118 Commerce and Industry
and 8 214 multiple-class applications. During the period, 17 907 marks were registered, a decrease of 9.1 per cent compared with 19 689 in 2005. Out of the total of 100 countries filing applications, the principal places from which applications originated were:
8 058
Germany
HK, China
585
US
3 420
Switzerland
545
Mainland China
3 389
United Kingdom
526
Japan
1 743
France
616
Taiwan, province of China
Italy
498
471
The register had a total of 209 699 marks by the end of the year.
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 may be registered following local formality examination procedures. In 2006, the Patents Registry received 13 790 standard patent applications and 5 147 were granted. There were also 520 short-term patent applications and 436 were granted.
Registered Designs
The Registered Designs Ordinance provides for the registration of designs in the HKSAR. In 2006, the Designs Registry received 3 424 applications for the registration of 5 724 designs, including 2 721 single-design applications and 703 multiple-design applications. During the year, 5 356 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.
In March, the Copyright (Amendment) Bill 2006 was introduced into the Legislative Council. Proposals in the bill included new business end-user criminal liability for copyright infringement, measures for improving the copyright exemption regime, enhanced deterrent against circumvention of technological measures that protect copyright, the introduction of rental rights for films and comic books, and further relaxation for the use of parallel imports of copyright works.
In December, the Government also issued a consultation document seeking public views on whether, and if so how, copyright protection in the digital environment should be enhanced. Issues covered in the consultation document included legal liability for unauthorised uploading and downloading of copyright works, protection of copyright works transmitted to the public via all forms of
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