Last week we discussed trade mark protection in Cambodia, one of the fast growing South-East Asian Countries. With today’s blog post we will continue expanding our IP knowledge on Cambodia and delve into patent protection, taking a closer look on how to obtain and enforce your patents in Cambodia.
Patents and Utility Models in Cambodia
Patents are the set of exclusive rights granted to inventors or their assignees to exploit an invention for a limited period of time. The Cambodian Patent Law defines an invention as, “the idea of an inventor which permits in practice the solution to a specific problem in the field of technology.” The law further clarifies that an invention may either be, or relate to, both a product and a process. A product patent (i.e., a patent giving protection to the product as such) gives the patent holder the exclusive right to make, import, sell, offer for sale, use, and stock the product for the purpose of sale or use. A process patent (i.e. a patent granted for a process or a method), gives the patent holder an exclusive right to prevent others from using that process/form.
An invention is patentable if it is novel, involves an inventive step, and is industrially applicable. An invention is novel if it is not disclosed to the public, anywhere in the world, prior to the date of filing the application or the priority date. An invention is considered to involve an inventive step if the invention is not obvious to a person skilled in the art. The industrially applicable requirement means that the invention must have a use in at least one kind of industry. The Patent Law excludes certain types of inventions from patent protection, such as discoveries, scientific theories and mathematical methods. The law also excludes inventions that would be contrary to public order or morality, that would be harmful to human, animal or plant life and that would seriously compromise the environment. Continue reading “Patent Protection in Cambodia” »
As more and more European SMEs embrace the popular e-commerce concept in China, they are also confronted with online counterfeiting problems. Today’s blog post discusses how European SMEs can monitor online selling sites and how they can start the notice and take down process to remove counterfeits from the most famous Chinese online e-commerce sites like Taobao and Alibaba. 
With today’s blog post we continue our Back to the Basics theme and take a look at patent protection in South-East Asia. This blog post will explain the patent application process and discuss alternative and oftentimes faster routes for obtaining patents in South-East Asia via using the Patent Cooperation Treaty or benefiting from ASEAN Patent Examination Cooperation. 
Last week we refreshed our memories about the basic Copyright protection in South-East Asia and as copyright issues are still fresh in our minds, it is now a good time to also delve into copyright issues in China. Today’s blog post thus gives a good basic overview of the Copyright protection in China. 
Before even starting to prepare your trade mark registration application in China, it is vital to be sure that an identical or similar trade mark hasn’t been already registered in China. Today’s blog post is a step-by-step guide to how to use the China Trade Mark Office (CTMO) database to conduct preliminary trade mark research yourself.