Mar 9, 2020 | Certificate of Trademark Registration

A registered trademark refers to the exclusive right to use a trademark relative to the registered goods and services. Trademark Certificates provide preliminary proof of ownership. Others who use registered trademarks of others in business or commerce may be liable for trademark infringement. Legal action can be taken against them.

A Hong Kong trademark registration certificate is issued to each registered trademark upon granting the registration. While an official duplication of the trademark certificate is not available for whatever reason, the information in the Trademark Register can be downloaded and printed from the Internet for free. Alternatively, Certified Copies of entries in the Register can be obtained by completing and submitting statutory form and paying the applicable fee.

In order to file a priority application for registration outside Hong Kong, or as proof of ownership in legal proceedings, Certified Copy of the registration application or information in the register may be required.

However, depending on the quality of the legal systems in their respective jurisdictions, trademark registration certificates should provide the protection normally attributable to them. However, for example in Hong Kong-as a common law jurisdiction-even unregistered trademarks may be protected by common law “passing-off”: whereas the original owner of the unregistered trademark shall prove its goodwill and reputation, and that the unauthorized use of the trademark by others can cause harm to the original owner. However, “passing-off” actions are often more difficult to initiate than actions against infringement of registered trademarks.

Benny Kong & Tsai

9 Mar 2020