The information that the two states of the US, Washington and Louisiana, apply a new regulation, requiring all the companies which export goods to the markets to use legal software products, has raised worries to some Vietnamese businesses.
Under the Unfair Competition Act (UCA), the behavior of making products by using pirated software will be considered as the unfair competition with the businesses which use legal software.
Since July 2011, the enterprises that use pirated software, when exporting their products to the two states, will face the risk of being sued by the rivals or general attorneys in the two states. The enterprises would be added into the black list of enterprises which are prohibited to export goods to the markets, or they will be forced to pay the compensation with the sums of money equal or triple the sums of money spent to buy copyrighted software.
However, the new rules applied by Washington and Louisiana states prove to be not the only barrier for exporters. Lawyers have warned that maybe all the 50 states in the US and some other countries are considering the same rule.
Peter Fowler, South East Asian Regional Intellectual Property Attache' of the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) answered the question of Thoi bao Kinh te Saigon via email, that more than 30 other states in the US are in different stages when considering promulgating similar regulation.
He has predicted that the new law would be the tendency in the near future, with nearly all 50 states in the US and the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands as well possibly applying similar laws.
As such, the exporters from all over the world will have to obey the laws and face potential risks.
According to Tran Manh Hung, Director of the Intellectual Property Division of Baker & McKenzie Vietnam, an US law firm, it is very likely that following the US, some other countries such as Canada, the EU and Japan would also apply similar regulations.
Hung has also warned that this is a problem Vietnamese businesses should pay attention to. In many cases, enterprises use legal software products directly in manufacturing, but they use pirated software in other indirect activities.
Despite the warnings, Vietnamese businesses, including garment companies which are considered the biggest exporters to the US, say they still keep calm on the new regulation.
Some polled garment companies said that they export products to the US, but they do not export products directly to Washington and Louisiana states, and that they have not received any special requests from the US partners relating to the above said regulation.
A big wooden furniture manufacturer in Binh Duong province, which specializes in exporting products to the US, has also affirmed that he has not received any information from the partners about the requirement to use copyrighted software. The representative of the enterprise said that in fact, domestic enterprises have been regularly taking inspection tours to enterprises to examine the use of the software products by enterprises.
Hung has warned that even if the foreign partners do not set requirements relating to the software use, exporters should keep cautious, and that they still may be sued by the rivals and may be prohibited to export goods to the US.
The export items to the US are mostly garments, footwear, wooden furniture and seafood products.
Meanwhile, local newspapers have quoted Doan Tu Tich Phuoc, a senior official of the Competition Administration Department, an arm of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, as saying that the new rules will benefit the enterprises which use legal software and obey the copyright law
Source: TBKTSG
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