itself from reliance on the UK Patent Office, there seems no reason to do this before 1997
or before Chinese patents can be registered. A UK patent would seem at least as good a
match for the requirements identified in the PSC report as an EP patent and a good deal
less expensive.
5. We therefore urge that the proposal (in the short term, at least) to restrict the system to
one in which only EP patents can be registered should be reconsidered. If for political
reasons it is expedient to recognise the work of patent offices other than the UK, then we
suggest that from the outset UK, EP and Chinese patents should be registerable.
Time limits for registration in Hong Kong
6. The two stage registration system requiring registration of an application in Hong Kong
within 6 months of publication of an EP application followed by a request for grant in
Hong Kong within 6 months of the grant of an EP patent seems unnecessarily rigid
compared to the current system where applicants need do nothing in Hong Kong until
after their UK or EP(UK) patent is granted. However, we can also see the advantage for
the applicant in filing early in Hong Kong. The proposed system could be made more
flexible by allowing applications in Hong Kong to be filed at any time after the EP
application has been made up to six months after grant of the EP patent. (At the limit, of
course, it would be necessary to register the application and apply for grant in Hong Kong
at the same time.) Clearly those who do not apply early in Hong Kong risk loss of
damages for any infringement occurring in Hong Kong between the making of the EP
patent application and grant of a patent in Hong Kong.
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