INDUSTRY AND TRADE
57
school to provide post primary education with a technical bias for about 1,100 students. Annually the Association organises an exhibition of Hong Kong products which attracts an attendance of nearly 2,000,000 persons. The Association is a member of the International Chambers of Commerce.
TRADE MARKS AND PATENTS
Trade Marks are registered under the Trade Marks Ordinance, which is based on the Trade Marks Act 1938 of the United Kingdom. The procedure is laid down in the Trade Marks Rules, and the prescribed forms may be obtained, free of charge, from the Registrar of Trade Marks, Registrar General's Department. Every mark, even if already registered in the United Kingdom or any other country, must satisfy all the requirements of the Hong Kong Trade Marks Ordinance before it may be accepted for registration. During the year 2,623 applications were received and 1,980 (in- cluding many made in previous years) were accepted and allowed to proceed to advertisement. A total of 1,780 marks were registered, the principal countries of origin being:
United States of America... 483 Hong Kong
Japan
United Kingdom
West Germany
Switzerland France
82
381
45
...
277
Australia
30
+
193
The Netherlands
27
117
Singapore
23
The total number of marks on the register at December 31, 1970 was 24,933.
!ן
Hong Kong law does not provide for the original grant of patents, but the grantee of a United Kingdom patent may, within five years from the date of its issue, apply to have it registered in Hong Kong under the Registration of United Kingdom Patents Ordinance. Registration confers the same rights as though the patent had been issued in the United Kingdom with an extension to Hong Kong. A total of 506 patents were registered during the year, compared with 474 in 1969.
COMPANIES
The Companies Registry keeps records of all companies in- corporated in Hong Kong and also of all foreign corporations