Splitting his time between the Hong Kong and Vietnam offices, country manager Chris Vale of Rouse Legal is a well-known figure in Vietnam. He is supported in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi by trade mark specialist Hien Pham, patent professional Trung Nguyen and leading litigator Hien Dao, all of whom are directly responsible for the firm's growth. The team's achievements in navigating complex trade mark issues are considered to be Rouse's key quality in its integrated brand management strategy. "Rouse is very knowledgeable within the trade mark field and has been helpful in addressing copycat issues," notes a client. "It proactively works with us to ensure proper trade mark protection of all elements on packing."
In early 2010, the team successfully cancelled a third-party trade mark registration on behalf of Diageo Brands and obtained well-known mark status for Guinness. The team is trying to replicate its accomplishments in a similar case involving GlaxoSmithKline's Panadol mark versus the allegedly confusing mark Pancidol in a case that is at the appeal stage. Also worthy of highlight is Rouse's victory in a trade mark infringement and unfair competition case against a .vn domain name for an online search engine, which was resolved under a WIPO procedure in a timely and cost-effective manner that would not have been possible under the Vietnam Internet Network Information Centre policies.