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The 11th Meeting of the Guangdong/Hong Kong Expert Group on the Protection of Intellectual Property Rights was held in Hong Kong today (July 19). The Expert Group agreed to continue deepening and actively promoting co-operation and development of intellectual property (IP) in Hong Kong and Guangdong in a bid to enhance the economic strength, innovation capability and international competitiveness of the two places.
Co-operation projects of the Expert Group for 2012-13 include:
* Continuing to promote and develop IP trading in Guangdong and Hong Kong;
* Organising IP seminars and exchange programmes for enterprises in both places;
* Continuing to encourage Hong Kong enterprises in Guangdong to apply for accreditation of well-known trademarks; and
* Organising IP activities for enforcement officials in both places.
At the meeting, the two sides shared their latest developments in IP co-operation and reviewed the projects completed in the past year. These included the "Guangdong/Hong Kong Seminars on IP and Development of Small and Medium Enterprises", actively promoting developments of IP trading in Guangdong and Hong Kong, supporting Hong Kong enterprises in Guangdong to apply for accreditation of well-known trademarks, organising exchange programmes between IP-related non-government organisations in Guangdong and Hong Kong, and composing a commemorative song for the 10th anniversary of Guangdong/Hong Kong co-operation on IP protection.
Law enforcement authorities in Guangdong and Hong Kong continued to work closely during the past year to strengthen the co-ordination mechanism for handling IP-related cases.
Speaking at the press conference, the Director of Intellectual Property, Mr Peter Cheung, said, "With our joint efforts, last year's key co-operation projects were successfully accomplished. One of the highlights of our accomplishments was the two sides working together to facilitate the development of a new concept - intellectual property trading. Related projects include organising the 'Guangdong/Hong Kong Seminars on IP and Development of Small and Medium Enterprises' in Foshan in June this year and enriching the information related to IP trading and enforcement on the 'IP Database for Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao' website."
The leader of the Guangdong delegation, the Director-General of the Guangdong Intellectual Property Office, Ms Tao Kaiyuan, said that with the efforts of both sides in the past decade, the scope of co-operation had been expanded and the level of co-operation had been upgraded. In 2012-13, the two sides will continue improving the existing co-ordination mechanism and will launch a series of new projects to cater to the needs for future development, which include strengthening trademark and brand-building exchanges and co-operation, and organising exchange programmes for IP enforcement agencies of both sides and for combating cross-boundary IP infringement.
As this year marks the 10th anniversary of Guangdong/Hong Kong IP co-operation, a cocktail reception was held right after the press conference. The Permanent Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development (Commerce, Industry and Tourism), Mr Andrew Wong, and the Deputy Secretary-General of the Guangdong People's Government, Ms Jiang Haiyan, officiated at the cocktail reception. As a token of appreciation, the officiating guests, together with the Expert Group leaders, presented awards to individuals and organisations to thank them for their contributions to the Expert Group in the past years.
Moreover, a music video specially produced for celebrating the 10th anniversary of Guangdong/Hong Kong IP co-operation - "Guangdong/Hong Kong Co-operating for a Better Future" - made its debut in the cocktail reception.
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 was led by the Director-General of the Guangdong Intellectual Property Office and comprised 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 was headed by the Director of Intellectual Property and comprised officials from the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau and the Customs and Excise Department.
A summary of the co-operation items is uploaded to the website of the Intellectual Property Department (www.ipd.gov.hk).
Ends/Thursday, July 19, 2012
Issued at HKT 17:30
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