On March 2, 2018, the State Intellectual Property Office of P.R. China (SIPO) conducted a news briefing --- Chinese patent can be registered in Cambodia directly and will be granted as a Cambodian patent. Patentee who own a Chinese patent can file a request for registration with the Department of Industrial Property of the Ministry of Industry, Mines, and Energy (MME), so as to validate the Chinese patent in Cambodia. Below is a brief introduction.
1. Definitions, validation approach, and beginning of the validation
The above discussed Chinese patent means the Chinese invention patent that was granted by SIPO and was maintained as valid. Any Chinese patent that has a filing date after 22 January 2003 can be filed with MME for registration. After being examined formally, the Chinese patent can be validated and protected in Cambodia, with the same protection period as the Chinese patent.
The date, 22 January 2003, is the establishing time and effective time of Cambodian Patent Law. This means that MME accepts those Chinese invention patents that were filed as of the establishing time of Cambodian Patent Law and granted by SIPO, which makes a significant breakthrough in territoriality of patent.
2. Patent type for registration
Only Chinese invention patent can be registered for validation (utility model and design are exclusive).
3. Required documents
Applicant should submit at least the following documents for requesting for registration on the basis of Chinese patent:
- Form for request for registration
- English patent document and its Khmer translation
- Power of Attorney (notarization is required)
- Patent specification and a copy of Patent Register made by SIPO
4. Registration time
Only formal examination is conducted by MME, and it is estimated to take 6 to 9 months for MME to grant.
5. Agent
Foreign applicants must be represented by a local agent in Cambodia.
6. Validity of patent right in Cambodia
If the Chinese patent is valid, the corresponding Cambodian patent is valid.
If the Chinese patent goes abandoned due to failure to pay annuity fees, the corresponding Cambodian patent is valid.
If the Chinese patent is declared as invalid officially, the corresponding Cambodian patent is invalid.
As discussed above, valid Chinese invention patent can be registered in Cambodia to obtain a Cambodian patent, which differs from any other examination results sharing manner and is more convenient. With this approach, applicants can avoid long substantive examination procedure and save costs.
MME will publish officially about the registration of Chinese patent in Cambodia and more detailed guidelines.
We, Unitalen Attorneys At Law, have sufficient Cambodian associates for patent prosecution, providing high-quality and high-efficiency service for applicants.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.