Trademark::FirstLaw

PATENT APPLICATION IN HONG KONG

Types of Patents

Valid Terms of Patents

Standard patents：
Protection under standard patents is renewable annually for a maximum term of 20 years.
Short-term patents：
Protection under short-term patents is renewable after four years from filing, for a maximum??term of eight years.

Patent Application and Examination

Applying for a standard patent:There are two stages in registering patent in Hong Kong.
1. When the applicant wants to have his patent registered in the Patent Office in HK, he has to firstly file the?trademark application in one of the following countries
  - The State Intellectual Property Office, People's Republic of China
  - The European Patent Office, in respect of a patent designating the United Kingdom
  - The United Kingdom Patent Office
2. The applicant needs to file a request to record in Hong Kong, within six months after the publication of the?designated patent application in the designated patent office.
  - As the applicant files the patent in one of the countries above, the patent office (s)he files in will advise the?notice in the Intellectual Property Journal. The applicant needs to submit the journal to the Hong Kong Patent
Office within six months, and file the request for registration and grant.
Applying for a short-term patent:
If Hong Kong Patent Office has given the applicant’s application a filing date, they will examine the applicant’s application and give him/her notice to correct any deficiencies within two months. If there is no deficiency or the deficiencies are corrected, HK Patent Office will grant a short-term patent for the invention. They will publish details of the granted patent and advertise the grant in the Hong Kong Intellectual Property Journal

Flow Chart of Application

1.Standard Application

2.Short-term patent application