Cambodia could soon be joining the Patent Cooperation Treaty, if all goes to plan. The Ministry of Industry and Handicraft (MIH) will be submitting a proposal for joining the Patent Cooperation Treaty to the Royal Government of Cambodia for consideration. Following on the heals of agreements with Singapore and Japan on joint examination, joining the PCT would herald major changes to the patent system in the Kingdom.
On 31 May 2016, the MIH, in cooperation with Japan Patent Office and Japan External Trade Organization organized a full-day seminar on Patent Cooperation Treaty in Phnom Penh.
Hundreds of patent, trademark, IP practitioners and law professors from different institutions were invited to join this seminar to have a better understanding about the roles, basic procedures, advantages and disadvantages of becoming a member to this treaty. This follows on a separate seminar held in February organized by the MIH and World Intellectual Property Organization.
H.E. Cham Prasith, Senior Minister and Minister of the Ministry of Industry and Handcraft commented that eight members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations became members of the treaty, leaving out only Cambodia, Myanmar and Timor-Leste. According to the Senior Minister, although the Patent Cooperation Treaty procedures are complicated, it would provide lots of benefits to Cambodia's economy and to patent practitioners.
For more about patents in Cambodia, please refer to our Guide to Patent Law in Cambodia