ENG-2010 — Page 152

110 | Commerce and Industry

Patents

The Patents Ordinance provides for the grant of standard patents based on patents granted by 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 2010, the Patents Registry received 11 702 standard patent applications and 5 353 were granted. There were also 614 short-term patent applications and 522 were granted.

Registered Designs

In 2010, the Designs Registry received 2 525 applications for the registration of 4 245 designs. During the year, 3 896 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 practice, there is no requirement to register copyright.

The copying and distribution offence came into force on July 16, 2010. This offence seeks to tackle business end-user piracy involving frequent or regular making or distribution of infringing copies of printed publications (i.e. books, magazines, newspapers and periodicals) on a large scale in the course of trade or business, causing a financial loss to the copyright owners. Separately, the Government was drawing up legislative provisions to be introduced into the Legislative Council in 2011 for strengthening copyright protection in the digital environment.

Enforcement

The Customs and Excise Department is responsible for enforcing criminal sanctions to protect intellectual property rights. It investigates reports of copyright infringement and trade mark counterfeiting; maintains licensing control on all optical disc and stamper factories; and takes action against the manufacture, distribution, sale, import and export of pirated and counterfeit goods and possession for business use. It also combats copyright piracy and illicit activities that take place on the internet involving the sales of counterfeit goods.

In 2010, the department acted on 610 piracy cases, arrested 532 people and seized goods worth $26 million. The goods seized were largely pirated optical discs. In 2010, the department adopted a preventive strategy to tackle on-street sale of pirate and counterfeit goods. In addition to targeted raids, officers are deployed to carry out intensive and high profile patrol in high risk areas to deter the peddling of pirated and counterfeit goods. The new strategy has resulted in a significant reduction in such activities. In 2010, the department acted on 739 false trade mark cases. Counterfeit goods worth $119 million were seized and 667 people were arrested.