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The Director of Intellectual Property, Ms Ada Leung, representing the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government, and the Commissioner of the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) of the Republic of Korea, Mr Kim Young-min, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on co-operation in the field of intellectual property (IP) in Hong Kong today (January 29).
The Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development cum Chairman of the Working Group on IP Trading, Mr Gregory So; the Vice-chairman of the Working Group, Mr Andrew Liao; and the Consul-General of the Republic of Korea in Hong Kong, Mr Cho Yong-chun, also attended the signing ceremony.
"The MOU marks an important milestone in the co-operation between Hong Kong and Korea in the area of IP. With strong support from the governments and industry and business sectors of both places, I am confident that this collaboration would inspire more joint IP undertakings in future and drive the growth of IP trading in Hong Kong and Korea," Mr So said at the signing ceremony.
"Pursuing external collaboration efforts is a strategic area under the framework promulgated by the Working Group for driving the development of Hong Kong as a premier IP trading hub. The MOU with KIPO is a significant step in this aspect, and would benefit the development of IP, technology, and creative industry sectors of both places," Mr Liao said.
The MOU provides a framework to facilitate co-operation between Hong Kong and Korea in the areas of IP, such as exchange of information and experience, personnel training, promotion of IP trading and commercialisation, and joint organisation of seminars and conferences.
The Working Group was set up in March 2013 to advise on the overall strategy to promote Hong Kong as an IP trading hub and identify possible policies and measures in support. It has endorsed a Strategic Framework for forging ahead, covering four strategic areas, namely enhancing the IP protection regime, supporting IP creation and exploitation, fostering IP intermediary services and manpower capacity, and pursuing promotion, education and external collaboration efforts. The Working Group plans to submit a report with recommendations to the Government for consideration and follow-up.
Ends/Thursday, January 29, 2015
Issued at HKT 17:14
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