ENG-2005 — Page 159

Commerce and Industry 125

Patents

The Patents Ordinance provides for the grant of standard patents based on patents granted in the State Intellectual Property Office of China, the United Kingdom Patent Office or the European Patent Office (in respect of patents designating the United Kingdom). It also provides for the grant of short-term patents, which can be registered following local examination procedures. The Patents (General) (Amendment) Rules 2004 has enabled e-filing and e-publication for patents. As a result, the fees for patent registration services, which are charged at full-cost recovery basis, have been reduced by 73 per cent. In 2005, the Patents Registry received 11 763 standard patent applications and 6 518 were granted. There were also 463 applications for grant of short-term patents and 419 were granted.

Registered Designs

The Registered Designs

Designs Ordinance enables designs to be registered independently in the HKSAR. The Registered Designs (Amendment) Rules 2004 enabled e-filing and e-publication for designs. As a result, the fees for design. registration services, which are charged at full-cost recovery basis, have been reduced by 51 per cent. In 2005, the Designs Registry received 3 176 applications for the registration of 5 290 designs 2 485 single-design applications and 691 multiple-design applications. During the year, 4 989 designs were registered.

Copyright

The Copyright Ordinance provides protection for literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works, typographical arrangements of published editions, sound recordings, films, broadcasts, cable programmes and performers' performances irrespective of the domicile of the copyright owners. In line with international standards, there is no requirement to register copyright.

The Government released a consultation document on the review of certain provisions of the Copyright Ordinance in December 2004. After considering the submissions made in response to the consultation and further consultations with copyright owners and users, the Government put forward a package of preliminary proposals to amend the Copyright Ordinance in June 2005 and some refinements to the preliminary proposals in November 2005. The proposals aim to update the copyright protection and exemption regime in the

light of latest social and technological developments.

Enforcement

The Customs and Excise Department is responsible for enforcing the criminal sanctions for the protection of intellectual property rights. It investigates reports of copyright infringement and trade mark counterfeiting, and takes action against the manufacture, distribution, sale, import and export of pirated and counterfeit goods and possession for business use of certain copyrighted works. The enforcement results for intellectual property rights in 2005 were: