On May 4, 20171 the Ministry of Commerce, Kingdom of Cambodia issued a regulation declaring a new online trademark registration procedure. This new online trademark system was launched on May 25, 2017.2 The new e-filing system3 allows an applicant for easy and quick filing for new trademark applications. This system can be used by both local and foreign applicants (either individual or groups).Applicants either local or foreign can now upload the necessary documents and detailed certificates for mark registration online.
The newly launched online-filing portal is used only for filing new trademark applications, but the actions which are performed post-filing are to be filed manually and in person at Intellectual Property Department of Cambodia. However, the traditional paper-filing system for trademark applications still continues alongside the new e-filing system.
According to the 'disclaimer details' of the new e-filing system, the user account, i.e. the username & password to access the trademark Filing System is created upon a request to DIP official.4But the foreign applicants must have a local registered trademark agent from Cambodia itself who can file their applications on their behalf. The payment for the filing fee by the applicants can be made either online or off-line. For offline payment of filing fees, the applicants have to pay to the Ministry of Commerce in one of the three cooperative banks given below:
- FOREIGN TRADE BANK (FTB)
- CANADIA BANK
- ACELEDA BANK
The e-filing portal3 has been developed with the help of technical experts from World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)5 with the goal of bringing Cambodia's Intellectual Property department up-to-speed with other developed international patent offices. Yo Takagi, assistant director-general of global infrastructure at the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), said online filing systems make it easier for individuals and small and medium sized enterprises to register trademarks without physically going to the Commerce Ministry – thus being a huge boost to Cambodia's burgeoning economy.
This new system is another milestone achieved by the department of Intellectual Property of Cambodia, having earlier becoming the first country in Asia to recognize European patents on its territory under the European Patent Organization (EPO) by signing a validation agreement with the EPO on 23 January 2017.6
Footnotes
1 http://www.cambodiaip.gov.kh/NewsDetail.aspx?id=110048
2 http://www.akp.gov.kh/?p=103057
3 https://efiling.cambodiaip.gov.kh/efiling/
4 https://efiling.cambodiaip.gov.kh/efiling/disclaimerDetails
5 http://www.wipo.int/edocs/mdocs/mdocs/en/wipo_tm_pnh_16/wipo_tm_pnh_16_t13.pdf
6 https://www.epo.org/news-issues/news/2017/20170123.html
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