Under the Agreement between the President of the European Patent Office and the Cambodian Minister of Industry and Handicraft, signed January 23, 2017, holders of European patent applications may apply to have their patents validated, thereby extending their rights to the Kingdom of Cambodia. The Agreement was ratified by Royal Kram on November 24, 2017[34] and the validation procedures set forth in a Prakas (declaration) dated December 8, 2017.[35]
Validation must be specifically requested, and is available for both applications directly filed with the EPO, as well as European PCT applications.
The European application must have been filed on or after March 1, 2018, the date of entry into force of the validation agreement. Further, pharmaceutical product patents are excluded from protection under Cambodian patent law, and therefore cannot be validated.
The first step in the validation process, is to pay the validation fee of EUR 180 within six months from publication of the search report in the European Patent Bulletin, or for European PCT applications, within the period for performing acts required to enter the European phase. This payment must be done by the agent representing the applicant before the EPO. There is a two-month grace period following expiration of the six-month window, subject to a 50% surcharge.
Second, assuming the validation fee was properly paid, within three months of the EPO granting the application, request for validation must be submitted to the Cambodian Ministry of Industry and Handicraft.
The patent title, abstract and claims will need to be translated from English into Khmer, the national language of Cambodia. A publication fee and a certificate fee will be due upon acceptance.
Following successful validation, the patent owner will be issued an official patent certificate from the Ministry of Industry and Handicraft.
