The Intellectual Property Department (IPD) today (April 24) hosted a reception to celebrate the World Intellectual Property (IP) Day 2025. The Acting Chief Executive, Mr Paul Lam, SC, officiated at the toasting ceremony and delivered a speech.
 
     Addressing the reception, Mr Lam emphasised that Hong Kong is taking active steps to develop itself into an international innovation and technology centre. To achieve this goal, it is essential to ensure that the legal system offers sufficient protection to IP right as intangible assets, and regulate their use and transfer. This underscores Hong Kong's unique advantages as the only common law jurisdiction in China under the principle of "one country, two systems".
 
     Mr Lam pointed out that Hong Kong's highly regarded common law system plays two important roles in IP development -- serving as a dispute resolution centre and a hub for IP trading. With the rapid growth of the IP industry in both Hong Kong and the Mainland, there is increasing demand for services related to IP disputes and trading. Hong Kong's user-friendly bilingual common law system and an abundant supply of high quality legal professionals create an ideal environment for IP trading in any form.
 
     Mr Lam said, "China has become the global technological giant and powerhouse. Hong Kong is also taking active steps to develop itself into an international innovation and technology centre. I am very confident that Hong Kong can and will play a more significant role in future in the area of IP protection and trading, which will in turn contribute to the innovation and technology development of not just Hong Kong but our country as a whole."
 
     Echoing the theme of this year's World IP Day, namely, "IP and music: Feel the beat of IP", the Director of Intellectual Property, Mr David Wong, in his welcoming remarks cited music as a perfect example of how IP fuels creativity, adding that the vibrant music landscape worldwide owes much to strong copyright protection that rewards originality and entrepreneurial efforts. He stressed that the Government is committed to enhancing the copyright law to encourage creativity and support innovation.
 
     The pursuit of artificial intelligence (AI) development globally has prompted sea change. In order to enhance the Copyright Ordinance for addressing the copyright issues arising from the rapid development of AI, the Government, having conducted a public consultation, is putting forward a legislative proposal for introducing a new text and data mining exception into the copyright law. This exception will be subject to stringent conditions to ensure a careful balance between the interests of copyright owners in exploiting their works and the public interest in supporting innovation. Importantly, the rights reservation mechanism would be paramount for protecting copyright owners' legitimate interests.
 
     About 180 guests including the Acting Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Dr Bernard Chan, the Permanent Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Ms Maggie Wong, stakeholders from the legal community and IP-related associations, academics, consulate representatives, government officials and representatives from the public and business sectors attended the reception.
 
     Celebrated annually on April 26, the World IP Day aims to increase general understanding of IP, pay tributes to inventors and creators, and explore how IP helps shape the world. The IPD promoted the World IP Day and related activities through various channels, including sponsoring the "Licensing Academy" workshops of the Asian Licensing Conference to offer industry players insights into new developments in IP licensing.

Ends/Thursday, April 24, 2025
Issued at HKT 21:00

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