MONDAY, MARCH 2, 1987
3
+WE NEED TO LOOK AT THE TERM OF COPYRIGHT, PHOTOCOPYING AND EXCEPTIONS TO COPYRIGHT BROADCASTING AND CABLE DIFFUSION CONVERSION DAMAGES (WHICH THE UNITED KINGDOM GOVERNMENT HÁS DECIDED TO ABOLISH, MANY WOULD SAY NOT BEFORE TIME') AND THE PROTECTION OF COMPUTER SOFTWARE.
IN RELATION TO TRADE MARKS HE SAID HONG KONG'S SELF-CONTAINED TRADE MARKS ORDINANCE HAD RECENTLY BEEN AMENDED TO BRING THE REQUIREMENTS FOR PART B REGISTRATION INTO LINE WITH THOSE OF THE UNITED KINGDOM. HE ADDED THAT THE ORDINANCE AND OUR OWN TRADE MARK REGISTRY APPEAR TO BE CATERING ADEQUATELY TO HONG KONG NEEDS.+
MR THOMAS SAID HE ALSO EXPECTED TO SEE THE LAW AMENDED TO ALLOW THE REGISTRATION OF SERVICE MARKS IN THE NOT TOO DISTANT FUTURE.
EARLIER IN HIS SPEECH, MR THOMAS OUTLINED THE IMPORTANCE OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY. HE SAID THAT IF HONG KONG WERE TO ADVANCE, +IT IS VITAL THAT WE SHOULD DEVELOP AND ENCOURAGE AND EXPLOIT TO MAXIMUM BENEFIT THE INTELLECTUAL PRODUCT OF OUR PEOPLE+.
TO DO THIS, LAWS PROTECTING THE INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY OF OUR INVENTORS, INNOVATORS AND INDUSTRIALISTS HAD TO BE DEVELOPED.
+ BUT PERHAPS THE MOST IMPORTANT REASON WHY HONG KONG SHOULD MAINTAIN A COMPREHENSIVE AND EFFECTIVE SYSTEM OF LAWS PROTECTING INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS IS THE IMPACT THAT THE EXISTENCE OF SUCH A SYSTEM HAS ON HONG KONG'S INTERNATIONAL TRADING RELATIONS, HE NOTED.
MR THOMAS SAID THAT THE LOCALISATION OF PATENT LAWS, HOWEVER WOULD BE A MORE DIFFICULT PROCESS. VIEWS COLLECTED BY THE SECRETARY FOR ECONOMIC SERVICES OVER A PERIOD OF 18 MONTHS WAS THAT, IN GENERAL TERMS, HONG KONG SHOULD NOT GRANT ITS OWN PATENTS' BUT SHOULD CONTINUE THE SYSTEM OF REGISTERING PATENTS GRANTED ELSEWHERE AND THAT THE CLEAR FAVOURITE FOR REGISTRATION, IN PLACE OF THE UNITED KINGDOM PATENT, WAS THE EUROPEAN PATENT OFFICE IN MUNICH.
VIEWS ON THE PETTY PATENT SYSTEM, ON THE OTHER HAND, WERE DIVIDED, MR THOMAS SAID,
+EARLIER THIS YEAR THE FINANCIAL SECRETARY AND I APPOINTED A PATENT STEERING COMMITTEE COMPRISING SPECIALISTS IN THE FIELD FROM THE PRIVATE SECTOR AND GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS.
+ITS TERMS OF REFERENCE ARE FIRSTLY, TO TAKE ACCOUNT OF THE RESPONSES THAT HAVE BEEN RECEIVED TO THE SECRETARY FOR ECONOMIC SERVICES CIRCULAR LETTER, SECONDLY, TO ADVISE THE GOVERNMENT WHAT PATENT SYSTEM SHOULD BE ADOPTED IN HONG KONG AND THIRDLY, TO DRAW UP DETAILED PROPOSALS FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE SYSTEM.
/+THE STEERING