108 | Commerce and Industry
The department also enforces the criminal laws that protect copyright and trade marks, and consumer protection legislation relating to the safety of various commodities, the integrity of weights and measures and the marking of precious metals.
Intellectual Property Department
The Intellectual Property Department runs the registries of the trade marks, patents, designs and copyright licensing bodies, advises on policy and legislation related to intellectual property protection, provides civil intellectual property legal advice to the Government, and promotes public awareness of and respect for intellectual property rights.
Overseas Hong Kong Economic and Trade Offices
There are 10 overseas Hong Kong Economic and Trade Offices (ETOS) located in Geneva, Brussels, London, Washington, New York, San Francisco, Singapore, Sydney, Tokyo and Toronto.
With the exception of the Geneva office which represents Hong Kong, China, as a member of the World Trade Organisation, and as an observer on the Trade Committee of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, the other nine ETOS help promote Hong Kong's economic and trade interests by enhancing understanding of Hong Kong among opinion-formers; closely monitoring developments that might affect Hong Kong's economic and trade interests; and liaising closely with the business and commercial sectors, politicians, think tanks and the news media. They also organise events to promote Hong Kong's image. In addition, most of these offices try to attract direct investment into Hong Kong.
The Brussels office takes up a leading role in representing Hong Kong on matters relating to Hong Kong's economic and trade interests in Europe, in particular in dealings with the European Union, European Commission and European Parliament. It also promotes bilateral relations in 17 European countries.
The purview of the London office spans over nine European countries, including the United Kingdom, Russia, four Nordic countries and three Baltic countries. Hong Kong's representative to the International Maritime Organisation is also based in the London office.
The Washington office represents Hong Kong's interests in the capital of the United States of America (USA). It focuses on monitoring and liaising closely with the US Administration, US Congress and think tanks on government policies and new legislations that may have implications for Hong Kong's trade with the US. The New York office is responsible for promoting economic and trade interests in 31 states in the East Coast region of the US and the San Francisco office in 19 states on the West Coast.
The offices in Sydney, Tokyo and Toronto are responsible for bilateral economic and trade relations in their host countries. In addition, the Sydney office covers New Zealand and the Tokyo office covers the Republic of Korea. The Singapore office looks