Instant noodle produced by Asia Food (left) has similar packing design with noodle produced by Vina Acecook (right). — Photo dddn.com.vn

HA NOI (Biz Hub) — Food manufacturer Acecook Viet Nam Joint Stock Company, knows as Vina Acecook, has filed a lawsuit against A Chau Food Joint Stock Company (Asia Food) for infringing on their trademark.

Vina Acecook sued A Chau Food for manufacturing instant noodles that had similar packing designs and confusing customers about the two products.

In a petition sent to the People's Court of the southern province of Binh Duong, Vina Acecook asked the court to protect Vina Acecook, whose trademark is registered. It also proposed that the court require Asia Food to stop its trademark violations.

Vina Acecook also asked Asia Food to publicly apologise and correct its violations.

The company further seeks compensation from Asia Food of VND817.5 million (US$38,000), including VND637.5 million in profits that Asia Food received due to its violation, and also to retrieve the money that Vina Acecook spent to prevent and deal with the consequences caused by the trademark violations.

The National Office of Intellectual Property of Viet Nam checked and confirmed that the instant noodle product produced by Asia Food had similar packing designs with those produced by Vina Acecook, causing confusion between the two products.

In February, Vina Acecook warned Asia Food about the violation and asked them to stop advertising and selling their instant noodle product, and to remove all products on sale in markets. However, Asia Food representatives said its product also had a registered trademark. The two sides then held a meeting to discuss the issue but no agreement was reached. — VNS