Hong Kong ‘committed to development of regional intellectual property hub’

Commerce and economic development secretary Gregory So said opportunities are “particularly visible in Hong Kong as the trend of use and creation of IP is shifting towards Asia”.

So said economic development in mainland China was also driving IP interest and “presents huge market potential”.

According to So, Hong Kong is increasingly seen as “a regional marketplace and service centre” for activities such as copyright trading, licensing and franchising, design services and technology transfer.

Hong Kong has seen average annual growth of 8% in the value of export of services relating to the use of IP since 2007, reaching about 4 billion Hong Kong dollars (HKD) ($516 million) in 2012, he said.

“The value of import of services relating to the use of IP, at over HKD 15bn ($1.9bn) in 2012, has registered an annual growth rate of 6% since 2007,” So said.

So told the Business of Intellectual Property Asia Forum on 4 December: “Hong Kong is fully equipped to pioneer in new frontiers in the evolving IP landscape due to its sound legal and financial infrastructure, highly open markets, deep pool of bilingual and experienced IP talent and robust IP regime, in full compliance with the requirements of international IP treaties, as well as low-tax regime and world-class business professionals.”

Hong Kong’s “unique characteristics can act as an IP middleman, connecting buyers and sellers to partners on the mainland and across Asia” So said. He said the territory can also be a “sourcing platform for business-matching and trading in the IP realm, as an intermediary service provider supplying one-stop service in IP trading, and as a modifier or customiser of IP to suit the special needs of mainland buyers”.