By NGUYEN Ngoc Quynh, LL.B., MBA       16 January 2026

Applicant sought to register the mark “adibaba” for “shoes” in Vietnam. “adidas” was recognized by the IP Vietnam as well-known mark in its settlement of our firm’s previous opposition, adidas v. adidos, device.

On December 19, 2018, adidas AG, represented by Lê & Lê, opposed the two applications on the grounds that the applied-for mark is confusingly similar to the adidas’s well-known registered marks “adidas” and to a series (family) of marks having a common prefix “adi” under Article 74.2(e) and 74.2(i) of the IP Law and Rule 20.2.2.c of Trademark Manual 2010, respectively, and the bad-faith filing of the opposed mark constitutes an act of unfair competition under Article 10bis (2) and (3) of Paris Convention.

Prior to the current IP Law, which took effect on January 1, 2023, predatory intent or bad faith was not a ground for refusal of an application or cancellation of a registration. Therefore, we addressed bad faith under the umbrella of “unfair competition” pursuant to Article 10bis(2) and (3) of the Paris Convention. In addition, the doctrine of “family of marks” had not been well established or consistently applied in IP Vietnam’s practice.

Notwithstanding the above, all of our claims, including those based on bad faith and family of marks, were fully accepted by IP Vietnam. Consequently, the applied-for mark “adibaba” (Application No. 4-2017-35986) was refused protection.