ENG-1976 — Page 58

INDUSTRY AND TRADE

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from the Trade Marks Registry, Registrar General's Department. Every mark, even if already registered in Britain or any other country, must satisfy all the requirements of the Hong Kong Trade Marks Ordinance before it may be accepted for registra- tion. During the year 3,107 applications were received and 2,032 (including many made in previous years) were accepted and allowed to proceed to advertisement. A total of 1,850 marks were registered, the principal countries of origin being:

United States of America

Hong Kong

...

Japan

United Kingdom

West Germany

Switzerland

France

475

422

222

Italy

179

Australia

158

Sweden

...

101

80

37

...

26

18

The total number of marks on the register af December 31, 1976, was 32,231.

Although there is no original grant of patents in Hong Kong, the Registration of United Kingdom Patents Ordinance provides that any person being the grantee of a United Kingdom patent may, within five years from the date of its issue, apply to have his patent registered in Hong Kong. Registration of a United Kingdom patent in Hong Kong confers on the grantee of the patent the same privileges and rights as though the patent had been issued in Britain with an extension to Hong Kong. The privileges and rights run from the date of the patent in the United Kingdom, and continue as long as the patent remains in force there. A total of 828 patents were registered during the year, compared with 605 in 1975.

Companies

The Companies Registry of the Registrar General's Department keeps records of all companies incorporated in Hong Kong and also of all foreign corporations which have established a place of business in Hong Kong.

Local companies are incorporated under the Companies Ordinance, which is to a large extent still based on the Companies Act 1929 formerly in force in Britain but now replaced by the Companies Acts of 1948 and 1967. However, as a result of the implementation of a number of recommendations made by the Companies Law Revision Committee (June 1971 and April 1973), several parts of the ordinance- notably those dealing with prospectuses, accounts and audit-have been amended. These parts now incorporate most of the relevant provisions of the Companies Acts of 1948 and 1967, although there are still differences between the ordinance and the current legislation in Britain.

On incorporation a company pays a registration fee of $300 plus $4 for every $1,000 of nominal capital. In 1976 there were 5,474 new companies incorporated— 1,304 more than in 1975. The nominal capital of new companies registered totalled $2,466 million--35 per cent more than the previous year. Of the new companies, 90 had a nominal share capital of $5 million or more. During the year 1,419 com- panies increased their nominal capital by amounts totalling $4,301 million, on which fees were paid at the same rate of $4 per $1,000. At the end of 1976 there were 43,877 local companies on the register compared with 38,985 the previous year.