Industrial Design Protection in Cambodia is governed by “The Law on Patents, Utility Model Certificates and Industrial Designs (adopted by the National Assembly on November 28, 2002 during the ninth plenary session of its second legislature and ratified by the Senate (December 31, 2002)), and “Prakas No. 707 on Procedure for Registration of Industrial Designs”.

“Industrial Design” means any composition of lines or colours or any three-dimensional
form, or any material, whether or not associated with lines or colors, provided that such composition, form or material gives a special appearance to a product of industry or handicraft and can serve as a pattern for a product of industry or handicraft, and appeals to and is judged by the eye.

The design protection does not extend to anything in an industrial design which
serves solely to obtain a technical result and to the extent that it leaves no freedom as
regards arbitrary features of appearance.

An industrial design is registrable if it is new in the sense that the design must not have been disclosed to the public anywhere in the world, by publication in tangible form or by use or in any other way, prior to the filing date or, where applicable, the priority date of the application for registration. The disclosure to the public of the industrial design shall not destroy its novelty (i) if it occurred within twelve (12) months preceding the filling date or, where applicable, the priority date of the application; (ii) if it was by reason or in consequence of acts committed by the applicant or his predecessor in title or of an abuse committed by a third party with regard to the applicant or his predecessor in title.

Application for registration of industrial design shall be filed with the Department of Industrial Property (“DIP”) under the Ministry of Industry, Mines and Energy (MIME), and it requires the following documents and information:

• A notarized Power of Attorney from the applicant granting an agent/authorized representative the authority to act on their behalf in the registration process (must be submitted within 2 months from the filing date) (click here to download form);
• A notarized Deed of Assignment from the designer(s) to the applicant if the applicant and the designer(s) are not the same (must be submitted within 3 months from the filing date);
• Full Name, Address and Nationality of the applicant(s) and designer(s);
• 6 sets of drawings/photos of the design comprising of front, top, bottom, left, right, back and perspective views with the same scale and their dimensions not exceeding 100 mm x 200 mm (may be accompanied by a specimen of the article embodying a design with dimensions no exceeding 20 mm x 20 mm x20 mm if the design is 2-dimensional);
• A copy of the description of the design showing its novelty and a prior art.

In case the right of priority is claimed:

• Information including the filing date, number of application, and the country of any priority application;
• A copy of the priority application(s) filed by the applicant or his/her predecessor in title duly certified by the Patent and Trade Mark Office receiving the priority application(s) and the sworn English translation in the case the priority application(s) is not in English (should be submitted within three (3) months from the filing date);

Application for registration of industrial design may cover two or more industrial designs, provided they relate to the same class of the International Classification or to the same set or composition of articles.

The application, at the time of filing, may contain a request that the publication of the industrial design, upon registration, be deferred for a period not exceeding 12 months from the date of filing or, if priority is claimed, from the date of priority, of the application.

The design application shall be examined as to form and substance, and it may take 6-10 months to complete the examination.

The registration of industrial design is valid for a period of 5 years from the filing date, and it may be renewed for two further consecutive periods of 5 years each.

Renewal of Certificate of Registration of Industrial Design may be made by payment of the renewal fee within six (6) months before the date of expiry or within a period of six (6) months following that date upon payment of surcharges.

Vintell Patent & Trademark Company provide clients with a full range of services in relation to industrial designs, including searching, filing, prosecution of design applications, appeals, licensing and assignments, and enforcing through negotiation and litigation.