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The Trademark Working Co-ordination Group had its first meeting in Beijing today (December 5).
Under the framework of "Trade and Investment Facilitation" in Supplement V to the Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement, the Trademark Office of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce and the Intellectual Property Department of Hong Kong agreed to establish a trademark working co-ordination group to institutionalise a regular communication mechanism to strengthen exchanges and co-operation in areas such as trademark registration and trademark protection.
At today's meeting, the two sides briefed each other on the latest developments of their local trademark matters, including application for and registration of trademarks, as well as formulation, implementation and enforcement of trademark law, and exchanged views on the working mechanism of the co-ordination group. They also discussed ways to strengthen the exchange of information relating to trademark protection. Both sides agreed to post on their respective websites "trademark matters in the Mainland/Hong Kong" as one of the topical columns to facilitate public access to the material.
The head of the Hong Kong delegation, the Director of Intellectual Property, Mr Stephen Selby, said the meeting had laid a solid foundation for future co-operation between the two sides.
The Hong Kong delegation comprised officials from the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau, the Intellectual Property Department and the Customs and Excise Department.
Ends/Friday, December 5, 2008
Issued at HKT 16:04
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