After years of institutional reform and deeper international integration, Viet Nam faces a major challenge in the knowledge economy: how to turn inventions, technologies, and research outcomes into genuine economic value. A country’s position on the global intellectual property map is determined not by the number of protection certificates it holds, but by its ability to transform knowledge into products, businesses, and competitive advantage.

From favourable assessments by intellectual property experts to decisions to global corporate decisions establishing research centres, expanding technological cooperation and transferring knowledge, Viet Nam is securing an increasing number of votes of confidence from the international community. These decisions reflect a growing recognition of the country’s innovation environment, its intellectual property system and its potential to participate more deeply in the global knowledge value chain.

Having been a relatively unfamiliar field just over two decades ago, intellectual property is steadily becoming a key pillar of Viet Nam's knowledge economy. The process of refining policies, enforcing the Intellectual Property Law, and integrating deeply with international standards has laid the foundation for innovation.

From songs and paintings to software and technological inventions, artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming increasingly involved in the creative process. However, as these products begin to generate economic value, a major question arises: how should intellectual property rights be protected?

Maj. Gen Nguyen Quoc Toan, spokesman of the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) and Chief of its Office, detailed early results from the Prime Minister’s urgent dispatch on the fight against intellectual property (IP) violations at the Government’s regular press briefing in Ha Noi on June 3.

The Prime Minister’s Official Dispatch No. 38/CD-TTg (dated May 5, 2026), which focuses on vigorous implementation of measures to combat, prevent, and handle intellectual property rights infringements, requires decisive action to fight, prevent, and address violations of intellectual property rights.

The Prime Minister has directed ministries, sectors and local authorities to launch nationwide operations from May 7 to 30 to combat and clamp down firmly on acts of intellectual property infringement.

Viet Nam called on the US to provide an objective and balanced assessment of Viet Nam’s efforts and achievements in intellectual property (IP) protection, said Spokesperson of Viet Nam’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs Pham Thu Hang on May 1.

Intellectual property must become the soft infrastructure of the digital economy. To unlock innovation, it is essential to shift from a case-by-case handling approach to ecosystem governance: digitising enforcement, strengthening meaningful sanctions, and ensuring that all actors, including digital platforms, are held accountable.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has signed a decree to strengthen the enforcement of intellectual property (IP) rights, strict action against infringements under the principle of clear roles, tasks, timelines, responsibility, deliverables, and authority.

Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) Daren Tang met with Vietnamese youth for a dialogue at the Posts and Telecommunications Institute of Technology in Ha Noi on September 26 to chart a path for building an innovation-friendly intellectual property (IP) ecosystem.

The MoU, which sets out a comprehensive framework for IP cooperation, covers a wide range of areas from policy and legislative development to raising awareness, training human resources, supporting enterprises, and strengthening the capacity of Viet Nam’s IP authority.

Intellectual property (IP) has become a vital catalyst for science - technology and innovation, poised to drive Viet Nam’s transformation into a high-income nation with a modern industrial base by 2045, under the Politburo’s Resolution No.57-NQ/TW dated December 22, 2024.