About Our Designs Department

Manager in charge of Registered Design Services

Contact Person :

Mr. David Tsai (LL.B., PCLL)

Email :

enquiry@bk.com.hk

General Enquiry :

(852) 3105 5100

Contact Person :

Ms. Cyrena Ng

Email :

enquiry@bk.com.hk

General Enquiry :

(852) 3105 5100

About Our Registered Design Services

According to the records of the Hong Kong Designs Registry, we are one of the three agents having the highest number of applications and registrations during 2006 to 2008.Our team provides accurate and timely services. Even in case of urgency, we can complete and file a design application within 3 hours upon receipt of instructions.Our rich experience gained from handling applications enables us to provide efficient and effective services to clients.

Design Registration and Protection

Hong Kong Designs

Designs mean the design created for the appearance of products, including packaging, samples and decorations. As long as a design can attract attention and has distinguishable features observable by naked eyes, it can be registered as a design.

Once a design has been registered, corresponding rights would then follow. Any corporation or individual using your design in the course of business without your consent would infringe your registered design rights. You have the right to take legal actions requesting the infringer to stop all infringement and even to get compensation for your economic loss.

Territorial Protection

However, designs are territorial, that means designs only have legal effects in the countries or territories that they have been registered. In Hong Kong, you must register your designs according to the Designs Ordinance, Cap 522 in order to be legally protected. When applying for registration, first you must state the category of the product in which the design is to be registered according to the international classification method for designs, the “Locarno Classification”. Then fill in the relevant forms, and hand them to the Designs Registry for registration.

Application of Design Registration

The followings are the stages for the application of design registration:

• Submission of application
• Preliminary examination
• Publication of application
• Approval of registration

Submission of Application

Owner of the design should fill in the relevant application forms and a clear statement describing that design – and submit them to the Designs Registry. The Designs Registry would inform the applicant of the filing date soon after they received the application.

Preliminary Examination

The Designs Registry would start a formalities examination of the application after the filing date. Formalities examination means that there would be no actual examination, the Designs Registry would not look up the previously registered designs to see if your design is same as or similar to any of those.

If the formalities examination cannot satisfy the requirements on formalities, the Designs Registry will inform the applicant to correct the deficiencies within 3 months, or else the application would be revoked.

Publication of Application and Approval of Registration

If the format review is satisfied, the Designs Registry would then register the design, and publish a registration notice in the Hong Kong Intellectual Property Report, and issue a registration certificate.Normally it takes the applicant above 2 months from submitting the application to getting the certificate.

Design registration has a limitation period, it is valid for 25 years, upon renewal every 5 years.

Warm Reminder

Not matter before or after registering a design, the applicant or the owner should carefully protects their design, the following points are our suggestions of how you can well-protect your designs:

1. If there is a need for you to put the product on the market or disclose the details of the design before applying for registration, we suggest you to consult the relevant professionals (e.g. professional lawyers or agents), so as to ensure that your design would not lose its novelty upon the above actions.
2. Only design with novelty can be registered, products already put on the market would lose their novelty. Therefore before registering a design, the design owner ought not to put the products on market and ought to keep the design confidential until submitting the application, in order to maintain the novelty of the product.
3. Designs are territorial, designs registered in the Mainland or in other countries would not be protected in Hong Kong, you must register the design in Hong Kong in order to receive legal protection in Hong Kong.
4. If anyone infringes your design, you can take legal actions.

For further assistance and information, please contact us.