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The ninth meeting of the Guangdong/Hong Kong Expert Group on Protection of Intellectual Property Rights was held in Hong Kong today (July 30). The expert group decided to step up co-operation to raise the level of intellectual property (IP) awareness among the public and enterprises in Guangdong and Hong Kong.
The expert group's co-operation projects for 2010-2011 include:
* Encouraging Hong Kong-invested enterprises in Guangdong with domestic sales on the Mainland to apply for famous trademarks in Guangdong Province;
* Organising seminars, training courses and exchange programmes for enterprises in both places; and
*Organising IP training activities for enforcement officials in both places.
Speaking at a press conference after the meeting, the Director of Intellectual Property, Mr Stephen Selby, welcomed Guangdong's arrangement to allow Hong Kong-invested enterprises with domestic sales on the Mainland to apply for famous trademarks in Guangdong Province. He said the measure could sharpen the competitive edge of Hong Kong enterprises by raising their trademark value and building up goodwill.
"Hong Kong and Guangdong will jointly organise a training course on intellectual capital management to establish a team of trainers comprising government officials, IP academics and intermediaries with a view to assisting Guangdong enterprises and Hong Kong-invested enterprises in Guangdong to strengthen their overall abilities in IP management and exploitation," Mr Selby said.
Also present at the press conference was the Director-General of the Guangdong Intellectual Property Office, Ms Tao Kaiyuan. She said that with the efforts of both sides, co-operation on IP between Guangdong and Hong Kong was incorporated in the Framework Agreement on Hong Kong/Guangdong Co-operation as an independent item. This demonstrated that the governments of the two places attached great importance to IP protection and that IP co-operation between Guangdong and Hong Kong had entered a new era.
At the meeting, the two sides reviewed the projects completed in the past year, including the "Symposium on Patent Law Amendment and Implementation of the Mainland" and the "Guangdong/Hong Kong Seminar on Intellectual Property and Development of Small and Medium Enterprises", training courses on IP protection in conventions and exhibitions overseas and use of patent information to accelerate restructuring and upgrading, as well as exchange programmes for the IP industry. The promotion of the "No Fakes Pledge" Scheme was also enhanced in the two places.
Guangdong and Hong Kong, in collaboration with the Economic Services of the Government of the Macao Special Administrative Region, have completed the compilation of the English version of "A Concise Booklet on the Intellectual Property Rights of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao" to help foreign readers understand the IP laws and systems in the three places.
The IPR enforcement agencies of Guangdong and Hong Kong also continued to maintain close co-operation. With contributions from both sides, new breakthroughs had been achieved to strengthen the co-ordination mechanism for IP-related cases which has further enhanced intelligence exchange and enforcement effectiveness.
The expert group, set up after the sixth plenary of the Guangdong/Hong Kong Co-operation Joint Conference in August 2003, aims to enhance exchanges and co-operation on various aspects of IP protection, including promotion and education, training, enforcement, research study and information dissemination.
The Guangdong delegation is led by the Director-General of the Guangdong Intellectual Property Office and comprises officials from the Guangdong Provincial Public Security Department, the Department of Foreign Trade and Economic Co-operation of Guangdong Province, the Guangdong Provincial Administration for Industry and Commerce, the Copyright Bureau of Guangdong Province, the Guangdong Sub-Administration of China Customs and the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the People's Government of Guangdong Province. The Hong Kong delegation is headed by the Director of Intellectual Property and comprises officials from the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau and the Customs and Excise Department.
A summary of the co-operation items is posted on the website of the Intellectual Property Department at www.ipd.gov.hk.
Ends/Friday, July 30, 2010
Issued at HKT 13:00
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