City hammock maker files patent suit in US
HCM CITY — A HCM City hammock maker has filed a patent rights lawsuit against a Taiwanese man in the US.
The director of the privately-owned Duy Loi Company, Lam Tan Loi, said his Taiwan-based distribution agent had received a letter a few weeks ago ordering him to stop importing his hammocks as a similar brand had already been registered.
Loi had the Pham and Associates law firm investigate the case and discovered a man named Chung Sen Wu had received a US patent for a portable hammock exactly like Duy Loi’s.
The law office said Chung had submitted his application for the patent in August 2001 and received it in 2002, while the company’s portable hammock has been registered with the Viet Nam National Office of Intellectual Property since March 2000.
According to Pham and Associates, the case looked promising because Chung received his patent after Duy Loi’s hammock had become widely-known in Viet Nam.
The law firm successfully defended the company using the same argument in a similar case against a businessman in Japan last June.
"Even I know the lawsuit will be costly," Loi said. "The one in Japan cost me US$8,000, but this is slated (to cost) much more, because it is in the US. However, the suit is worthwhile because I have to protect my invention."
If he wins the case, Duy Loi would have greater success in the US market, he said.
Loi said he completely trusted Pham and Associates which had helped Viet Nam Tobacco Corporation regain its trademark in the Cambodian market.
Loi said his hammocks are exported to South Korea, New Zealand, Australia, Japan and Germany. They have also had considerable success in the domestic market, where they are sold for from VND200,000 to 500,000 ($13-32). — VNS
