Today, July 1st 2017, was the scheduled date for entering into force of the validation agreement for patents between the European Patent Office and the Kingdom of Cambodia. However, the enabling legislation is still pending, and thus we expect it to take a few more months before European patent applicants are able to request extension of validity to Cambodia.
The Ministry of Industry and Handicraft has sent the agreement to the Council of Ministers for review and comment, before sending it to the National Assembly for approval and then for the King's signature. Cambodia will be the first Asian country to enter into such an agreement with the EPO, a major simplification and acceleration of obtaining patent rights in the Kingdom.
Only three other countries (Morocco, Moldova, and Tunisia) have signed such validation agreements, though Tunisia is still waiting to put it into force.
It should be noted that pharmaceutical patents will likely be excluded from protection during a transitional period.
For more information, please visit the European Patent Office site.
For more about patents in Cambodia, please refer to our Guide to Patent Law in Cambodia