Application for a standard patent in Hong Kong must be made based on the patent registration approved by a designated foreign patent office or the State Intellectual Property Office of the P.R.C. Meanwhile, the Hong Kong Intellectual Property Department has established both short-term patent and appearance design patent systems, to protect the appearance design patents of those inventions and various products only with short-term commercial value.

Types of Application

• Standard Patent
  No application may be made for a standard patent directly in Hong Kong, and such application must be made in two stages:
  • Stage 1: Submission of a Stage 1 application to the Hong Kong Intellectual Property Department within 6 months upon the receipt of a formal examination notice after the submission of an application to the State Intellectual Property Office of the P.R.C, European Patent Office or UK Patent Office.
  • Stage 2: Submission of a Stage 2 application to the Hong Kong Intellectual Property Department within 6 months upon the receipt of the authorization notice from China, Europe or UK.
• Short-term Patent
  A short-term patent may be applied directly in Hong Kong on the condition that a search report issued by one of the following authorities must be submitted together with the application:
  • State Intellectual Property Office of the P.R.C
  • European Patent Office
  • UK Patent Office
  • Any international searching authority (Such as: the United States, Japan, South Korea and Spain) appointed in the "Patent Cooperation Treaty"
• Registration of Design
  • Once the Registration of design is granted, the owner has the right to prohibit the others from making, inputting, using, selling or renting his/her registered product. Registration of an appearance design protects the shapes, decoration and visual aesthetic feeling of a new design, but not including its functions and the method of usage.
  • Registration may be applied for the appearance designs of various kinds of products, such as computers, telephones, textiles, jewelry, watches, etc.