Abbreviation Style for Vietnamese Patent Translations: PattransVN Standard

There is no binding legal rule in Vietnam for how to introduce and use abbreviations in Vietnamese patent specifications. Practice, however, is highly uniform: spell out the Vietnamese term the first time, add the English term and the abbreviation in parentheses, then use the abbreviation thereafter. This guide explains accepted variants, our house standard, and a ready-to-use checklist.

1) Baseline convention (widely accepted)

First mention: write the Vietnamese term in full, followed by the English term and the abbreviation inside parentheses. Subsequent mentions: use the abbreviation only.

Because Vietnam-bound specs are bilingual in intent (examiners often look back to the English source), many editors place English alongside the first Vietnamese mention.

2) Accepted first-mention variants (choose one and be consistent)

giao diện người dùng (User Interface: UI) ← PattransVN default
giao diện người dùng (User Interface, UI)
giao diện người dùng (User Interface - UI)
giao diện người dùng (UI - User Interface)
giao diện người dùng (UI: User Interface)

Recommendation: pick one variant, apply it everywhere, and avoid mixing styles within a single document.

3) PattransVN house style

We standardize the first mention as Vietnamese (English: ACRONYM), for example:

giao diện người dùng (User Interface: UI)
hệ trên chip (System on Chip: SoC)
điều chế độ rộng xung (Pulse-Width Modulation: PWM)
mạng nơ-ron tích chập (Convolutional Neural Network: CNN)

Why this helps: (i) Vietnamese readers get the meaning instantly; (ii) English source term remains visible for verification; (iii) the triad “VN – EN – ACRONYM” makes QA faster; (iv) subsequent uses are concise because we switch to the acronym only.

4) Practical rules

First occurrence: use Vietnamese (English: ACRONYM).
Later occurrences: use the acronym only (e.g., UI, SoC).
New major sections: reintroduce rare/obscure acronyms once at the start of that section if clarity helps.
Plural acronyms: in English contexts, no apostrophe (FETs, not FET's). In Vietnamese sentences, plural markers are typically omitted.
Titles/Headings: avoid first-mention introductions in titles; if SEO requires an acronym in a heading, define it again in the opening paragraph.
Don’t abbreviate terms that occur only once or twice—spelling out may be clearer.

5) Examples in context

First mention: “Hệ thống đề xuất sử dụng giao diện người dùng (User Interface: UI) thích nghi theo ngữ cảnh.”

Later: “Dữ liệu được hiển thị trên UI và cập nhật theo thời gian thực.”

6) Quick checklist

First mention: Vietnamese (English: ACRONYM)
Subsequent mentions: ACRONYM only
One variant only—no style mixing
No apostrophes for English plural acronyms (if needed)
Reintroduce in a new section only when clarity demands

7) Implementation helpers

Use the downloadable CSV template to list your acronyms and ensure one-to-one mapping. If you draft in Microsoft Word, paste our VBA macro snippet into Normal.dotm or the current document to flag inconsistent first mentions.