ENG-2018 — Page 134

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Commerce and Industry

Trade Marks

The Trade Marks Registry received 40,331 applications in 2018, a year-on-year rise of 7.2 per cent. It registered 34,970 marks, taking the number of registered marks to 423,036 by the year end. Out of the 117 countries and regions that filed applications, the principal ones were:

Hong Kong

14,953

Mainland

7,302

US

4,045

Japan

3,076

Korea

1,163

France

984

United Kingdom

Taiwan

937

777

Germany

749

Switzerland

705

The government is preparing a bill to amend the Trade Marks Ordinance to pave the way for Hong Kong's implementation of the international registration system under the Protocol Relating to the Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks.

Patents

The Patents Ordinance provides for the grant of standard patents based on corresponding patents granted by one of three designated patent offices, namely the National Intellectual Property Administration of China, UK Patent Office, and European Patent Office in respect of patents designating the UK. It also provides for the grant of short-term patents upon formality examination. The Patents Registry received 15,986 standard patent and 791 short-term patent applications in 2018. It granted 9,651 and 763 standard and short-term patents respectively, 44.7 per cent and 31.1 per cent higher than in 2017.

The government is working to launch within 2019 an original grant patent system which will facilitate Hong Kong's development into a regional innovation and technology hub and an intellectual property trading hub.

Designs

In 2018, the Designs Registry received 2,583 applications for the registration of 4,435 designs, and registered 4,547 designs, a 1.2 per cent drop from 2017.

Copyright

The Copyright Ordinance protects original 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 authors and performers. No registration is required to obtain protection.

Enforcement

The Customs and Excise Department enforces criminal sanctions against the infringement of 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 the possession of such goods for business use.

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