Vietnamese law firm loses trademark dispute over 'APOLO LAWYERS' name

A Vietnamese law firm, Apolo Lawyers, has lost its lawsuit against the Intellectual Property Office after the court rejected its claim to register the trademark "APOLO LAWYERS Solicitors & Litigators." The firm had argued that its mark was not confusingly similar to the pre-existing registered trademark "APOLO LAWFIRM."

The Intellectual Property Office had refused to grant protection for the "APOLO LAWYERS" portion of the firm's mark, deeming it too similar to "APOLO LAWFIRM." The office maintained that terms like "LAWYERS," "Solicitors & Litigators" are merely descriptive of legal services and lack distinctiveness, making the "APOLO" element the key identifier. The firm had sought to register the mark in 2018, including both text and a logo featuring a scales of justice.

The People's Court of Ho Chi Minh City's First Instance Court upheld the Intellectual Property Office's decision. The court found that the visual elements of the proposed logo were simple and descriptive, and that the overall mark did not possess sufficient distinctiveness to be registered, especially given the similarity to the earlier "APOLO LAWFIRM" mark. The court's ruling aligns with Vietnam's Intellectual Property Law, which requires trademarks to be distinctive and not cause confusion among consumers.