New Trademark Practices in Cambodia

The Ministry of Commerce (MOC) of Cambodia issued two important notices on trademark practices in Cambodia in August:

1. Mandatory registration of the same trademark in multiple categories

In Notice No. 2501 issued by Cambodia on August 1, 2023, the Ministry of Commerce requires trademark applicants to submit multi-class registration applications for the same trademark instead of filing separate registration applications for a single class, in order to reduce the administrative burden of the Intellectual Property Office. Any registration application that does not comply with the new regulations will be provisionally rejected.

2. Submit trademark use statement/non-use statement on time

Previously, the Ministry of Intellectual Property of Cambodia had adopted flexible measures in enforcing the stipulated time for filing a declaration of use/non-use, even allowing trademark right holders to submit an affidavit after the fifth year.

However, in Official Notice No. 2652 dated August 11, 2023, the Ministry of Commerce stipulated that if the registered trademark owner fails to submit an affidavit within the prescribed time, the registered trademark will be removed from the registry. This means major changes for trademarks in Cambodia. In Cambodia, the Declaration of Use/Declaration of Non-Use is the basic mechanism for monitoring inactive trademarks.

The above two statements shall take effect immediately upon publication.