Politics as a function of trademark: A new perspective from the historical development of trademark law in colonial and socialist Vietnam

This study provides a fresh understanding of the theory of trademark law, more specifically the functions of trademark through the legal historical analysis of trademark law in the colonial and socialist era of Vietnam from 1858 to 1986. It argues that unlike widely accepted agreements about the functions of trademark in the contemporary world, trademark in general and trademark law in particular, assumed a very different function and played a distinctive role of colonial settlement during the colonial period and centrally planned economy in the time of the socialist building of Vietnam. In doing so, the research employs a recently proposed conceptual framework of studying colonial intellectual property law by Michael Birnhack in combination with historical analysis of law. Through the original discourse of this article, it can be argued further that the functions of trademark are varied and may be determined by the political and economic settings rather than vice versa. The research also resonates with and contributes to the new interdisciplinary and emerging body of literature attempting to explore and understand the history of intellectual property law, especially outside Western intellectual property norms and ideas.