IP OVERVIEW OF CAMBODIA

Cambodia (full name: the Kingdom of Cambodia; commonly known as Cambodia) is a civilized ancient country with long history and established an united kingdom as early as in the 1st century AD. Cambodia was in war for a long term from 1970s. Since 1993, Cambodia entered a new era of peace and development as a result of successive establishment of national authorities and realization of national reconciliation in Cambodia. In October 2004, Cambodia became officially the 148th member of the World Trade Organization (WTO).

The Cambodian government started to draft IP related laws from 1995, such as The Trademark Law , Patent and Design Protection Law, and Copyright and Related Right Protection Law. The law on the protection of patents, utility models and industrial designs was adopted by the Cabinet in October 2001 while the law on trademarks, trade names and unfair competitions was adopted in December 2001 and enacted in 2002. Cambodia entered into a trade-related IP agreement with US in October 1996 and signed a memorandum of understanding with regard to IP cooperation with Thailand in March 1997. Besides, Cambodia, as a member of ASEAN, has approved the implementation of 1995 ASEAN IP Cooperation Agreement Framework.  

An inter-ministerial IP coordinating organization, that is, IP Coordination Committee, is set up in Cambodia for the sake of overall coordination of IP work. The Ministry of Industry, Mines and Energy is responsible for the disposal, review, approval and relevant management of patents, utility models and industrial design applications as well as drafting and implementation of relevant laws and regulations in this aspect. Specific work will be undertaken by Industrial Property Department under the ministry. The Ministry of Commerce will handle, review, register and manage the applications for trademark registration, draft and implement relevant laws and regulations in this aspect and work of the Secretariat of IP Coordination Committee, while specific work is done by IP Department of the Ministry of Commerce. The Ministry of Culture and Art will manage the copyright and draft and implement relevant laws and regulations in this aspect and specific work is carried out by IP Department of the Ministry of Culture and Art.

Since the beginning of the new century, the Cambodian government has adopted a series of laws and regulations on the IP protection, which indicates that rapid progress has been made in this aspect. The latest laws and regulations include: Trademarks, Trade Names and Anti-Unfair Competitions Law (2002), Copyright and Related Right Law (2003), Patents, Utility Models and Industrial Design Law (2003), and Breeder Right and Plant Variety Protection Law (2008) etc.

Patent, Utility Model and Industrial Design

The Patents, Utility Models and Industrial Design Law was published in 2003 to mainly protect patents and utility models granted and industrial design registered in Cambodia. Patents refer to rights granted to protect inventions, with a term of 20 years; patents for utility models are intended to mainly protect innovative utility models that can lead to industrialization, with a term of 7 years, unrenewable. Applications can be made for the registration of innovative industrial design with a term of 5 years. Upon registration, the term can be renewed twice consecutively, with 5 years each time.

Trademark and Trade Name

The Law of Cambodia on Trademarks, Trade Names and Anti-Unfair Competitions published in 2002 is the first IP protection law of Cambodia, which specifies that the exclusive right in a trademark shall be obtained through registration. Any applicant will be granted the priority on trademark registration in Cambodia, if he/she is able to prove in application documents that he has submitted the application for the registration of the trademark in the whole country or any region of any member state to the Paris Convention. This Law also prescribes the registration procedures, invalidation, collective marks, trademark license, trade names, infringement and compensation, environmental protection measures, transfer or change of ownership etc. Trademarks registered in Cambodia can be divided into commodity trademarks, service marks, collective marks, three-dimensional marks and color marks. The term of protection of any registered trademark is 10 years as of the application date and can be renewed.

Only the principle of “One-Country Exhaustion” is accepted in Cambodia. The right owner has the exclusive right against distribution and import, which can be transferred to an exclusive distributor by means of entrustment or distribution agreements.

Copyright and Related Right

The Copyright and Related Right Law of Cambodia was released in 2003 to provide authors and performers with rights related to their works and protect literary works, cultural performances, performers, record producers and programs of broadcasting organizations so as to ensure fair and legal use of these cultural products.

The work author(s) has the exclusive right towards anyone against the work, including spiritual and economic rights. The spiritual right is permanently valid and inalienable, which cannot be detained or set with a deadline for tracing. The economic right refers to the exclusive right to realize the value of a work by authorizing the replication, publication or creation of derivative works of the work. The protection of economic right is effective from the date of completing the creation of the works to 50 years after the death of the author.