Sixteenth Meeting of Guangdong/Hong Kong Expert Group on Protection of Intellectual Property Rights held in Hong Kong (with photo)
******************************************************************************************
Co-operation projects of the Expert Group for 2017-18 cover seven areas with 28 co-operation projects in total, with an aim to embrace the Belt and Road Initiative and the establishment of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Bay Area, to take the co-operation to a higher level and to expand the realm of co-operation. The seven areas are as follows:
* Deepening co-operation on IP between Guangdong and Hong Kong;
* Promoting co-operation on IP in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Bay Area actively (a new area of co-operation);
* Reinforcing co-operation on cross-border protection of IP in both places;
* Promoting co-operation on IP trading in both places;
* Promoting exchange and deliberation on IP in both places;
* Strengthening guidance service in IP in both places; and
* Organising IP promotion and education activities in both places.
At the meeting, the two sides reviewed the co-operation projects completed in the past year, including the Guangdong/Hong Kong Seminar on IP and Development of Small and Medium Enterprises with the theme of enhancing competitiveness of enterprises; the exchange programmes for copyright, e-commerce, trademark industries and high-end IP service agencies; supporting the Business of IP Asia Forum co-organised by the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council and the Hong Kong Design Centre, which aimed to promote the development of IP trading and industries in the two places; and promotion and education activities targeting the youth in both places.
Key co-operation projects in the coming year include exploring the opportunities arising from the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Bay Area, organising exchange activities in the Hengqin area of the Guangdong Pilot Free Trade Zone with the theme of "Supporting youth entrepreneurs through high-end IP services", promoting exchange and co-operation between IP trading platforms of both places and supporting Hong Kong as the external IP trading platform in the region on the premise of complementing advantages of both places and achieving mutual benefits. Meanwhile, an exchange programme co-organised with the Trademark Examination Cooperation Guangzhou Center of the Trademark Office of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce relating to trademark registration and examination will be added next year, in order to promote co-operation and development in the trademark area in both places.
As for cross-border protection on IP, law enforcement authorities in Guangdong and Hong Kong have continued to combat cross-border infringing activities through various co-operation mechanisms, including intelligence exchange, sharing of information resources, joint operations and project co-operation. Co-operation in the coming year include focusing on combating infringing activities destined for Hong Kong or for the Belt and Road countries through Hong Kong by Customs of both places.
During the press conference after the meeting, the Director of Intellectual Property, Ms Ada Leung, said, "The Expert Group completed 24 co-operation items in the past year, with six of them being new items, and the results were encouraging. In the coming year, the number of co-operation items will increase to 28, in which a co-operation area on promoting co-operation on IP in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Bay Area is added. The two sides will continue the close co-operation and jointly promote the further development of IP creation, utilisation, protection and trading in the region."
The Director-General of the Guangdong Intellectual Property Office, Mr Ma Xianmin, said, "Since the establishment of the Expert Group, the two sides have launched co-operation in various areas, such as cross-border IP protection, information exchange, training and deliberation, and completed over 200 co-operation projects, contributing to the innovation advancement and social development of the two places."
The Expert Group was set up after the Sixth Plenary of the Hong Kong/Guangdong Co-operation Joint Conference in August 2003. It aims at enhancing exchanges and co-operation on various aspects of IP protection, including promotion and education, training, enforcement, research study and information dissemination.
The leader of the Expert Group from the Guangdong side is the Director-General of the Guangdong Intellectual Property Office, and members include officials from the Guangdong Intellectual Property Office; the Department of Public Security of Guangdong Province; the Department of Commerce of Guangdong Province; the Administration for Industry and Commerce of Guangdong Province; the Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television Bureau (Copyright Bureau) of Guangdong Province; the Guangdong Sub-Administration of China Customs; the Patent Examination Cooperation Guangdong Center of the Patent Office of the State Intellectual Property Office; and the Trademark Examination Cooperation Guangzhou Center of the Trademark Office of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce. The leader of the Expert Group from the Hong Kong side is the Director of Intellectual Property, and members include officials from the Intellectual Property Department, the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau and the Customs and Excise Department.
A summary of the co-operation items has been uploaded to the website of the Intellectual Property Department at www.ipd.gov.hk/eng/ip_cooperation_corner/meeting.htm.
Ends/Wednesday, August 2, 2017
Issued at HKT 14:15
Issued at HKT 14:15
NNNN
Photo
