In an effort to suppress the production of counterfeit goods, the Secretariat of the National Committee for Intellectual Property Rights and the Department of Intellectual Property Rights, the Ministry of Commerce, and Tilleke & Gibbins cohosted a training session on intellectual property issues for government officials in Cambodia. In attendance at the event were local authorities and officers from Customs, Camcontrol, the police, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishery, and public prosecutors and judges. The training program took place on October 11, 2012, at the Sofitel Hotel, Phnom Penh.

The seminar was held as a kick start to tackle the problem of counterfeit goods in the country, and was aimed at providing knowledge on the methods of detecting counterfeit and imitated goods. The seminar was focused on several leading brands, also clients of Tilleke & Gibbins, including Diageo Brands, DuPont, Gucci, Rovio Entertainment, and Shiseido, and was intended to help promote cooperation between the private sector and the relevant government authorities concerned with protecting their IP rights.

The event has been featured in two newspapers, The Cambodia Daily and The Phnom Penh Post. Darani Vachanavuttivong, who was heavily quoted by the media, highlighted that “government commitment alone is not enough,” as the private sector has an important role to play in supporting the work of the government officials. Both newspapers also emphasized the need for such training because despite the efforts of the local authorities, “police have no tools at their disposal to make this process easier.”

To read the articles, please visit The Cambodia Daily website or The Phnom Penh Post website.