Decree 100/2026/ND-CP: New Rules on IP Ownership for AI-Created Inventions and Digital Transformation of IP Activities

Overview

Decree No. 100/2026/ND-CP, issued by the Government on March 31, 2026, amends Decree No. 65/2023/ND-CP (as previously amended by Decree No. 15/2026/ND-CP and Decree No. 33/2026/ND-CP), which details implementation of the Intellectual Property Law on industrial property. The decree implements Law No. 131/2025/QH15, which amended the IP Law, and covers: industrial property rights for creations made using artificial intelligence (AI), termination of overlapping IP rights on a single subject matter, management and exploitation of IP rights, digital transformation of IP administration, security review of patents before filing abroad, secret patent applications, fast-track examination for patent and trademark applications, procedures for registering industrial property licensing contracts, and training and management of industrial property representatives.

Ownership of AI-Assisted Inventions and Designs

The most notable new rule: inventions, industrial designs, and layout designs created using an AI system can only be protected as industrial property if a human made a 'significant contribution' to the creation. A contribution counts as significant only when the human performed all four of the following: (i) defined the problem to be solved, including a concrete solution concept, not just a general description; (ii) independently selected the input data, objectives, constraints, and parameters based on the person's own creative idea, rather than merely relying on available data or automatic suggestions from the AI system; (iii) evaluated, selected, and refined the AI output in a way that changed its core structure or function, generating new value; and (iv) decided on the final result submitted for protection. If these conditions are not met, the creator only has the right to use the object and license it to others - no exclusive protection certificate will be granted. Trademarks, trade names, geographical indications, and trade secrets created with AI assistance remain subject to the normal IP law conditions.

Technology companies and R&D teams using AI tools should keep records documenting the extent and nature of human creative input in the development process, to preserve their ability to obtain patent protection later.

Fast-Track Examination for Patents and Trademarks

The decree introduces an expedited substantive-examination track (shorter processing time) for: patent applications covering technologies on the national list of strategic technologies, or inventions developed for emergency situations (national security, defense, natural disasters, epidemics) that are already being commercially exploited; and trademark applications tied to goods manufactured under such strategic-technology patents, or where a trademark registration certificate is a mandatory condition for obtaining a business or manufacturing license. Conditions include: for patents, no more than 10 claims (max 2 independent claims), an early-publication request filed at the same time, and the application must not be a divisional or converted application; for trademarks, the application must be filed directly (not via the international system) and must not be a collective mark, certification mark, three-dimensional mark, or sound mark. Applicants must pay the fast-track examination fee, and the request must be submitted together with the application itself.

National Databases and Digital Transformation

The Ministry of Science and Technology is responsible for building three new data systems: an industrial property database (covering applications and protection titles), a geographical-indication management information system, and a database on IP transaction prices (recording the value of assignments, licenses, mortgages, and capital contributions involving IP rights). Relevant ministries and localities must update transaction data within their management scope, at least once a year. In parallel, IP enforcement agencies (courts, customs, police, market management, and provincial people's committees) are directed to invest in automated systems to detect and monitor online IP infringement and to act within their authority, such as ordering content takedowns or suspending infringing accounts.

Rights holders are also encouraged, though not required, to maintain an internal register of IP rights that do not yet qualify for recognition as an asset on the accounting books, for purposes such as valuation when contributing capital or pledging IP as loan collateral, or demonstrating capability to investors and partners. This internal register does not replace the statutory financial-reporting obligations under accounting law.

Security Review for Patents Filed Abroad

Inventions on the state-secrets list with defense or security implications, created in Vietnam by Vietnamese citizens or entities, may only be filed for patent protection abroad after clearance from the Ministry of National Defense or the Ministry of Public Security. The application file must include a prescribed declaration form, a description of the invention, and a document confirming state-secret status; the competent authority must complete its review within 30 days of receiving a valid application.

Licensing Contract Registration and Other Provisions

The decree sets out detailed procedures and timelines, a 30-day processing period at the provincial People's Committee level, for registering amendments, extensions, and early termination of industrial-property licensing contracts, as well as qualification requirements for industrial-property representative training. Per the decree's own scope statement in Article 1, it also covers recording and removal of industrial-property representative names, revocation of representative practice certificates, organization of expert-assessment activities for industrial property and plant-variety rights, and destruction of counterfeit trademark goods - the detailed provisions for these topics fall later in the document, beyond what was captured in the source extract used for this article.

Note: The Official Gazette extract used to prepare this summary is cut off at Article 31, before reaching the effective-date clause. The official effective date has not been confirmed and should be verified against the full published text.