Cambodia has sixteen million people, an open economy, and has experienced rapid economic growth over the last decade. The standard of living of the Cambodian people continues to improve as the economy grows.
The increasing sophistication and progress being made by the Cambodia Trademark Office (the “Office”) has contributed to Cambodia’s positive economic progress and standard of living. The Cambodia Trademark Office efficiently handles trademark filings and the prosecution of trademarks. In addition, over time, the Office has shown an ability to handle increased filings and trademark prosecutions.
In the first half of 2018, 1,871 trademarks were approved by the Office, which corresponds to a 2.7% increase from the previous year. Foreigners filed 1,168 of the approved applications and Cambodian applicants filed 703 of the approved trademarks.
In addition, in the first half of 2018, the Office registered 2,670 trademarks, compared with 2,310 in the first half of 2017. Foreigners filed 1,502 of the registered trademarks and Cambodian applicants filed 1,062 of the registered trademarks.
In the first half of 2018, over 1,000 trademarks were renewed and 29 franchise licenses were recorded.
These rising numbers reflect the positive economic growth of Cambodia and the increasing efficiencies and sophistication at the Office.
In another positive development, in May 2017, the Cambodian Trademark Office introduced electronic filing of trademarks. At the time, the World Intellectual Property Organization provided technical support for the launch and implementation of the electronic filing system. Since its inception, the new filing system has created positive efficiencies for filing and registering trademarks, especially for small and medium size business owners who can now register their trademarks without having to travel to the Office.
This growth in trademark filings and the introduction of the electronic trademark filings, coupled with the effective prosecution, renewal and handling of other trademark matters by the Cambodian Trademark Office, has contributed to the rapid economic growth in Cambodia, which is a welcome development for the country and the Asia-Pacific region as a whole.
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