According to a report by the Ministry of Commerce, in 2020, domestic and international Cambodian companies registered 7,997 trademarks with the Ministry of Commerce, an increase of 30% compared to the previous year. The Commerce Department said that it had reconciled 23 infringement cases and dissolved 37 trademarks during the year.
Ministry of Commerce spokesman Pen Sovicheat told The Post that trademark registration would provide protection for features such as names, titles of origin related to specific geographical locations and accompanying qualities, characteristics, and reputation, especially those designated as Geographical Indications (GI).
According to Mr. Pen Sovicheat: “Registration for GI protection is an important means to encourage the community to produce high-quality GI products by consolidating and expanding production chains, improving control systematic quality and ultimately result in more exports abroad.”
The report also said that the ministry is also working on registering the domestic GI of Kampot salt and “fleur de sel” (flower of salt). Fleur de sel salt is a type of salt mainly originating from the north coast of France, forming a thin crust on the surface of seawater.
Register for protection of geographical indications
The Ministry of Commerce is also determined to promote current GI products such as Kampot pepper, Kampong Speu palm sugar, and pomelo grown in Koh Trong commune of Kratie province for supporting the reputation of the items and strengthen the development of representative associations.
Earlier this year, the ministry registered a type of broken rice produced in the Sankoa district of Kampong Thom province – located to the west of Kampong Svay district – under the domestic GI label “Ambok Kampong Thom”. Sticky rice is cooked rice that is dry-fried and pounded with a mortar and pestle.
In addition, in the report, the ministry also announced plans to register other products as collective marks, such as “Nom Banh Chok Siem Reap” (a type of local noodles), silver bronze sculptures with features of Kampong Luong and Koh Chin communes in Ponhea Leu district of Kandal province, unique pottery of Kampong Chhnang province, as well as steamed pottery from Sre Ronong commune of Tram Kak district, Takeo province.
The ministry has also identified items including Khmer silk, Preah Vihear organic milled rice, Pursat oranges, Svay Rieng’s Smach milled rice, durian from Battambang province’s Samlot district, Pailin longan and Neang Am milled rice as potential GI products.
Expert opinion
According to David Haskel – Partner at Abacus IP, Cambodia’s movement is driven by strong economic growth as well as improvements in the trademark system, such as Cambodia’s entry into the Madrid System.
“If we look at the number of new applications, in 2020 we see that there is actually a decrease of about 10%. Since new applications are consistently increasing year-on-year, this drop is almost certainly due to disruptions from the Covid-19 pandemic. The reduced workload means that the Trademark Office can focus on dealing with its backlog, resulting in a higher number of successful applications. The settlement of backlogs is a good sign as it means that the Trademark Office continues to operate smoothly and will lead to faster vetting of future applications.”
Haskel hopes that in 2021 he will see the number of successful applications increase again: “If the pandemic can be turned around this year, perhaps I will see the number of applications increase again and continue along with the annual growth pattern. Compared to other countries, the number of trademark applications in Cambodia is still relatively inadequate. I am always surprised to see a big international brand make its first mark in Cambodia. Along with economic growth, we expect that the number of applications will continue to grow strongly in the coming years.”
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