INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
Procedure for Registration and Mark Protection of Geographical Indication
Prakas No. 422 of the Ministry of Commerce, dated 29 December 2016
This prakas aims to effectively implement the provisions of the Law on the Geographical Indication of Marks in Cambodia. The Department of Intellectual Property (“DIP”), under the Ministry of Commerce (“MOC”), is the competent authority to register and protect geographical indication marks.
This prakas provides that an applicant must be a “geographical indication association.” However, upon fulfilling certain conditions, one producer or one operator may apply for the registration of a geographical indication mark.
The registration application for a geographical indication mark must be submitted to the DIP either in English or Khmer. If not made in one of these two languages, a translation should be included in the application dossier. The DIP will issue an acknowledgement letter of the application within 45 days from the submission date of the application (“Acknowledgement Date”). The DIP may issue a rejection letter to the applicant in the event that the application documents do not meet requirements and provide the applicant with a period from six months to one year, based on the applicant’s reasonable request, to correct or modify the application.
Following review of the application documents, the DIP must examine the substance of the application no later than 60 days from the Acknowledgement Date, and register the geographical indication mark if all requirements are fulfilled. If an application is rejected, the DIP must notify the applicant, specifying the grounds for rejection, and subsequently allow the applicant 90 to reply.
If the applicant’s reply remains unacceptable to the DIP, it may reject the application documents a second time. In this case, the applicant may file an appeal with the geographical indication board or with the competent court to challenge the decision of the DIP within a period not exceeding 90 days from the date of the second rejection.
Registration of geographical indication takes effect from the submission date of the application documents. The applicant should receive a certificate of geographical indication mark issued by the DIP upon successful registration. The MOC will publish geographical indication registrations in the official bulletin of the DIP and will manage the geographical indication register. Registered geographical indication marks will be protected by the Law on Geographical Indications and by measures of the MOC to prevent or halt any unauthorized use of protected geographical indications marks.
LABOUR
Wage and Daily Allowance Payments during Maternity Leave
Notification No. 014/17, dated 3 February 2017
The purpose of Notification No. 014/17, issued by the Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training (“MLVT”), is to re-affirm maternity leave benefits to which female employees are entitled as enumerated under Articles 182 and 183 of the Labour Law.
Female employees are entitled to 90 days of maternity leave. Employees whose length of service is at least one year are entitled to maternity leave pay equivalent to half of their wages, including other benefits, during the period of maternity leave.
In addition to the above benefits under the Labour Law, this notification re-affirms that female employees registered with the health care scheme of the National Social Security Fund are entitled to receive a daily allowance in accordance with Prakas No. 109, dated 17 March 2016, on Health Care Benefits, issued by the MLVT.
Anti-Illegal Drugs in the Workplace
Guideline No. 008/17, dated 14 February 2017
The purpose of Guideline No. 008/17, issued by the Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training (“MLVT”), is to notify relevant parties, including employers, employer associations, employees, unions and shop stewards to jointly implement their respective duties in order to effectively combat illegal narcotics in the workplace, in accordance with the first phase (1 January to 30 June 2017) of Plan No.1 of the Royal Government of Cambodia, dated 13 December 2016, on the Mechanism to Combat Illegal narcotics in the Workplace.
With support provided by the labour inspectors and Departments of Labour and Vocational Training, enterprises which have not formed an HIV/AIDS committee, must do so in due course. The composition of the HIV/AIDS committee must include representatives of union(s), shop stewards, or employees. This guideline also imposes additional duties on HIV/AIDS committees with respect to combating illegal narcotics in the workplace.
Under this guideline, employers must cooperate with employees, unions and shop stewards to adopt plans to prevent the usage and sale of narcotics in the workplace. All enterprises are required to display slogans in the workplace, such as “Say No to Drugs,” “Workplace is clean without Drugs,” “Drugs Destroy Our Life and our Workplace,” or “Employer and Employees Combat against Drugs.”
This Guideline also instructs employers, unions, and shop stewards or employees’ representatives to have a joint consultation in situations where an employee is found to have used narcotics in the workplace, in order to assist the employee in receiving treatment and rehabilitation without discrimination.
DFDL contact:
Alex Larkin
Senior Consultant
alex.larkin@dfdl.com
*The information provided is for information purposes only, and is not intended to constitute legal advice. Legal advice should be obtained from qualified legal counsel for all specific situations
