Art. 43 of the Law on the Patents, Utility Model Certificates and Industrial Designs establishes that the patent owner can institute court proceedings against any infringer, or anyone who performs acts which make infringement likely to occur. Upon request of the patent owner, or by a licensee in certain circumstances, a court may grant an injunction to prevent infringement or imminent infringement, award damages, or any other remedy provided for by law (Art. 126). However, Art. 47 states that the Cambodian Government has the right to exploit a patented invention itself, or allow third parties to do so, for the purpose of promoting ‘public interests’ including national defence, nutrition, health and development.

Cambodia has not joined any agreement with binding commitments to open transfers of data across borders.

Cambodia is a party to the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT).

There is no comprehensive data protection regime in Cambodia, although there are some general provisions on privacy in the 2010 Constitution of the Kingdom of Cambodia (Art. 40), the 2007 Civil Code (Art. 10), the 2009 Penal Code (Arts. 301, 302, 314, 318 and 427) and the Telecommunications Law (Art. 56). Also, the Law on Electronic Commerce provides for some measures to protect consumer data collected in electronic communication. Art. 32 of the law prohibits the interference, access, retrieval, copying, extraction, filtering, deletion, or modification of data in the custody of another person without permission or in a malicious manner. Moreover, Sub-Decree No. 252 on the Management, Use, and Protection of Personally Identifiable Data applies to personally identifiable data belonging to the Ministry of Interior (MOI).

Cambodia has a copyright regime under the Law on Copyright and Related Rights. However, the exceptions do not follow the fair use or fair dealing model, therefore limiting the lawful use of copyrighted work by others. Section 4 lists the exceptions, which include: free and private representations made exclusively to a close circle of people such as family or friends; the purposes of education, which is not for financial gain; translation of works from the Khmer language into the languages of the ethnic minorities or vice versa; among others (Arts. 23-29).

Art. 14 of Sub-Decree No. 23 imposes an obligation on National Internet Gateway (NIG) operators to retain traffic data for a year. National Internet Gateway refers to the gateway where all Internet services must be connected nationally and internationally, and traffic refers to the amount of data that passes through a network within one second of a certain time (Annex 1). NIG operators shall maintain technical records, IP address allocation table, and route identification of traffic transiting through NIG for the last 12 months. It is reported that Art. 14 means the operator(s) of the NIG can track the activities of all internet users in Cambodia, including a user’s browser as well as unencrypted search history for up to 12 months. Art. 13 imposes an obligation on NIG operators to report and monitor traffic data and submit monthly, quarterly, semesterly, third-quarterly, and annual traffic reports within seven days after the end of each month, quarter, semester, third-quarter and year to both Telecommunication Regulator of Cambodia (TRC) and the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications (MPTC).

It has been reported that film and music piracy is still rampant in the country, although a campaign by the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts has tried to crack down on this issue. It is also reported that infringement of IPRs is prevalent in Cambodia and it includes pirated software, music, and books. Though Cambodia is not a major centre for the production or export of counterfeit or pirated materials, local businesses report that the problem is growing because of the lack of enforcement.

Cambodia has not signed the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Copyright Treaty.

Cambodia has not signed the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Performances and Phonograms Treaty.

Cambodia does not have a comprehensive framework in place that provides effective protection of trade secrets, but there are limited measures addressing some issues related to them. According to the Contract Law of 1998, to maintain information in employment or other contractual relationships, a non-disclosure agreement may be used and enforced. In addition, the Ministry of Commerce is currently in the process of preparing a Law on Trade Secrets and Undisclosed Information.

It is reported that there is an obligation for passive infrastructure sharing in Cambodia to deliver telecom services to end users. Passive infrastructure sharing is also practised in the mobile and fixed sectors based on commercial agreements.

Sub-Decree No. 111 ANK/BK stipulates that Cambodia permits full foreign ownership in the telecommunication sector. However, Art. 3 of Law on Public Enterprise states that the Cambodian government must directly or indirectly hold more than 51% of the capital or the right to vote in state-owned enterprises. Given that Telecom Cambodia, the principal telecom company in Cambodia, is fully state-owned, some restrictions apply in this sector.

Cambodia is not a signatory of the 1996 World Trade Organization (WTO) Information Technology Agreement (ITA) nor the 2015 expansion (ITA II).

In accordance with Art. 12 of the Law on Public Procurement, international competitive bidding is employed for procurement activities of substantial value and high technical complexity. Conversely, domestic competitive bidding is utilised when adequate domestic products or production or construction capabilities are available. This 2023 legislation supersedes the previous Law of the same name enacted in January 2012, which contained a similar provision in its Art 11. According to Art. 11 of the Law of 2023, the conditions, thresholds, and procedure for implementing each procurement method shall be determined by a Prakas of the Minister of the Ministry of Economy and Finance. However, the implementing regulation could not be found online. In addition, pursuant to Chapter 6 (Qualifications of bidders) of the Law on Public Procurement, the Ministry of Economic and Finance (MEF) requires all companies, contractors, and consultants that want to join any bidding for public procurement shall register with MEF and go through a screening process.

It is reported that government procurement is often not transparent and that the Cambodian Government frequently provides short response times to public announcements of tenders, which are posted on the Ministry of Economic and Finance (MEF)'s website. Moreover, different prequalification procedures exist at the provincial level, making some bids particularly complex for prospective contractors. It is also reported that irregularities in the government procurement process are common despite a strict legal requirement for audits and inspections and that, despite allegations of malfeasance at a number of ministries, the Cambodian Government has taken little action to investigate irregularities.