Overview of Southeast Asia Patent

singapore
Singapore
Malaysia
Brunei
Myanmar
Thailand
Laos
Indonesia
Philippines
Vietnam
Cambodia

1. Legislations:
Prakas No. 706 on Patent, Utility Model and Industrial Design.

2. Patentability Criteria:
An invention is patentable if it:

  • it is new
  • it involves an inventive step
  • it is industrially applicable

Non-Patentable Subject Matter:

  • Discoveries, scientific theories and mathematical methods;
  • Schemes, rules or methods for doing business, performing purely mental acts or playing games;
  • Methods for treatment of the human or animal body by surgery or therapy, as well as diagnostic methods practiced on the human or animal body; this provision shall not apply to products for use in any of those methods;
  • Pharmaceutical products as provided in Article 136 of the Cambodian Law;
  • Plants and animals other than micro-organisms, and essentially biological processes for the production of plants or animals;
  • Plants varieties.

3. Utility Innovations:
The Cambodian patent system also provides for the grant of utility model certificates. A utility model must fulfill the criteria of novelty and industrial applicability (but not inventiveness). A utility model certificate shall expire, without any possibility of renewal, at the end of the seventh (7th) year after the date of the filing of the application.

4. Membership:
√ – Paris Convention
X – PCT

Cambodia is a member of the Paris Convention from 1998, whereby applications from convention countries will be subject to the same priority date in Cambodia. The application for priority has to be made within six months of the first application in a convention country.

5. Rule of Priority:
“First to file�? is the rule followed by Cambodia in determining priority of patents.

6. Duration:
The duration of protection is 20 years from the official filing date in Cambodia. The annual fee has to be paid each year in order to maintain the patent.

Once complete documentation has been submitted, the process of registration can usually be accomplished approximately one year to two years in average.

Summary

1. Legislations:
Prakas No. 706 on Patent, Utility Model and Industrial Design.

2. Patentability Criteria:
An invention is patentable if it:

  • it is new
  • it involves an inventive step
  • it is industrially applicable

Non-Patentable Subject Matter:

  • Discoveries, scientific theories and mathematical methods;
  • Schemes, rules or methods for doing business, performing purely mental acts or playing games;
  • Methods for treatment of the human or animal body by surgery or therapy, as well as diagnostic methods practiced on the human or animal body; this provision shall not apply to products for use in any of those methods;
  • Pharmaceutical products as provided in Article 136 of the Cambodian Law;
  • Plants and animals other than micro-organisms, and essentially biological processes for the production of plants or animals;
  • Plants varieties.

3. Utility Innovations:
The Cambodian patent system also provides for the grant of utility model certificates. A utility model must fulfill the criteria of novelty and industrial applicability (but not inventiveness). A utility model certificate shall expire, without any possibility of renewal, at the end of the seventh (7th) year after the date of the filing of the application.

4. Membership:
√ – Paris Convention
X – PCT

Cambodia is a member of the Paris Convention from 1998, whereby applications from convention countries will be subject to the same priority date in Cambodia. The application for priority has to be made within six months of the first application in a convention country.

5. Rule of Priority:
“First to file�? is the rule followed by Cambodia in determining priority of patents.

6. Duration:
The duration of protection is 20 years from the official filing date in Cambodia. The annual fee has to be paid each year in order to maintain the patent.

Once complete documentation has been submitted, the process of registration can usually be accomplished approximately one year to two years in average.

Direct National Application:-
1. Application Form:-
a) the name, address and nationality of the applicant;
b) the name, address and nationality of the inventor;
c) if the applicant is inventor, the application shall be attached by a letter mentioning as inventor;
d) the International Patent Classification
e) a specification comprising a description, claims, abstract and any necessary drawings; and
f) the country and filing particulars of basic application (filing date and application number) whose priority is claimed.
2. Appointment of Patent Agent
3. There is a requirement for the filing of an assignment from inventor to applicant

Basic Requirements

DOCUMENTS
REMARKS
TIME OF FILING
Patent specification, claims and abstract in English
no legalization
On filing date
Drawings
(if any)
On filing date

Additional Documents

DOCUMENTS
REMARKS
TIME OF FILING
Priority documents
Certified copy
On filing date
Business License (if the applicant is legal entity)
Certified copy
On filing date
Power of Attorney
Notarized
Within 2 months from the filing date
Deed of Assignment
Notarized
Within 3 months from the filing date

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