TNAG-2890-FCO40-4162-Reform-and-localisation-of-the-Hong-Kong-Patent-System-1993 — Page 157

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9.10.

A registration system in which granted patents, which have been searched and examined prior to grant by another patent office elsewhere, are registered is a type of examination system. Such a registration system can prevent abuse and give a high degree of certainty to the applicants. On the other hand, obtaining a patent is simple and inexpensive (paragraphs 5.3, 5.7 and 5.8).

9.11.

There are two types of registration system. One type reflects the current system in Hong Kong, where the patent is dependent on the patent granted elsewhere (paragraph 5.2).

9.12.

The other type is where the patent granted by the other authority is registered and then the patent is granted by the registering authority. In this type of registration system the patent granted after registration would be independent of the patent granted elsewhere (paragraph 5.2).

9.13.

It is recognised that registering patents from more than one system carries the risk of creating confusion regarding the ownership and interpretation of patents and hence uncertainty. This risk increases with an increase in the number of systems from which patents are registered (paragraphs 5.10 to 5.16).

In addition there are disadvantages in registering the patents of the system of only one country as, in particular, it could be difficult to adapt to changes in the law of that country with sufficient speed (paragraph 5.17).

It is considered that the requirements which should be taken into account for the system to be used if a registration system is to be adopted in Hong Kong are -

(a)

(b)

(c)

the country or the region must have a high level of trade and a strong market;

the patent office there must have a high number of applications for patents with an international spread of applicants;

the country or the region must apply the same standards and ambit of protection as under HK's current system;

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9.14.

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9.15.

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(d)

the patent office there must use the English language; and

(e)

9.16.

the country or the region must have a long-term financial and political future and that patents issued by its patent office are well respected internationally (paragraph 5.26).

After assessment of which system or systems satisfied these requirements, it was concluded that whilst many systems satisfied some of these requirements, only the system of the European Patent Convention (EPC) appeared to satisfy all of them (paragraph 5.50).

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