Government officials in Cambodia have been working hard to improve the country’s intellectual property regime. On June 29, 2023, National Committee for Intellectual Property Rights (NCIPR) chair Pan Sorasak announced that the NCIPR had finalized a significant draft IP policy for submission to the Council of Ministers, The Phnom Penh Post reported.

The announcement came at a meeting in which Sorasak recapped the committee’s achievements the previous year and laid out its road map for the coming year.

“Our goal is to foster the economic, commercial, industrial, cultural, tourism and agricultural sectors,” Sorasak said at the meeting.

The newspaper reported that the draft IP policy would bolster protection for Cambodian IP, enhance the reputation of the nation’s brands and products and nurture innovation. It also reported that Sorasak said the plan is designed to inspire the use of IP for research advancement and technological product development and to energize creative industries, which will cater to the digital economy and society and stimulate the Fourth Industrial Revolution, or Industry 4.0, to help realize Cambodia’s vision for 2050.

The committee also led negotiations for Cambodia’s entrance into the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), which came into effect last year. It also resulted in the signing of the Cambodia-United Arab Emirates Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CAM-UAE CEPA) on June 8, he said at the meeting.

Sorasak encouraged the participants to provide input on the draft policy, saying it would serve as the legal basis for exercising IP rights, protecting copyright owners, and safeguarding consumer interests from counterfeit products.

“This is about eliminating dishonest competition practices, nurturing respect for IP, boosting consumer trust, advocating fair trade, and attracting investment,” he said.

As Cambodia has made great strides in its IP regime in recent years, we’re not surprised that we have also seen an increase in high-level intellectual property lawyers in the country. Asia IP asked a large number of professionals – mostly in-house counsel and corporate legal managers – what they were looking for from their legal service providers. Their answers were used to help us compile our list of Cambodia’s IP Experts, those lawyers who understand just what their clients need and are able to provide them with the best practical advice.

Abacus IP placed three lawyers named on our list (David Haskel, Thea Peng and Sreypeou Chaing), while BNG Legal and regional powerhouse Tilleke & Gibbins each had two lawyers named to the list. BNG Legal lawyers on the list are Darwin Hem and Keopichchenda Long. David Mol and Sokmean Chea represent Tilleke & Gibbins.

The remaining lawyers on the list come from the quickly evolving legal market, and include stalwarts such as Ouk Ry at Bou Nou Ouk Law Firm, Vichet Ny at VNP Law Office and Ang Pich at Pich & Partners, upstart regional practices such as Sovath Phin at S&O IP and Keopichchenda Long at ILAW ASIA and brand new firms such as Som Veasna at Veasna IP Service Co.

Most of the lawyers named to our list have multiple practice specialties. Many of them are litigators, while others concentrate on prosecution work or provide strategic advice.

All of them have something in common: they are experts in their fields and, in one way or another, they provide extra value for their clients. They are Asia IP’s Cambodia’s IP Experts. – GREGORY GLASS

Cambodia’s IP Experts is based solely on independent editorial research conducted by Asia IP. As part of this project, we turned to in-house counsel in Cambodia, Southeast Asia and elsewhere around the world, as well as Cambodia-focused partners at international law firms, and asked them to nominate private-practice lawyers including foreign legal consultants, advisers and counsel.

The final list reflects the nominations received combined with the input of the editorial team at Asia IP, which has more than 45 years of collective experience in researching and understanding Cambodia’s legal market.

All private-practice intellectual property lawyers in Cambodia were eligible for inclusion in the nominations process; there were no fees or any other requirements for inclusion in the process.

The names of our 20 IP Experts are published here. Each IP Expert was given the opportunity to include their biography and contact details in print and on our website, for which a fee was charged.