law (Điều 205, Luật Sở hữu trí tuệ)
In addition to compensation, the owner can also ask the infringer to pay reasonable attorney's fees. The caveat is that a civil lawsuit requires proving damages, so properly preparing evidence from the start will determine how much you can recover.
For large-scale manufacturing and trading, the criminal path carries the strongest deterrent. The Criminal Code separately addresses the crime of infringing industrial property rights regarding trademarks.
“Any person who intentionally infringes upon industrial property rights concerning a trademark or geographical indication currently protected in Vietnam, where the object is trademark-infringing goods or counterfeit geographical indications on a commercial scale ... shall be fined from 50,000,000 VND to 500,000,000 VND or face non-custodial reform for up to 03 years.” Article 226, Criminal Code (Điều 226, Bộ luật Hình sự)
A commercial legal entity committing this crime can be fined up to 5 billion VND and face a fixed-term suspension of operations. If the knockoffs are also counterfeit in terms of quality or use value, the infringer may be additionally prosecuted for the crime of producing and trading counterfeit goods under Article 192. Notably, from July 1, 2025, the 2025 amended Criminal Law has doubled the fines for the group of counterfeit goods crimes, up to 2 billion VND for individuals and much higher for legal entities. This level of deterrence is why many cases, when showing sufficient signs, should be considered for criminal referral rather than stopping at administrative fines.
Mistakes that cause businesses to lose their rights
The most costly and common mistake occurs even before a dispute arises: not registering a trademark, or registering too late. Without a protection certificate, authorities have almost no basis to handle counterfeiting, and worse, the counterfeiter can act fast to file an application first, forcing the business into a position of having to reclaim its own brand.
The second mistake is skipping the assessment and evidence-gathering steps. Many businesses submit complaints with just a few hastily taken photos, without purchasing samples, making bailiff's deeds, or obtaining an assessment conclusion. Such dossiers are often returned or processed slowly, while the infringing goods continue to be sold.
The third mistake lies in a hasty reaction. Personally posting “exposés,” pressuring partners to remove goods, or sending overzealous threat letters without a solid legal basis can expose the business to counter-lawsuits for unfair competition or defamation. The Intellectual Property Law even allows the aggrieved party to claim compensation if you abuse rights protection procedures. Strong action is necessary, but it must be well-founded and follow proper procedures.
Finally, many businesses only target small retail outlets and ignore the manufacturing source or importing hub. Cutting the branches without uprooting the tree means that knockoffs will simply reappear in other stores after a while. An effective enforcement strategy must trace back to the main point of production and distribution.
DEDICA accompanies businesses in handling counterfeit and knockoff goods
For most businesses, monitoring the market, conducting assessments, drafting applications, and working with multiple authorities simultaneously is a burden that exceeds internal resources. Within our regular legal advisory package, DEDICA acts as the legal department of your business: reviewing, registering, and renewing trademarks to ensure rights remain effective; monitoring and detecting signs of infringement, including on e-commerce platforms; organizing evidence collection, bailiff's deeds, and assessment requests; drafting applications and representing you before market surveillance, police, and customs; initiating lawsuits for compensation when necessary; and registering customs border control to intercept violating imports.
Every advisory output is reviewed by experienced DEDICA lawyers before implementation, and foreign-invested enterprises receive bilingual support. When weighing the cost of a regular advisory package against the revenue and reputation that could be lost to counterfeit goods, most businesses realize that early prevention is far cheaper than dealing with a mess after the fact.
Conclusion
To handle counterfeit and trademark-infringing goods systematically, businesses should follow these steps: (1) register and maintain the validity of your trademark, as this is the foundation for all future actions; (2) upon detecting a violation, gather evidence and make a bailiff's deed before the infringer can erase traces; (3) request an intellectual property assessment to secure a firm basis; (4) choose the right path, using administrative measures for a quick halt, civil lawsuits for compensation, criminal referrals for large-scale acts, and customs requests to stop goods at the border. The three most costly mistakes to avoid are failing to register a trademark, skipping assessment and evidence, and making hasty reactions that risk counter-lawsuits. The step you should take today is very simple: review your business's trademark registration status and ensure it is truly protected.
DEDICA Law Firm is ready to support you with handling counterfeit goods and trademark infringement. Contact DEDICA for in-depth legal consultation.
The content of this article is for reference purposes based on the legal regulations at the time of writing. Each case has its own unique circumstances; businesses should consult a DEDICA lawyer for accurate advice on their specific situation.
