CHANG TSI
View
Chang Tsi & Partners is pleased to announce that we have opened our Hong Kong office this February. We have extended our quality IPR legal services to Hong Kong, which will greatly benefit our client’s IPR protection in Asian area. The main advantage thereof is that it enables us to lower our professional fees for Hong Kong patent services by about 20%. This took effect on 6th March 2017. Details of patent applications in Hong Kong are as follows:
As Hong Kong is one of the largest ports in the world and a home to some of the most popular trade shows (such as Hong Kong Electronics Fair, the Hong Kong Optical Fair, and the Hong Kong Housewares Fair) globally, it is an important jurisdiction to protect your intellectual property, especially when you enforce your patent, a patent certificate is a required title document for making a complaint to the Legal Adviser of fairs about patent infringement by another exhibitor. However, patents registered with the Chinese Patent Office do not automatically receive protection in Hong Kong.You should register your patent separately in the two places in Mainland China and Hong Kong, as there are separate systems of registration and protection.
There are three types of patents in Hong Kong. One is called standard patents. Another one is called short-term patents. Yet another one is called design patents. The period of protection of a standard patent can be renewed annually after the end of the third year, up to maximum term of 20 years. Protection under a short-term patent is renewable after the end of the fourth year, up to a maximum term of eight years. The period of protection of a registered design is renewable for periods of five years, up to a maximum of 25 years.
As to a standard patent, its grant is based on the registration of a patent at the European Patent Office designating the United Kingdom, a United Kingdom patent or a Chinese invention patent, called designated patents. A standard patent application is made in two steps:
Step 1. Filing a Request for Recordal within 6 months from the publication date of the patent application filed at one of the designated patent offices as described above; and
Step 2. Filing a Request for Registration and Grant within 6 months from the issue date of the patent.
The grant of a short-term patent in Hong Kong is based on a search report from an International Searching Authority, the European Patent Office, the United Kingdom Patent Office, or the Chinese Patent Office.
Opening an Office in Hong Kong enables us to file patent applications in Hong Kong electrically, which helps us extend our services in Hong Kong with more flexible and competitive fees.
Should you have a specific query regarding IP matters in China, including Hong Kong, please contact Mrs. Chenyan Wu at Petent@changtsi.com.
On July 3, 2014, the State Administration of Industry and Commerce published a brand new version of the Recognition and Protection of Well-Known Trademarks Provisions, which set specific provisions and responsibilities for well-known trademark cases, parties involved and departments of industry and commerce.
On January 11, 2017, Song Xiaoming, Chief Judge of Intellectual Property Rights Tribunal of the Supreme People's Court released to the press the Provisions of the Supreme People's Court on on Several Issues Concerning the Hearing of Administrative Cases on Granting and Affirming Trademark Rights (hereinafter referred to as the Provisions).
A free-trade zone (FTZ) is a specific class of special economic zone. It is a geographic area in China where goods may be imported and exported under specific customs regulations and partly excluded from customs duty. It offers corporations free trade advantages and a more liberal regulatory environment.
