(iv) since each international application is published together with an international search report, the public is better informed about the patentability of the claimed invention. National patent systems may not require publication of the search report.
14.19.
As explained in para. 14.15, an international application under the PCT must be filed, at the option of the applicant, with the national office of, or acting for the member state of which the applicant is a resident or with the national office of, or acting for, the member state of which the applicant is a resident. Any member state may nominate the national or regional office of another member state to act as receiving office for its residents or nationals. The national office of or acting for such member state will be the receiving office for the purposes of the treaty.
14.20.
The receiving office for the purposes of the application of the treaty to Hong Kong is currently the United Kingdom Patent Office (UKPO). This enables Hong Kong residents to file an international application under the treaty with the UKPO. This is compatible with the existing system of protection under the Registration of Patents Ordinance which provides for initial application to be made to the UKPO.
14.21.
We consider that the continued use of the UKPO as the receiving office for PCT applications would not be appropriate after the introduction of the proposed patent system as recommended in Chapter 9 and outlined in Chapter 10.
14.22.
In view of this we have given further consideration to an alternative mechanism which would accord with the proposals for the new patent system and the continued application of the treaty to Hong Kong, recognising the fact that Hong Kong cannot become a member of the treaty.
14.23.
The mechanism we propose is for the Hong Kong Patents Registry (the registry) to be nominated under the provisions of the treaty as the national office of the relevant sovereign state for Hong Kong to receive applications under the PCT from residents of Hong Kong. This nomination would be in addition to the nomination of the national patent office of the sovereign state as the receiving office for the purposes of that state. We consider this would provide a suitable mechanism which would accord with the proposals for the proposed Patents Bill.
14.24.
If the registry were to be nominated as a receiving office for the purpose of receiving applications under the treaty from residents of Hong Kong then the responsibilities of the registry would be limited to receiving the application, checking this to see that it meets the formal requirements and then forwarding this to WIPO for further processing of the application. We have considered the resource implications and believe that this would not significantly increase the staffing requirements of the registry. We have accordingly included in Part XIV of the proposed Patents Bill outlined in Chapter 10 Part 2 provisions which would allow for the receipt of PCT applications.
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