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As such, we recommend that the National Development and applicants with an expedited channel for application, nor
Reform Commission and the Ministry of Commerce ease established a mechanism to expedite the recognition of patents to
restrictions set by the Negative List in relation to foreign those already approved by the Intellectual Property Department
capital, and allow direct entry into the Mainland market by (IPD) of Hong Kong. Meanwhile, in Hong Kong, an original grant
Hong Kong biotech enterprises that are registered in the patent system for standard patents (i.e., standard patent (O)) was
Loop and have Hong Kong permanent residents of Chinese introduced in 2019, under which applicants may file a standard
nationality serving as their legal person or major shareholder. patent directly in Hong Kong, without the need to have previously
Said enterprises should be subjected to conditions applicable to filed it with a designated patent office outside of Hong Kong. Given
domestically-owned enterprises, including but not limited to scope that the NIPA provided ample assistance and technical support as
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of business, market access conditions, investment restrictions and the IPD established the original grant patent system, and
shareholding ratio. Such measures may first be piloted in the GBA, reference was made to the experience of the NIPA while the
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with the objective of their gradual expansion to the entire country examination guidelines were drawn up, Hong Kong has the need
so that foreign and domestic capital can eventually be managed and ability to better coordinate with the Mainland’s patent system.
by the same principles.

Table 11 The two standard patent systems in
Recommendation 6.2 Coordinating the Hong Kong
intellectual property regimes in Hong Kong
and the Mainland Standard patent (O)
Standard patent (R) system
system (since 2019)
With regard to intellectual property (IP) regime, Hong Kong’s
existing standard patent (R) system recognises by allowing the Applicants may apply for “re-registration” The IPD will conduct
in Hong Kong on the basis of a patent
“re-registration” of patents granted in three regions, including already granted in one of the three formal and substantive
the National Intellectual Property Administration (NIPA) in China designated patent offices (namely the examination of the
(see Table 11). However, the NIPA has neither provided Hong Kong China National Intellectual Property application. The latter
includes examining the
Administration, the United Kingdom
Intellectual Property Office and the patentability of the
81 As early as 2011, the Advisory Committee on review of the patent system in Hong Kong European Patent Office). The IPD will underlying invention,
already proposed that substantive examination may be taken over by the NIPA, a not carry out substantive examination. i.e., whether the
suggestion subsequently endorsed by the LegCo and IPD. More than half of standard patent (R) invention is new,
In formulating its Patents Examination Guidelines, the IPD made reference to examination involves an inventive
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guidelines then in use by the World Intellectual Property Organization and other jurisdictions, applications received by the IPD were step and is industrially
including Australia, mainland China, New Zealand, Singapore and the United Kingdom. based on patents already granted by applicable.
83 Of the patent applications the IPD received in 2016, 58.8% had received prior approval by the Chinese authorities. 83
the NIPA, 38% by the European Patent Office, and 1.8% by the United Kingdom Intellectual
Property Office. Source: Intellectual Property Department of Hong Kong
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