Cambodia's intellectual property landscape has undergone a remarkable transformation in recent decades, with the country's trade mark filing activity emerging as a key indicator of its economic growth and integration into the global marketplace.
As Cambodia has steadily opened its doors to foreign investment and trade, businesses both domestic and international have increasingly recognized the importance of safeguarding their brands through trade mark registration and enforcement.
This article examines the evolving trends in Cambodia's trade mark filing data, exploring the drivers behind the observed patterns and the implications for the country's continued economic development and integration into regional and global value chains.
Data from the Cambodia Trademark Database revealed that a total of over 135,000 applications were filed over three decades from January 1991 to July 2024, underscoring a robust interest in trade mark protection in Cambodia.
Notably, Agriculture and Health sectors lead with 20% and 18% of filed trade marks, respectively, highlighting key areas of economic activity. Further illustrating Cambodia's evolving business landscape, sectors such as Research and Technology (12%) and Business Services (10%) also feature prominently among trade mark filings.
Local applications have notably surged, constituting 24% of the total applications, reflecting growing entrepreneurial activity within the country. In terms of international engagement, the United States leads with 12% of applications, closely followed by China at 11%, indicating strong foreign interest in Cambodia's market for trade mark protection.
The total number of trade mark filings in Cambodia saw a steady decrease in the last 5 years from 9,342 in 2019 to 6,953 in 2023. Local trade mark filings peaked in 2020 at 3,574 but declined to 1,984 in 2023, a drop of 44.5% from the 2020 high. International trade mark filings have steadily decreased from 6,616 in 2019 to 4,969 in 2023, a reduction of 24.8%.
However, the ratio of local vs international filings have remained relatively stable over the past five years, with a slight decrease in ratio of international filings over the Covid-19 years, but this picked up in 2023.
It is also worth noting that throughout the period, international or foreign trade mark filings have consistently accounted for the majority, ranging from 60% to 71% of the total filings.
In 2024, from January 1 to July 13, a total of approximately 3,000 applications were filed. Research and Technology (Class 9), Business Services (Class 35), Health (Classes 3 and 5) Agriculture (Classes 30 and 43) sectors constitute half of the filings so far this year, showcasing a diverse array of business interests seeking protection in Cambodia.
Local applicants accounted for one-third of these filings, while the remaining two-thirds originated from foreign applicants.
Among the foreign applicants, Chinese companies were the most active, filing over 20% of all applications, followed by USA (6%), Japan (5%), Singapore (3%), Thailand (3%) and Korea (3%).
This influx of trade mark activity underscores Cambodia's attractiveness as an investment destination and the country's efforts to establish a robust intellectual property framework to support its economic development.
Conclusion
The evolving trends in Cambodia's trade mark filing landscape reflect the country's increasing integration into the global economy and the growing importance of intellectual property protection for businesses. Key sectors like Agriculture, Health, Research and Technology, and Business Services have dominated the filings, showcasing Cambodia's diverse and evolving business landscape. While local trade mark filings have been on the rise, international filings, particularly from the United States and China, continue to account for the majority.
Although the total number of filings declined in the last five years, potentially due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the recent resurgence in the first half of 2024 underscores Cambodia's continued attractiveness as an investment destination and the country's efforts to strengthen its intellectual property framework to support its economic development.
Data sourced from the Cambodia Trademark Database and corroborated by recent filings in 2024:
https://cambodiaip.gov.kh/wopublish-search/public/trademarks?0
Authors: Monyrak Phang, Ratana Soy
