Protecting creations starts in design schools in Cambodia where professors received training on IP to train their students on this key aspect.
Design schools train their students in architecture, design, fine arts, or music. Becoming designers, musicians, or architects, they often lack the knowledge of how to protect their creations. In Cambodia, a WIPO-supported program is introducing IP to instructors, encouraging them to incorporate it into their curricula. A pilot class of design students had the opportunity to apply their newly acquired IP knowledge to help local SMEs with their branding.
Prof. Tuot Bunchheang is a Cambodian sculptor and has been teaching sculpture and drawing for the past 30 years at the Faculty of Fine Arts of the Royal University of Fine Arts, where he also serves as a Vice-Dean. As an artist whose passion is rooted in childhood, Prof. Tuot is well aware of the challenges of protecting one’s art.
Train-the-trainer: IP training for design professors
At the end of 2024, when the Cambodian Department of Intellectual Property of the Ministry of Commerce, in collaboration with WIPO, launched the “Project for Skill-Based Learning and Monitoring for Design School Professors, Students, and Alumni,” he became the university’s project coordinator.
He was one of the five faculty members who completed the “train-the-trainer” IP certification.
According to Prof. Tuot, joining the project allowed him “to gain valuable knowledge about the protection of works of art and designs.” Illegal copying, he said, “happens all too often”, dwarfing innovation and creation with little means to deter copycats, despite the country’s copyright law.
The program also established a working mechanism for the academic community to serve as a resource center for the business sector.
IP training program for design schools changes the curriculum
Of the 32 students who completed the IP introduction program, 15 were from the Faculty of Fine Arts, specializing in communication design, and were in their final year at the school, he explained.
“IP awareness and skills were lacking in the faculty,” he said, and he was immediately interested in the program, as were his students, eager to learn more about IP, copyright, designs, and branding.
Yeab Yongchi was a student of the Faculty of Fine Arts and participated in the project in 2025. The two days of intensive training allowed him to create a logo and a design. Part of the training was hands-on work and allowed the students to work with real-world clients.
Fresh out of school, he wants to become a content creator. He explained that he is now more confident about protecting his creations and can provide the basics of IP protection to his future clients.
From IP Capacity Building to Market Leadership: Utaya's Success Story
The program also included branding support for 15 local SMEs and the development of individual logos. Lalin Bean was one of those SMEs. She is the manager of UTAYA, a company supplying packaging materials and safety equipment in Cambodia.
She explained that she joined the program to improve her management, “even though I have a background in law and IP.” “I saw a learning opportunity to combine legal protection and creative designs,” she explained.
UTAYA distributes gloves and eco-friendly packaging, including coffee bags, vacuum bags, and an array of other packaging.
In a highly competitive market where price is often the primary consideration over quality, Lalin seeks to meet market needs while raising awareness about quality and environmental concerns. A strong brand, she said, “is about building a long-term relationship with my customers and developing designs that fit into our mission.” The increase in the price of plastic pellets is an additional incentive to turn to alternative packaging, she said.
At present, the company relies on suppliers in neighboring countries such as Vietnam, Thailand, and China, and does not have its own packaging designs. Lalin hopes to set up a manufacturing unit for her products in a few years, focusing on grass paper and sugarcane fiber.
The program, she said, brought her new skills to manage her brand more professionally and “new confidence in becoming the number one choice for packaging in Cambodia.”
Beyond packaging supplies, the company provides end-to-end solutions, including food product R&D, machinery and ingredient outsourcing, laboratory and production facility setup, and comprehensive support for food safety certifications and trademark registration.
