Cambodia

Copyright

Copyright is an intellectual property right that protects creations of the mind. Copyright is a legal term used to describe exclusive rights granted to authors, artists and other creators for their creations. These rights generally includes: copying; publishing; translating; adapting and altering; distributing; etc. and are granted automatically following the creation of the work.

The following works may be granted copyright protection under Cambodian law:

Books and other literary, artistic, scientific, and educational documents.
Lectures, speeches, sermons, oral or written pleadings and other such works.
Dramatic works and musical dramas.
Choreographic works.
Circus performances and pantomimes.
Musical compositions, with or without words.
Audio visual works.
Paintings, engravings, etc., or applied arts.
Photographic works.
Architectural works.
Maps, plans, sketches.
Computer programmes.
Products of collage work in handicraft, handmade textile products and other clothing fashion.
Performer’s rights.

The author of a work enjoys the exclusive right to that work, which is enforceable against all persons. The author is the person or persons who create(s) a work, and the exclusive right covers both the moral and economic rights to the work.

The Moral Rights include the exclusive right for the copyright owner (author) to decide on the manner and timing of the publication of the work; whether his or her name shall be attached to the work; and the right to prevent destruction or modification of the work. Moral rights are perpetual and non-transferable. However, the moral right will, after the copyright owner’s death, transfer to the copyright owner’s heirs.

The Economic Rights include the exclusive right for the copyright owner to exploit his or her work through authorization of reproduction, communication to the public, and creation of derivative works.

How do I Register my Copyright?

A copyright can be registered with the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts. The Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts will then issue a Certificate of Registration (provided that the application is complete).

Duration of protection

Moral rights are perpetual and non-transferable. The economic rights, however, last for the lifetime of the author plus another fifty (50) years after the author’s death. The duration of copyright protection for works published by anonymous authors is seventy-five (75) years from the date of publication of the work. Collective, audio-visual and posthumous works enjoy protection for seventy-five (75) years from the day the work was first published.

Industrial Design

An Industrial Design Certificate protects a product’s special appearance, i.e., the combination of the applied art and applied science of the product.

In Cambodia, industrial designs are regulated by the Patent Law. The Patent Law grants protection to any composition of lines, colours, three-dimensional shapes, or material, provided that the composition is new.

Registrable Industrial Design

An industrial design must be new to be registered. This means that it has not been disclosed to the public, anywhere in the world, by publication, use, or other disclosure, prior to the filing or priority date. Disclosures made within twelve months of filing or the priority date, by the applicant, his predecessor in title, or a third party by abuse, do not bar registration. Industrial designs contrary to public order or morality are not registrable.

Industrial design applications are filed with the Department of Industrial Property of the Ministry of Industry and Handicraft. The application form and any documents forming a part of an application must be submitted in the Khmer. The application form must be submitted with drawings, photographs or other adequate representation of the article. As soon as the required documentation is submitted and an official fee is paid to the Department of Industrial Property.

As Cambodia is a member of the Paris Convention and World Trade Organization, applications may claim priority based on an earlier national, regional or international application. The period of priority is six months from the date of filing of the first application. In such case, the Department of Industrial Property will request a certified copy of the priority application. The period for furnishing the certified copy of the earlier application is three months from the date of the request by the Registrar. A Cambodian translation of the certified copy of the earlier application must be submitted to the Registrar within six months from the date of the request.

Duration of Protection

Industrial Design Certificates last for five (5) years from the filing date and the registration may be renewed for two (2) further consecutive periods of five (5) years each. Thus the maximum length of protection for an industrial design is fifteen (15) years.

Patent

Patents are the set of exclusive rights granted to inventors or their assignees to exploit an invention for a limited period of time. Patenting an invention publicly discloses information concerning it, but also gives SMEs the right to protect it.

A product patent (i.e., a patent giving protection to the product as such) gives the patent holder the exclusive right to make, import, sell, offer for sale, use, and stock the product for the purpose of sale or use. A process patent (i.e. a patent granted for a process or a method), gives the patent holder an exclusive right to prevent others from using that process/form.

Patentable Inventions

An invention is patentable if it is novel, involves an inventive step, and is industrially applicable.

An invention is novel if it is not disclosed to the public anywhere in the world, prior to the date of filing the application or the priority date. An invention is considered to involve an inventive step if the invention is not obvious to a person skilled in the art. The industrially applicable requirement means that the invention must have a use in at least one kind of industry. The Patent Law excludes certain types of inventions from patent protection, such as discoveries, scientific theories, and mathematical methods

Non- Patentable Inventions

Inventions that would be contrary to public order or morality;
that would be harmful to human, animal or plant life;
that would seriously compromise the environment;
or inventions otherwise “prohibited by law.”

Cambodia recently also allows for international patent registrations and became a member of the PCT on 8 December 2016. With the international patent system, applicants can now seek protection for their inventions internationally, and file applications in numerous countries simultaneously

Cambodia employs a first-to-file system, meaning that the person whose application has the earliest filing date – or, if priority is claimed, the earliest priority date – he/she is granted the patent or utility model certificate. Here the priority date is the date when an application was first made for the patent or utility model certificate in a foreign country. The period of priority starts from the filing date of the first application (the day of filing shall not be included in the period) and is then twelve (12) months for patents and utility models.

Application Process in Cambodia

Patent applications can be filed with the Department of Industrial Property of the Ministry of Industry and Handicraft.

Applications may claim priority based on an earlier national, regional or international patent application, according to the Paris Convention and the Patent Cooperation Treaty. In such case, the Department of Industrial Property will request a certified copy of the priority application, as well as any search or examination reports or foreign office actions.

The patent application form must be made in Khmer and be accompanied by a description of the invention, one or more claims, one or more drawings when necessary to understand the invention, and an abstract, and be accompanied by payment of the official fee.

Utility Model Certificates are, similarly to patents, intellectual property rights that protect the technical aspects of inventions.

The Patent Law defines utility models as any invention which is new and industrially applicable and may be, or may relate to, a product or process. Thus, unlike patented inventions, utility models do not need to involve an inventive step. This is the key difference between utility models and patented inventions; whereas utility models may be obvious to a person skilled in the art, patented inventions may not.

Trademark

A trademark is a sign capable of distinguishing the goods or services of one enterprise from those of other enterprises. A trade mark is a sign such as word, device, brand, shape, colour, sound or a combination of these elements, which is capable of being graphically represented and being used by a person in the course of trade to distinguish his goods or services from another person’s. Trademark protection may be granted for words and symbols that are visually capable of distinguishing the goods or services of an enterprise. The trademark law also allows for the registration of collective marks, trade names, and geographical indications and additionally, although not addressed by the Trade Mark Law, three-dimensional trademarks may also be registered (providing that they meet the requirement of distinctiveness).

Cambodia applies the ‘first-to-file principle’ to trademarks which grants an exclusive right of trade mark use to the registrant who applies first.

Trademark Application Process

We may apply for the registration of a trademark at the Ministry of Commerce, Department of Intellectual Property Rights.

The processing time for Cambodian trademark registrations is approximately nine months to one year to obtain the registration certificate, if there are no rejections/oppositions from the trademark office or third party.

If a trademark application satisfies the legal provisions, the Cambodian Trademark Registrar will issue a notice of acceptance. The applicant then must pay the registration fee and will receive an official trademark registration certificate. The registration is then published in the Official Gazette, beginning the 90-day opposition period.

Period of Protection

The registration of a mark is for a period of ten (10) years from the filing date of the application for registration. The registered mark can be renewed for consecutive periods of ten years provided the registered owner pays the prescribed renewal fee.

However, It is mandatory to file an Affidavit of use or non-use of the mark within 1 year following the 5th anniversary of the registration date.

Geographical Indication

A Geographical Indication (GI) refers to a distinctive name, symbol or any other sign which is used for naming or representing a geographical origin, and can identify the goods as originating in such geographical origin where the quality, reputation or other characteristics of the goods is essentially attributable to the geographical origin. GIs differ from trade marks in the sense that GIs may be used by all producers or traders whose products originate from that place and which share the particular quality, reputation or other characteristics, while trade marks may only be used by the trade mark owner, or with the owner’s consent.

Scope of Application

Any goods, whether agricultural, foodstuffs, handicraft or other, can be the subject of a geographical indication, so long as they are produced or transformed in Cambodia.

Applying for your Geographical Indication in Cambodia

An application for registration can be filed with the Ministry of Commerce. The application shall consist of the relevant government form either in Khmer or English, the book of specifications, a sample of the product and the filing fee. Following the filing of the application, the Ministry of Commerce verifies that it satisfies the necessary requirements and will notify the applicant within forty-five days. If the application is deemed deficient, the applicant has six months to rectify the issues identified or otherwise respond to the Registrar, otherwise the application will be deemed abandoned.

Once the application is deemed to be complete, it will enter the substantive examination phase. This involves the Ministry of Commerce verifying the accuracy of the information in the application, and ensuring that the indication is not contrary to laws, morality, religion, good custom or public order, is not misleading or confusing, is not the name of a plant variety or animal breed, and not a generic term.

Assuming the application passes through substantive examination, the Ministry will register the GI and issue a certificate. The GI will be published in the Official Gazette of the Ministry of Commerce no later than 30 days from the registration date, providing any interested party the opportunity to oppose the registration. Oppositions must be filed within 90 days of publication on the grounds provided in the Articles 4 (definition of GI) and 10 of the Law on Geographical Indications, otherwise the registration shall be final.

Duration of Protection

Under the GIs Law, registration takes effect from the date that the application is submitted, and runs indefinitely so long as the registration is not cancelled or invalidated according to law. The GIs Law does not require renewals.