TNAG-1495-FCO40-2053-Hong-Kong-intellectual-property-regime-1986 — Page 16

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in this way but he Cannot prevent that use. The amount

of compensation, if it cannot be agreed, will normally be

settled by referring the whole matter to the High Court.

20.

The main justification for the existence of the Crown

use provision lies in Hong Kong's possible security requirements.

This form of compulsory licence need not however be confined

to matters affecting security. Pharmaceuticals for example

could be the subject of the exercise of Crown use. The

Government could authorise itself and others to supply drugs

for its health services. The right of the Crown to work a

patent depends upon the existence of a system of granting

patent rights. It is that grant of patent rights which is

provided by the present registration system. In practice

however it seems that the Crown use provision has never been

used, at least in recent times.

The encouragement of investment in Hong Kong by foreign firms

21.

One of the considerations borne in mind by a foreign

manufacturer contemplating production in Hong Kong is the

extent to which his product will enjoy legal protection from

competition from products manufactured in, or imported into,

Hong Kong. Patent rights are but one aspect of the protection

from competition afforded by the law. The significance of

the prospect of patent rights in the decision whether or not

to invest in product manufacture in Hong Kong is difficult

to gauge without further research into the use in fact made

by foreign firms of the patents they register here.

It can

/be safely

الحميدة

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