The Intellectual Property Department (“IPD”) is pleased to announce that the New Integrated IT System (“NIS”) will be launched on 14 February 2019 at 09:00. The NIS will replace the existing Online Search System(http://ipsearch.ipd.gov.hk/), the E-filing System (https://iponline.ipd.gov.hk) and the internal electronic processing systems of the Trade Marks Registry, Patents Registry and Designs Registry (the “Registries”) which have been adopted by phases since 2003.
To cater for the production launch of the NIS, the Registries will make the following arrangements:
The E-filing Service at https://iponline.ipd.gov.hk will be suspended from 17:45 on 1 February 2019 to 08:59 on 14 February 2019 (the “suspension period”). During the suspension period, all forms and correspondences must be submitted in person at IPD’s Public Service Counter or by mail to 24/F Wu Chung House, 213 Queen’s Road East, Wanchai, Hong Kong (except the situation mentioned in paragraph 3 below).
For documents under section 15 or section 23 of the Patents Ordinance that are filed by fax during the suspension period, the hours of business and business days of the Patents Registry shall remain as Monday to Friday (24 hours) for the purpose of determining the earliest filing of those documents.
To facilitate the filing of documents that could otherwise be submitted by the E-filing Service during the suspension period, drop-box service will be arranged. A drop-box will be located at the IPD’s Public Service Counter from 17:46 to 20:00 on 4 February 2019; and from 17:46 to 23:59 on 8, 11-13 February 2019. All forms and correspondences referred to in the ensuing paragraph received during the hours of the dates specified above will be treated as filed on such dates. Payment of fee bearing forms should be made by cheque/bank draft (in Hong Kong dollars which can be cleared in the Hong Kong SAR) payable to THE GOVERNMENT OF THE HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION. Cash will not be accepted. Official receipts will be returned by mail. Temporary application numbers will be assigned to fresh applications filed under Forms T2, P4, P6 and D1 in the same manner as those filed in person at IPD’s Public Service Counter or by mail.
For the avoidance of doubt, drop-box service will only be available for documents that could be submitted by the E-filing Service. For the full list of submissions which are acceptable for drop-box filing, please refer to “List of submissions acceptable for electronic filing/communications” of the Terms of Use at https://iponline.ipd.gov.hk/base/bs0100.jsp.
The Online Search Service at http://ipsearch.ipd.gov.hk/ will remain available for search of records. However, due to the switchover of the existing systems to the NIS, the data currency of the records will remain as at 1 February 2019 during the suspension period. The Registries will exercise their best endeavours to ensure that the registers are updated as soon as possible upon launching of the NIS. A data currency notice will be posted at the existing Online Search System and the Public Online Search of the NIS until the trademark, patent and design registers are up-to-date and reflect the current records.
The notices required to be published under the Trade Marks Ordinance (Cap. 559), Patents Ordinance (Cap. 514) and the Registered Designs Ordinance (Cap. 522) will also be suspended during and after the suspension period. For details, please see the attached.
B2B (system to system) E-Filing Service is a new service to be launched together with the NIS on 14 February 2019. Attached is the Brief Note which provides information to implement the B2B interface. The latest set of XSD Schemata, sample files and test data are also included. For the Offline Signing Tool, please refer to the details attached.
The Registries plan to streamline and modernise the specified forms. A new set of Registries’ forms will be used with effect from 14 February 2019. We are pleased to provide the draft version for your advance information. Most of the changes are just format changes or minor textual amendments.
You may wish to note that a dedicated section for specifying agent’s details have been added to all relevant trade marks, patents and designs forms. For Forms T2, T10, P4, P5, P6, P19, D1 and D5, a section for applicant/owner type and place of incorporation has been introduced so that further particulars of applicants, owners and assignees could be entered in the registers to enhance the transparency of our records.
The above Registries' forms in editable PDF format will be available for filling and download for paper filing. As for E-Filing, web version will be used for electronic submission.
New forms will be specified for use with effect from 14 February 2019 in accordance with section 74 of the Trade Marks Ordinance, section 150 of the Patents Ordinance and section 84 of the Registered Designs Ordnance. However, to facilitate the effective switchover to the newly specified forms in particular those pertaining to renewal, restoration and maintenance of registrations/applications , transitional periods will be allowed for the use of certain existing specified forms as follows:
| Types of Form | Transitional periods |
|---|---|
| All forms except Forms T8, T10, T11, P9, P10, P12, P19, D5 and D11 | 14 February 2019 -14 March 2019 |
| Forms T10, T11, P19 and D5 | 14 February 2019 -14 May 2019 |
| Forms T8, P9, P10, P12 and D11 | 14 February 2019 - 14 September 2020 |
Upon the expiry of the respective transitional period, only newly specified forms will be accepted by the Registries.
Please accept our sincere apologies for any inconvenience that may be caused to you during the suspension period and the teething problems that you may encounter during the initial period after the launch of the NIS. We look forward to providing you with the best possible electronic services through the NIS.
Intellectual Property Department
2 January 2019
(updated on 25 January 2019, with changes highlighted in purple)