Legal Basis

Law on Marks, Trade Names and Acts of Unfair Competition of the Kingdom of Cambodia, approved by the National Assembly on December 6, 2001.
Sub-Decree on the Implementation of the Law on Marks, Trade Names and Acts of Unfair Competition, dated July 12, 2006.

Trademark Application Process

Trademark registration applications are submitted to the Department of Intellectual Property (DIP) under the Ministry of Commerce.
Cambodia does not allow multi-class trademark applications; each application may cover only one class of goods/services.
Although Cambodia is not a signatory to either the Nice Agreement Concerning the International Classification of Goods and Services for the Purposes of the Registration of Marks or the Vienna Agreement Establishing an International Classification of the Figurative Elements of Marks, it has adopted both classification systems. Generally, class headings are not accepted except for a few categories (e.g., Class 25—clothing, footwear, headgear). If a trademark consists of or contains figurative elements/devices, the Vienna Classification must be provided in the application. Similarly, if a trademark consists of or contains non-Latin characters, transliteration and meaning must also be provided.
The Registrar shall indicate on each application document the actual receipt date and a serial application number consisting of the letters "KH" in italics followed by at least five digits, along with the last two digits of the year of application. If any corrections or subsequently submitted documents are received on different dates, the Registrar shall indicate the actual receipt dates of those documents.
Formal examination and substantive examination are conducted sequentially.

Formal Examination

When conducting a formal examination of a trademark application, the DIP may issue a notice of formal deficiencies (see Article 17 of Sub-Decree No. 46 dated July 12, 2006, which stipulates "objections or conditional acceptance of applications and hearings"). In such cases, the applicant must submit a written response or request a hearing with the DIP within forty-five (45) days from the date of receiving the notice. If the applicant fails to comply with the notice, the trademark application shall be deemed withdrawn.

Substantive Examination

If the DIP accepts the trademark application but requires amendments, modifications, additional conditions, disclaimers (regarding any element of the trademark), restrictions, or other conditions, the DIP will issue a decision to the applicant. If the applicant objects to these amendments, modifications, disclaimers, restrictions, or other conditions, they must request a hearing or submit written opinions within sixty (60) days from the date of receiving the DIP's decision/notice. If the applicant does not object to these amendments, modifications, disclaimers, restrictions, or other conditions, they shall notify the DIP in writing and amend the application accordingly. If the applicant fails to submit a response, the application shall be deemed abandoned.
If the DIP unconditionally accepts the application or accepts it without objection from the applicant, the DIP shall register the trademark, issue a certificate of trademark registration to the applicant, and publish the registration.

A trademark registered in Cambodia shall include:

• Representation of the trademark;
• Application number and registration number;
• Name and address of the registered owner;
• Name and address of the representative (if any);
• Filing date and registration date;
• If priority has been claimed and accepted, the country/region and application number of the prior application;
• List of goods/services covered by the trademark registration, indicating the corresponding classes under the international classification.

The publication of trademark registration as stipulated in paragraph (1) above shall contain the following:

• Filing date and priority date (if applicable);
• Representation of the registered trademark;
• Application number and registration number;
• Classes and/or goods/services related to the registered trademark, indicating the corresponding classes under the international classification;
• Name and address of the registered trademark owner;
• Name and address of the representative (if any).