A: The Government proposed legislative amendments to the Rules to facilitate electronic service delivery for design registrations and simplify certain existing procedures. The provisions in the Intellectual Property (Miscellaneous Amendments) Ordinance 2001 concerning the use of electronic means for publishing notifications and advertisements of registered designs (sections 20, 25, 26 and part of 27) will also be brought into force when the amendments come into force.
A: Yes, fees are reduced substantially. The registered design fees are reduced by 51% in general. For details, please refer to the Designs Forms and Fees table.
Q: If I act for an applicant as an agent, what are the new requirements for me under the amended rules?
A: You must provide an address in Hong Kong, China where you reside or carry on your business activities. Otherwise the Registrar will refuse to recognize you as an agent.
Q: When I file an application for registration of a design, do I need to file 6 additional representations of the design?
A: No. You only need to file one representation of the design with each application. The Registrar may at any time require you to file additional copies of the representation, if necessary.
A: You no longer need to state the statement of novelty on each representation of the design. Instead, you have to make the statement of novelty in the Designs Form D1.
