Registration

The Intellectual Property Department is committed to providing high-quality and responsive registration services to the public. The department provides various electronic services to enable efficient and cost-effective registration and management of trade marks, patents and registered designs. The registers of trade marks, patents and designs are maintained in electronic format, allowing searching of relevant data in Chinese or English through the Internet, at any time, free of charge (http://ipsearch.ipd.gov.hk). The electronic filing system also provides a secure and user-friendly environment for intellectual property owners or agents to file their applications at any time (http://iponline.ipd.gov.hk).

With the department’s interactive services, owners of registered rights and their agents can make changes to certain particulars recorded in the registers directly. These changes are updated instantly in the various registry records.

The electronic services, particularly electronic filing, have been well received. In 2010, over 50 per cent of trade marks, patents and designs applications respectively were filed electronically.

Trade Marks

In 2010, the Trade Marks Registry received 28 872 applications. During the period, 23 043 marks were registered, an increase of 2 per cent as compared with 2009. Out of the total of 92 countries/areas filing applications, the principal places were:

The register had a total of 255 262 marks by the end of the year.

Patents

The Patents Ordinance provides for the grant of standard patents based on patents granted by the State Intellectual Property Office of China, the United Kingdom Patent Office or the European Patent Office (in respect of patents designating the United Kingdom). It also provides for the grant of short-term patents, which may be registered following local formality examination procedures. In 2010, the Patents Registry received 11 702 standard patent applications and 5 353 were granted. There were also 614 short-term patent applications and 522 were granted.

Registered Designs

In 2010, the Designs Registry received 2 525 applications for the registration of 4 245 designs. During the year, 3 896 designs were registered.

Copyright

The Copyright Ordinance provides protection for literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works, typographical arrangements of published editions, sound recordings, films, broadcasts, cable programmes and performers’ performances irrespective of the domicile of the copyright owners. In line with international practice, there is no requirement to register copyright.

The copying and distribution offence came into force on July 16, 2010. This offence seeks to tackle business end-user piracy involving frequent or regular making or distribution of infringing copies of printed publications (i.e. books, magazines, newspapers and periodicals) on a large scale in the course of trade or business, causing a financial loss to the copyright owners. Separately, the Government was drawing up legislative provisions to be introduced into the Legislative Council in 2011 for strengthening copyright protection in the digital environment.

Public Education

The Intellectual Property Department continues to conduct programmes in schools to promote respect for intellectual property rights. In 2010, the school visits programme covered 91 schools and 24 116 students. The department also launched an Interactive Drama Programme on ‘Anti-Internet Piracy’ in primary and secondary schools.

Following the passage of the Copyright (Amendment) Ordinance 2009 concerning the copying and distribution offence in relation to making or handling infringing copies of newspapers, books and periodicals in the course of business, the Intellectual Property Department launched a series of publicity activities to enhance business organisations’ awareness and understanding of the new provisions and help organisations guard against business end-user piracy.

The department also ran the second phase of the Intellectual Capital Management (ICM) Consultancy Programme from March 2010 to March 2011 providing a free service to local organisations — especially SMEs. The consultancy service helps organisations apply ICM tools to maximise their business potential. Up to December 2010, 580 organisations had taken part in the programme.

Co-operation with Mainland Counterparts

The Intellectual Property Department worked closely with its relevant Mainland counterparts at the national level, as well as authorities in the Pan-Pearl River Delta region and Guangdong Province to promote the protection and management of intellectual property rights. Activities in 2010 included the Mainland, Hong Kong SAR and Macao SAR Intellectual Property Symposium, a seminar for SMEs, joint conferences and exchange programmes.

Participation in International Organisations

To keep abreast of international developments in intellectual property protection, the Intellectual Property Department participated in various international forums, including the activities of the WTO Council for Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights and conferences at the World Intellectual Property Organisation. The department also represented Hong Kong, China at other international and regional intellectual property symposiums and conferences, including the 30th and 31st meeting of the APEC Intellectual Property Experts Group held in Japan.