INDUSTRY AND TRADE
25
were accepted and allowed to be advertised. A total of 1,840 marks were registered. The principal countries of origin were:
Hong Kong
United States
Japan
United Kingdom
France
487
West Germany
393
Switzerland
250
Australia
176
The Netherlands
117
Singapore
114
73
39
27
25
The total number of marks on the register at December 31, 1978, was 33,695.
Although there is no original grant of patents in Hong Kong, the Registration of United Kingdom Patents Ordinance provides that any grantee of a United Kingdom patent may, within five years from the date of its issue, apply to have the patent regis- tered in Hong Kong. Registration of a United Kingdom patent in Hong Kong confers on the grantee the same privileges and rights as if the patent had been issued in the United Kingdom with an extension to Hong Kong. The privileges and rights run from the date of the patent in the United Kingdom, and continue as long as the patent remains in force there. A total of 758 patents were registered during the year, com- pared with 638 in 1977.
A Patents Working Party, set up by the government in March, 1978, held its first meeting on June 7, 1978. It was decided at the meeting to invite interested parties to submit written comments under the working party's terms of reference, which were published in the South China Morning Post and Wah Kiu Yat Po on June 28 and 30, 1978.
Companies
The Companies Registry of the Registrar General's Department keeps records of all companies incorporated in Hong Kong and all foreign corporations that have established a place of business in Hong Kong.
Ala
Local companies are incorporated under the Companies Ordinance which is, to a large extent, still based on the Companies Act 1929 formerly in force in Britain but now replaced by the Companies Acts of 1948 and 1967. However, as a result of im- plementing a number of recommendations made by the Companies Law Revision Committee (June, 1971, and April, 1973), several parts of the ordinance notably those dealing with prospectuses, accounts and audit have been amended. These parts now incorporate most of the relevant provisions of the Companies Acts of 1948 and 1967. Considerable progress has been made in drafting a number of bills imple- menting other recommendations of the committee. It is expected that a lengthy bill incorporating most of the recommendations in the committee's Second Report, which have not been implemented already by legislation, will be presented to the Governor in Council during 1979.
On incorporation, a company pays a registration fee of $300, plus $4 for every $1,000 of nominal capital. In 1978, 8,846 new companies were incorporated - 2,058 more than in 1977. The nominal capital of new companies registered totalled $3,338 million. Of the new companies, 137 had a nominal share capital of $5 million or more. During the year, 2,486 companies increased their nominal capital by amounts totalling $7,748 million, on which fees were paid at the same rate of $4 per $1,000. At the end of 1978, there were 57,945 local companies on the register, compared with 49,896 in 1977.