World’s best rice from Vietnam gets trademark in EU, UK

"I was surprised [the] submission was approved so quickly," Ho Quang Cua, referring to the ‘Gao Ong Cua’ trademark for the variety he developed.

He is also in the process of registering it in Australia, mainland China and Hong Kong.

Registration certificates of Gao Ong Cua in the U.K. and the E.U. Photo courtesy of Ho Quang Cua

In Vietnam, authorities have not responded to his trademark application submitted seven months ago, he said.

He has not even received word on the registration of the letters ‘ST’ for the rice 18 months after submission.

"I know the Covid-19 pandemic has caused difficulties for authorities. But I hope they speed up the process to prevent piracy".

ST25 was the result of 25 years of work by Cua and his colleagues.

It won the World's Best Rice title in the Philippines, marking the first time a Vietnamese variety had claimed top spot in the contest’s then 11-year history.

In the second quarter of this year alone, at least six companies have applied for a trademark for the ST25 brand, five in the U.S. and one in Australia, prompting Cua to trademark it abroad.