Special Administrative Region has the legal framework and expertise to support transactions

The Business of IP Asia Forum, organized by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, and the Hong Kong Design Centre on Dec 1-2, 2022, brings together professionals and business leaders worldwide to explore the latest developments in intellectual property and business opportunities. (ANDY CHONG / CHINA DAILY)

Editor's note: Hong Kong is pressing ahead with high-quality economic development. The city is getting ready for growth in key industries such as intellectual property trading and innovation and technology. It will also promote aviation development to enhance its status as an international aviation hub.

Major players in Hong Kong's intellectual property field are painting a rosy picture of the city becoming a regional IP trading center by unleashing its huge potential for IP creation and commercialization with its strong IP protection regime, a robust legal system and highly developed service industries.

The goal of developing Hong Kong into a regional IP trading center as set out in the nation's 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) is a recognition of the city's IP strengths and talents. In particular, the ongoing enhancement of its IP protection regime, such as the implementation of an original grant patent system and recent updates of its copyright law, coupled with its large pool of multi-lingual professionals with Chinese mainland and overseas perspectives, help to facilitate IP trading.

Hong Kong ranks 10th globally in the intellectual property rights category of the 2022 World Competitiveness Yearbook published by the International Institute for Management Development in Switzerland. The city was also among the world's top 20 patent offices for filings in 2021, according to an annual report released by the World Intellectual Property Organization.

As an outstanding provider of professional services, Hong Kong has a wealth of legal and professional expertise in different areas covering IP, commerce and finance, accountancy, dispute resolution, to support IP trading activities at home and abroad.

James Choi Chi-kit, a local solicitor and council member of the Licensing Executives Society China — Hong Kong Sub-chapter, said that Hong Kong's strength in IP trading lies in its legal professionals' comprehensive understanding of the Chinese mainland and international legal systems, as well as their extensive experience in handling cross-border IP disputes.

Choi's law firm helped a mainland catering company, which was embroiled in a trademark dispute in Europe. It was a difficult battle, he said, as it involved a foreign legal system, and the catering company's first attempt to win the case failed. It later turned to Choi's firm and managed to settle the cross-border IP dispute with the assistance of Hong Kong professionals experienced in dealing with foreign legal systems.

"Senior IP lawyers in Hong Kong, for instance, may be able to better predict the strategies their foreign rivals might adopt, or what kind of legal opinions foreign judiciaries would hold over the disputes," Choi said.

The Business of Intellectual Property Asia Forum, or BIP Asia, co-organized by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council and the Hong Kong Design Centre, is an annual flagship event in the Asia-Pacific region. BIP Asia gathers professionals and business leaders from all over the world to discuss the latest developments in the IP world and explore business collaboration opportunities. In 2022, the forum was held in a hybrid format — in person and online, featuring over 70 prominent speakers and attracting more than 14,000 participants.

To keep up with the times and assist parties to locate particular IP that is of interest to them, Asia IP Exchange, a free online platform and database, has been launched by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council. It helps to connect IP owners and potential buyers. At present, the platform showcases over 28,000 tradeable IP listings from around the world. It also cooperates with local research and development institutions as well as partners outside of Hong Kong to expand its IP database.

The city launched an original grant patents system in 2019 to provide a direct route for innovators to seek standard patent protection in Hong Kong for up to 20 years. This helps to promote innovation and commercialization of R&D outcomes as innovators can now apply for and register patents in Hong Kong without needing to go through other patent offices outside Hong Kong.

To further facilitate cross-boundary protection of patents, the China National Intellectual Property Administration, in collaboration with IP authorities in Hong Kong and Guangdong province, launched a pilot project in January 2023 to offer Hong Kong applicants prioritized examination of their qualified invention patent applications in the mainland. This pilot project will facilitate Hong Kong applicants in seeking patent protection in the mainland to safeguard the exploitation and commercialization of their inventions, contributing to the development of innovation and technology in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong can serve as a gateway for inventors and content providers in the mainland to promote their products globally, thereby increasing the value of their IPs. This has long been a case in point for the movie industry, said Sobel Chan Ka-lok, senior lecturer at the School of Communication of the Hang Seng University of Hong Kong.

A good example is Operation Red Sea, a 2018 movie directed by Hong Kong director Dante Lam Chiu-yin, starring mainland actors such as Zhang Yi and Huang Jingyu. The blockbuster has earned more than 3.6 billion yuan ($504.94 million), ranking among the 10 highest-grossing titles in the history of the mainland's movie industry. Pocketing an array of awards, it was also selected to represent Hong Kong for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 91st Academy Awards.

The success of mainland-Hong Kong co-production films over the past decades is a testimony to the city's role in promoting the commercialization of mainland IP products, Chan added.

Looking forward, Choi is placing his bets on the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area — an 11-city world-leading bay area in the making — to generate a surge in demand for Hong Kong's IP professional services. "I have seen more clients from the mainland and overseas, especially those from Asian countries, who are now willing to seek legal advice on IP registration, protection and trading," Choi said.

The Copyright (Amendment) Ordinance 2022, effective from May 1, 2023, will further strengthen copyright protection in the digital environment. The new legislation has introduced an exclusive technology-neutral communication right for copyright owners, a "safe harbour "regime for incentivizing online service providers to cooperate with copyright owners in combating online piracy, and several new copyright exceptions that allow the use of copyright works in some common internet activities and facilitate online learning.

As Hong Kong continues to improve its IP legal protection and press ahead with its policy initiatives to promote and facilitate IP commercialization, Chan believes creators and inventors, whether they are inside or outside Hong Kong, will be more inclined to tap into the city's IP-related expertise and services, to protect, manage and commercialize the fruits of their creativity, as well as R&D.