You need patent protection in Hong Kong to stop unauthorised manufacture, use, sales, or imports of your invention in Hong Kong. You will need a patent in Hong Kong if you intend to license someone else to manufacture, use, sell, or import your invention in Hong Kong.

Patent protection is territorial. Applying for a patent in the Mainland does not automatically give you patent protection in Hong Kong.

You will probably need professional advice. Patent agents and law firms specialising in intellectual property can advise you.

The Patent Application Grant scheme administered by the Innovation and Technology Commission assists local companies and individuals by providing funding support for patent application costs.

The section "Apply for a patent" on our website explains the procedure and requisite documents for filing an application for a standard or short-term patent.

No, you yourself or your agent can file a patent application in Hong Kong. But you need to have an address in Hong Kong for service of documents.

If you appoint an agent, your agent is required to notify the Registrar of the address in Hong Kong where he resides or carries on his business activities.

As drafting patent documents is a technical skill, we recommend applicants to seek professional advice.

1. To complete the field “Applicant type” in Part 02 (d) of Form OP1, Part 02 (d) of Form P4, Part 03(d) of Form P5 or Part 02 (d) of Form P6; or the field “New applicant/proprietor type” in Part 04 (d) of Form P19, you have to indicate whether you are an individual, incorporated entity or unincorporated entity.

   Individual

   • If you are a natural person, or natural persons filing an application in joint names, the box “Individual” should be marked.
   • For a sole proprietorship established in Hong Kong, an application is usually filed in the name of the sole proprietor trading in the name of the firm (e.g. Chan Siu-ling trading as Chan & Co.). In this case, the box “Individual” should be marked.
   • For a partnership established in Hong Kong, it is common for an application to list the names of the partners (or at least two of them) followed by the name of the firm (e.g. Chan Siu-ling and Lam Mei-mei trading as Chan & Lam). In this case, the box “Individual” should be marked.

   Incorporated

   • If you are a corporation (i.e. a company incorporated in Hong Kong, or any other body corporate incorporated/established in or outside Hong Kong), please mark the box “Incorporated”.
   • Thereafter, you may indicate the country/territory/area of incorporation in Part 02 (e) of Form OP1, Part 02 (e) of Form P4, Part 03(e) of Form P5, Part 02 (e) of Form P6 or Part 04 (e) of Form P19. If the corporation is incorporated in the United States, you may also fill in the state of incorporation in Part 02(f) of Form OP1, Part 02(f) of Form P4, Part 03(f) of Form P5, Part 02(f) of Form P6 or Part 04 (f) of Form P19. Such particulars, if provided by you, may be entered by the Registrar in the register of patents to enhance the transparency of the public records and to also help the Registrar and third parties better identify the (new) applicant for/proprietor of a patent.

   Unincorporated

   • In many jurisdictions including Hong Kong, an unincorporated association is not a legal person.
   • If you are an unincorporated entity which nevertheless has legal capacity to hold property under the law of the place where it is established, please mark the box “unincorporated”.
2. The entity named as the applicant for/proprietor of a patent must be capable of holding property, including the patent in question. If you have any doubt as to whether you have any legal capacity to hold property, please consult your legal advisers. The Registrar is not in a position to advise you on this.
3. The Registrar will not verify any information about the applicant type or place (and state) of incorporation (if applicable) as provided by you before entering such information in the register of patents. Any person who wishes to ascertain the veracity of such information should carry out independent inquiries and searches and seek independent advice, if necessary.

Anyone can conduct a search for published patent applications and patents granted in Hong Kong via the Online Search System provided by the IPD.

Information about patent applications and granted patents is published in the Hong Kong Intellectual Property Journal.

Computer software is protected under copyright law. However, patent protection may be available for software related inventions that are not merely computer programs. For example, in the EPO and the UKIPO, software is patentable if it is a computer-related invention that produces a 'further technical effect'. Essentially, software that merely automates a process that was previously done mentally or manually is not patentable. However, if the software solves a technical problem, it is patentable.

You must keep your invention confidential before you file a patent application. Disclosure of your invention before filing an application may mean that you cannot be granted a patent because your invention is no longer considered new.

You may also want protection for your invention outside Hong Kong, so you need to ensure that any disclosure in Hong Kong, even after filing, does not prejudice your patent application in another country.

You should seek professional advice to protect your rights. Patent agents and law firms specialising in intellectual property can advise you.

When we publish a patent application in the Hong Kong Intellectual Property Journal, we include the international publication number which you can use to search in other databases, including esp@cenet of the European Patent Office. In addition, we publish the priority application numbers and designated patent publication numbers which are useful search criteria for conducting a patent 'family' search, in other words, a search for patents elsewhere that protect the same invention.

The patent proprietor can file the renewal request directly or through an agent, but a contact address in Hong Kong for correspondence must be provided.

Standard patents are renewable annually after the end of the third year, whilst short-term patents are renewable once after four years from filing (please refer to other parts of this FAQ for details on calculating the renewal due dates for a standard patent (O) and standard patent (R)).

You need to file Form P10 and pay the required renewal fee up to 3 months before the renewal due date for your patent. You can still renew the patent within a 6-month grace period after the due date but an additional fee will be incurred.

The due date in terms of month and day is generally the filing date of standard patent (O)/short-term patent or deemed filing date of standard patent (R), e.g. if the deemed filing date of standard patent (R) is 1 May, then the due date is generally 1 May. Where the filing date or deemed filing date is 29 February, the due date is generally 29 February (for a leap year) or 28 February (for a non-leap year).

You can file your application in English or Chinese. Patents application forms are available in both languages. If, for example, you file your application in English, we will write to you in English and English will be the language used in any proceedings in the Registry relating to your patent application or the resulting patent.

Nonetheless, certain information in your application must be shown in both languages. You will need to give the title of the invention and abstract in both English and Chinese. If the applicant's or inventor's names are not in Roman letters or in Chinese, you will need to give a transliteration of the names in Roman letters.

The Registrar will raise an objection if the translation of the abstract or the title of invention are not full and complete translations from English to Chinese or vice versa. For example, if the English abstract contains numeric references used in the accompanying drawing but the Chinese abstract contains no numeric references, the Registrar will treat this as a formal requirement deficiency and will raise an objection. Difficulties may arise in relation to names of chemical substances or other terms where there is no Chinese equivalent. In such cases, you or your agent should inform the Registrar that no Chinese equivalent term exists. Otherwise, the Registrar is likely to ask that those terms appearing in English in the Chinese translation be translated into Chinese characters.

Certain time limits under the PO and the PGR are not extendable (Part 1 of Schedule 4 to the PGR). The Registrar has no discretion to grant extension of time in these cases.

With some extendable time limits, an extension may only be granted if the request for extension of time is filed before the expiry of the relevant period (Parts 2 and 4 of Schedule 4 to the PGR). In these cases, the Registrar has no power of granting the extension of time requested after the relevant period has expired (section 100AAB of the PGR). On the other hand, some time limits may be extended even if the request for extension of time is filed after the expiry of the relevant period (Parts 3 and 5 of Schedule 4 to the PGR).

In addition, in some cases, the period of extension that can be allowed is specified and the grant of the extension is subject to compliance with additional statutory requirements (for example, section 39(4) of the PO).

We understand that in circumstances of force majeure (such as earthquake or other natural disaster), it may be difficult for affected applicants or parties to meet the specified time limits in relation to their patent applications and registrations. Due to the confines of our statutory obligations and powers, we have no discretion to initiate extension of time limits across the board.

You should review your filings in relation to patent applications and registrations and in accordance with the PO and PGR, consider filing requests for extension of time in applicable cases in the interim to preserve your position before the expiry of specified time limits. We may take into account the extraordinary circumstances faced by affected applicants or parties in considering their requests for time extension on a case by case basis.

For computation of time in respect of filing of documents with the Registry under the PO and the PGR, if the last day of a time period for filing of documents is a day on which Tropical Cyclone Signal No. 8 or above or a Black Rainstorm Warning Signal (“the signal”) is in force or extreme conditions exist throughout or for part of the day, such deadline shall be extended to the next following business day of the Registry.

The typhoon, rainstorm warning and extreme conditions arrangements set out in the above paragraph still apply even if the signal is in force or the extreme conditions exist for part of the day which is outside the business office hours of the Registry. For example, if Typhoon Cyclone Signal No. 8 was in force during the period from 1:00 a.m. to 3:00 a.m. only on the last day of a time period for filing of documents, the deadline shall be extended to the next following business day of the Registry.

For details, please refer to paragraph (d) of the “NOTICE OF BUSINESS HOURS AND BUSINESS DAYS OF THE TRADE MARKS REGISTRY, PATENTS REGISTRY AND DESIGNS REGISTRY” published in the Hong Kong Intellectual Property Journal on 16 February 2024.

We do not accept cash delivery (i.e. cash sent through mail or our drop-box, if in place) for payment of any fee in relation to any matter or proceedings before the Registrar.

Non-acceptance of cash delivery leads to non-acceptance of its accompanying forms/documents, if any, to be filed with the Registrar, which can seriously prejudice filers’ interests, such as:

• deferring the accordance of the date of filing of an application;
• missing the filing deadline# for remedying deficiencies in an application or otherwise for compliance with the relevant filing requirements (e.g. filing request for renewal of a registration etc.).

(# The filing deadlines can be non-extendable in individual cases.)

The Government accepts NO liability for any loss or damage whatsoever arising from or in connection with any cash delivery.

The relevant rules and regulations on refund are:

• Financial & Accounting Regulation 420
• Standing Accounting Instruction 1055

Where a fee is paid in error or in excess of the amount specified, the amount paid in error or the excess amount received would be refunded.

The Registry will not accept any unpaid or underpaid mail items. Please ensure your mail items bear sufficient postage before posting. Any mail items bearing insufficient postage will be returned or disposed of by the Hongkong Post. For details, please refer to the Hongkong Post website.

In general, such deadline will be extended to the next or first business day of the Registry following the day on which the interruption ends. Notwithstanding such extension of deadline, if the maintenance / renewal fee is paid via our e-filing system after lapse of the original deadline but before the lapse of the extended deadline, due to system constraint, the e-filing system will still require you to pay an additional fee for the “late” payment. In such cases, you are fully entitled to request refund of such additional fee afterwards.

Whilst we will update the entries in the online register of patents as best as we can, there may still be discrepancies in exceptional cases. In case you notice that the status of your patent application or registration is not correctly shown on the online register, please contact us so that we can look into your case accordingly.

Under section 144A of the PO, use of the following titles/descriptions is prohibited—

• registered/certified patent agent;
• registered/certified patent attorney; and
• titles/descriptions that may reasonably cause anyone to believe that the person using such titles/descriptions holds a qualification which is—
  1. specifically granted for approving such person to provide patent agency services in Hong Kong; and
  2. recognized by law or endorsed by the Government.

However, it is permissible for a person to use title/description of any qualification he/she lawfully obtained for patent practice elsewhere with clear indication of the jurisdiction where the qualification was obtained.

Yes. If you have first filed an application for a standard patent (O) or a short-term patent in Hong Kong (“the Hong Kong application”), you may claim priority on the basis of the Hong Kong application in an invention patent or utility model patent application for the same subject matter that is subsequently filed with the CNIPA (“the Mainland application”). To claim priority, the Mainland application must be filed with the CNIPA within 12 months from the date of filing of the Hong Kong application.

The documentary requirements are as follows:

1. The applicant must provide a written declaration when the Mainland application is filed with the CNIPA. Such written declaration must indicate:
   1. the filing date and filing number of the Hong Kong application; and
   2. that the IPD is the competent authority.
   If the written declaration does not indicate the filing date of the Hong Kong application and the competent authority, the declaration shall be deemed not to have been made.

2. The applicant must also submit to the CNIPA, within three months after the Mainland application is filed, a copy of the Hong Kong application which is duly certified by IPD.

   To obtain certified copies of documents from IPD, an applicant should file Form P11 with the Registry together with the prescribed fee. For the purposes of claiming priority in the Mainland, the applicant may request the Registry to certify copies of the following documents (as filed with the Registry on or before the accorded filing date) which constitute the Hong Kong application:

   For standard patent (O) applications:

   • Form OP1 (Request for grant of a standard patent (O))
   • Form OP1A (Statement of inventorship in respect of a standard patent (O)) (if applicable)

   For short-term patent applications:

   • Form P6 (Request for grant of a short-term patent)
   • Form P6A (Statement of inventorship in respect of a short-term patent) (if applicable)

   For both standard patent (O) and short-term patent applications:

   • Specification of the invention
   • English and Chinese abstracts

If the applicant fails to provide the written declaration or to meet the time limit for submitting a copy of the Hong Kong application, the priority claim shall be deemed not to have been made.

An applicant may claim one or more priorities for the Mainland application. Where priority is claimed on the basis of several Hong Kong applications, the priority period for the Mainland application is calculated from the earliest priority date.