Standard Patents
Application:
Phase 1: The application is initiated on the basis of the record of the designated patent application, which refers to the patent application issued by the State Intellectual Property Office of the People's Republic of China, the European Patent Office (designated United Kingdom) or the United Kingdom Patent Office.
Phase 2: Submitting a registration and grant request in Hong Kong on a patent granted by the State Intellectual Property Office of the People's Republic of China, the European Patent Office (designated United Kingdom) or the United Kingdom Patent Office.
Validity: 3 years at first application, 20 years at most.
Short-term Patents
Application:
The grant of a Short-term Patent is based on the inspection report (novel search report) prepared by one of the following international inspection authorities or one of the designated patent authorities.:
- International inspection authorities appointed under Article 16 of the Patent Cooperation Treaty;
- National Intellectual Property Office of the People's Republic of China;
- European Patent Office;
- United Kingdom Patent Office.
Validity: 4 years at first application, 8 years at most.
Designs
Registered designs protect only the appearance of products, for example the look of a computer monitor. Registration of the design does not protect the way in which the product relating to the design works.
Protection for the way in which a product works may be available under patent law. Computer software is protected under copyright law.
Validity: 5 years at first application, 25 years at most.