The Politburo of the Communist Party of Vietnam issued Conclusion No. 51-KL/TW on 17 June 2026, on promoting intellectual property work to serve socio-economic development. The Conclusion operates as a binding policy directive to government ministries, state agencies, and the Communist Party's subordinate bodies. It directs the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Culture, and law enforcement agencies to reform IP legislation and strengthen enforcement, with explicit attention to intellectual property issues arising from artificial intelligence.
The Conclusion mandates that Vietnam treat intellectual property as a distinct economic asset capable of collateralisation and investment attraction. It directs the Ministry of Science and Technology to accelerate amendments to the Intellectual Property Law 2022 to clarify ownership and authorship of AI-generated works, and to establish legal instruments enabling businesses to use IP as capital for investment. The Conclusion also calls for the creation of specialised IP adjudication bodies and orders stricter criminal enforcement against software piracy, academic plagiarism, and infringement of patents and industrial designs.
Technology companies, AI developers, software vendors, and content businesses operating in or supplying content into Vietnam must review their IP portfolios against tightening enforcement. Foreign companies licensing technology or software into Vietnam face heightened scrutiny of their licensing structures and anti-piracy provisions. AI developers producing content for Vietnamese users face regulatory uncertainty over the legal status of AI-generated outputs under Vietnamese copyright law, pending the IP Law amendments the Conclusion directs.
The Conclusion is a party directive, not enacted legislation, and creates political instruction rather than directly enforceable legal rights or obligations. The specific legislative amendments it mandates require action by the National Assembly or the government through decrees. No enacted timeline for IP Law amendments or specialised IP courts has been publicly confirmed. Vietnam already operates an AI risk classification regime under Decree No. 142/2026/ND-CP, effective 1 May 2026, to which AI developers active in Vietnam are already subject.
Licentium advises technology and creative industry clients on IP strategy and AI regulatory compliance in Vietnam and other Southeast Asian and EU markets. Contact us to discuss your exposure. Work we undertake includes Vietnam IP portfolio structuring and risk assessment, AI-generated content ownership advice, technology licensing agreement review under Vietnamese IP law, AI Act compliance for businesses active across ASEAN and the EU, and cross-border enforcement strategy.