Hong Kong's IPD Hosts Open Day

by Mary Swire, for LawAndTax-News.com, Hong Kong

13 March 2008

The Hong Kong Intellectual Property Department (IPD) recently hosted an open day to raise the profile of intellectual property in the territory, under the theme of 'Intellectual Capital Management'.

Commenting with regard to the event last week, Commerce and Economic Development Secretary, Frederick Ma suggested that Hong Kong should work to protect and manage intellectual capital to maintain its competitiveness in the globalised environment.

The March 4th event was the fifth such event held by the IPD.

Addressing invited guests and stakeholders in the intellectual property (IP) industry, Mr Ma observed that:

“To maintain our competitiveness in the globalised environment, we are not working only to protect our intellectual capital, but also to manage it.”

Mr Ma also endorsed IPD’s efforts in promoting the concept of ICM in the business community over the years.

According to the Department:

"ICM is a set of tools, which allows enterprises to tap into reservoirs of knowledge and expertise that they already possess but may not be exploiting effectively. It also helps them to appreciate competitive pressures from outside economies and identify their needs to obtain improved knowledge and expertise."

Mr Ma further noted that in promoting intellectual property rights, IPD had been making efforts to reach out to the Mainland, and to other countries. A case in point, he suggested, was the ‘Hong Kong Creativity – Intellectual Property in Hong Kong, China’ exhibition held in Geneva last year.

“The exhibition was hosted by the Government of the People’s Republic of China and World Intellectual Property Organisation, and co-organised by IPD to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Hong Kong’s reunification with the Mainland."

"The event underscored Hong Kong’s achievements in guarding intellectual property and helped project positive images about our creative industry on the international stage,” he explained.

The Top e-Filers’ Awards Presentation Ceremony was the highlight of the IPD Open Day. In line with the government’s Digital 21 strategy, IPD has put a lot of efforts in promoting its e-services.

According to IPD figures, in 2007, 58% of applications for registration of trademarks were filed online. In addition, 38% of standard patents and 42% of designs were filed electronically.

Approximately 260 guests participated in the open day event. They included the major stakeholders in IP industry (the legal community and related IP associations), academics, guests from Guangdong Province, consulate staff and representatives from the public sector.

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