The long-awaited draft trade secret law took an important step towards adoption, with the holding of a consultative seminar on September 10, 2019 at the Ministry of Commerce of the Kingdom of Cambodia.
At present, there is no law regarding trade secrets, and very few provisions regarding confidentiality and professional secrecy in Cambodia. The "Law on Undisclosed Data Submitted to Obtain Marketing Approval of Pharmaceutical and Agricultural Chemical Products, and Trade Secrets" was drafted by the Cambodian authorities with assistance from the World Intellectual Property Organization, with the goal of meeting the country's obligations under the WTO and a bilateral agreement with the United States.
The draft legislation discussed at the consultative seminar is divided into three parts:
Undisclosed information in the marketing approval of pharmaceutical or agricultural chemical products,
patent linkage, and
trade secrets.
The draft now must be approved by the Council of Ministers and the National Assembly, before being signed into law by the King. We would expect progress in this regard in early 2020.