Opening up patent and trade mark agency services in the Mainland
Explanatory notes

Patent Agency

To qualify as a patent agent in the Mainland, a person must, as a pre-condition, pass the National Qualification Examination for Patent Agents. Previously, the examination was only open to Chinese nationals in the Mainland.

As an initiative under the Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) and following discussions between the HKSAR Intellectual Property Department (IPD) and the State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) this year, SIPO agreed in April 2004 to open the examination to eligible Hong Kong residents, starting from this year. The examination will be held once every two years. We announced the details of the examination by way of a press release on 26 April 2004.

A candidate who passes the examination will obtain a Patent Agent Qualification Certificate. Before practising in the Mainland as a patent agent, he has to complete one full year of apprenticeship in a patent agency authorised to be set up in the Mainland (or the Hong Kong or Macao office of such agency). Thereafter, if he continues to practise in a Mainland patent agency, he will obtain a Patent Agent Work Permit which allows him to practise as a patent agent.

Any Hong Kong resident who is permitted to practise as a patent agent in the Mainland may, subject to complying with certain prescribed conditions, become a partner or shareholder of a Mainland patent agency.