Financing sandbox launched today with opening of Hong Kong Technology and Innovation Support Centre to foster intellectual property financing and innovation
******************************************************************************************
The Chief Executive announced in the 2025 Policy Address the launch of the sandbox to assist pilot sectors (particularly the technology sector) in leveraging IPs for financing with the support of the banking, insurance, valuation, legal and other professions. The sandbox will provide a collaborative and risk-controlled environment for stakeholders to test out the full lifecycle of IP financing and accumulate practical experience in providing IP financing.
With the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau (CEDB), the Intellectual Property Department (IPD) and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority's (HKMA) deliberation, the sandbox is underpinned by the following four core operating principles:
(1) Recognition of IP value: Participating banks will consider the value of IPs owned by borrowing enterprises, alongside the borrower's credit demand, financial position and repayment ability in their credit underwriting process.
(2) Independent and standardised valuation: To ensure credibility, IP valuation will be conducted by independent service providers using universally accepted methods. Where appropriate, qualitative patent evaluation reports can be obtained to support this process.
(3) Risk management: Participating banks should comply with applicable supervisory requirements on risk management, while participating enterprises should comply with the legal and regulatory requirements in respect of maintaining and developing the IP assets concerned.
(4) Stakeholder collaboration: The initiative relies on a cohesive ecosystem. It brings together enterprises that hold IP assets, banks, valuation experts, legal practitioners and other relevant professionals to co-create successful financing transactions.
The Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Mr Algernon Yau, said that the IP financing sandbox, together with other related measures announced in "The Chief Executive's 2025 Policy Address", would help leverage Hong Kong's unique strengths to build an ecosystem where IP is protected with rigour, valued with clarity, and financed with confidence, with a view to strengthening Hong Kong's role as a regional IP trading centre.
By enabling enterprises to leverage their IP assets for financing, the sandbox will help unlock a new financing channel, thereby supporting the commercialisation of outcomes of research and development as well as creativity, and promoting innovation and technology as a key driver of economic growth.
Three major banks have committed to participating in the sandbox, while nearly 30 professional firms from the legal and valuation sectors have indicated keen interest in participating. The CEDB, the IPD and the HKMA will closely monitor the progress of the pilot projects, gather feedback, and provide guidance as needed. It is anticipated that several trial cases are in the pipeline for the first phase of the sandbox.
In addition, the HKTISC that officially commenced full operations today is another key complementary initiative in promoting IP financing. With the support of the IPD, the HKTISC will closely engage small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the innovation and technology sector and provide a qualitative patent evaluation service to assess, based on national standards, the quality of their patents from legal, technological and economic perspectives. The Government will also launch a support scheme through the HKTISC in 2026 to financially assist SMEs to engage professional service providers for the valuation of their whole IP portfolios in monetary terms.
These integrated measures aim to provide an objective reference about the strengths of the patents and the monetary valuation of the whole IP portfolios owned by the SMEs, facilitating more effective credit assessment and investment analysis.
The Technology and Innovation Support Centre is a dedicated programme of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), which supports researchers and innovators at different stages of the innovation cycle, helping them make use of the IP system (especially by means of patents) to protect their inventions and guiding them to bring the technology to market. With the recognition of the Hong Kong Productivity Council as a Technology and Innovation Support Centre hosting institution by the China National Intellectual Property Administration and WIPO, the HKTISC will join the 200-plus strong Technology and Innovation Support Centre network in the country, which promotes better integration of Hong Kong into overall national development.
Ends/Monday, December 22, 2025
Issued at HKT 17:00
Issued at HKT 17:00
NNNN