This dispute took place between Minh Khang Vietnam Trading and Service Co., Ltd. and Sen Vang Trading Advertising Joint Stock Company.
The Panel of Judges decided to uphold the previous first-instance judgment of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Court, and at the same time determined that there was no basis to believe that Sen Vang infringed industrial property rights over the disputed name.
According to the court's assessment, the basis for establishing industrial property rights for trademarks must be based on a protection certificate issued by a competent state agency in accordance with the provisions of the Law on Intellectual Property.
In the lawsuit, Minh Khang was granted a Trademark Registration Certificate for "Miss Peace Vietnam" belonging to the group of education, entertainment, cultural activities organization and beauty contest services. However, the phrase "Miss Peace Vietnam" has not yet been granted a separate protection certificate for any subject.
The Panel of Judges held that submitting a valid registration application or accepted application does not mean that industrial property rights have arisen. Therefore, there is no basis to determine that one party has exclusive rights to the phrase "Miss Peace Vietnam".
Regarding the argument that "Miss Peace Vietnam" can be understood as equivalent to "Miss Peace Vietnam", thereby creating confusion, the court stated that the assessment of signs of trademark infringement must be based on many overall factors such as structure, pronunciation, form of expression, commercial recognition and confusion in public perception.
Through comparison, the Panel of Judges determined that "Miss Peace Vietnam" and "Miss Grand Vietnam - Miss Peace Vietnam" had differences in language structure, presentation and commercial recognition.
During the trial, Sen Vang provided documents related to the right to use the name "Miss Grand Vietnam - Miss Peace Vietnam", including a contract to grant rights from Miss Grand International, a certificate of copyright for the contest logo and organizational licenses from 2021 to present.
According to the Panel of Judges, the documents show that Sen Vang used the above name within the licensed framework and in accordance with legal regulations.
Previously, at the first-instance trial in September 2025, the Ho Chi Minh City People's Court rejected all lawsuits of Minh Khang Company against Sen Vang and Ms. Pham Thi Kim Dung - General Director of the company.
According to the case file, Minh Khang believes that Sen Vang's use of the name "Miss Grand Vietnam" for the Miss Grand Vietnam contest affects the intellectual property rights that the company is exploiting. The plaintiff requests Sen Vang to stop using the name, remove it from the media and publicly apologize.
However, the first-instance court determined that Minh Khang was only protected for the "Miss Peace Vietnam" trademark, and had not been granted a separate protection certificate for the phrase "Miss Peace Vietnam", so there was no basis to accept the lawsuit request.
