Cambodia

According to the Article 6, Circular 01/2007/TT-BKHCN:

-  Written opinions of the third part may be sent to The National Office of Intellectual Property of Vietnam (NOIP) from the date of publication to the date prior to the issuance of protection for the industrial design.

-  The NOIP shall notify the applicant about the third parties’ opinions within 1 month after receiving opposition request. The applicant now have 1 month to give feedback in writing. The NOIP shall notify the feedback to the third party and then 1 month is given for responding.

On the basis of proofs and arguments, the NOIP shall finalize the opinions of both applicants and third parties.

- When considering opinions of the third party groundless, the NOIP is not required to notify those opinions to the applicant but shall notify the third party of its refusal to consider the opinions, clearly stating the reason for refusal.

- In case the NOIP cannot determine if the opinions of the third party are grounded or not, filing a petition with a court for handling is recommended.  Within 1 month after the NOIP’s notice, if the third party:

+ Failing to the notify the NOIP about the filing for a petition with a court is regarded as withdrawing the opposition request.

+ If the notification is sent within the time limit, the application process shall be suspended until the results of dispute settlement by the court are obtained.

• When necessary and upon the request of both parties, the NOIP shall organize face-to-face meetings between the third party and the applicant to further clarify the matter challenged by an opposition.

Please be noted that the time limit for the applicant to respond to the opposition of the third party shall not be counted into the time limit for the NOIP to carry out relevant procedures according to regulations.