English
Registration is not required to secure rights to a trademark. Prior use is enough to establish ownership to a trademark; this is a "first to use" jurisdiction.
The national trademark office of Hong Kong is accessible online at the following website address: http://www.ipd.gov.hk/.
Applicants are not required to prove actual use or intent to use.
The following can be grounds for opposition:
- relative grounds on the basis of proprietary rights or conflicting earlier registration
- absolute grounds on the basis of non-proprietary rights or non-distinctiveness)
- application was filed in bad faith
- a breach of copyright was proved
- rights under Article 6bis of the Paris Convention are violated
- rights under Article 6septies of the Paris are violated
- rights in a company name
- rights under Article 8 of the Paris Convention are violated
- registered design rights
- rights in a personal name
- unauthorized use or illegal use of protected emblems and national insignia
The following parties may oppose an application:
- any interested party
- the owner of an earlier right
- a licensee
The following can be grounds for cancellation:
- the mark is descriptive
- the mark is lacking of a distinctive trait
- the mark is misleading, deceptive or disparaging;
- the mark is functional
- the mark is a protected armorial bearing, flag or a State emblem
- the mark is generic or customary in the current language
- the mark is a geographical indication;
- the mark is a threat against public policy or principals of morality
- the mark is a badge or an emblem being a particular public interest
- the mark is a misrepresentation of the product’s nature or it is used in a misleading manner
- the mark is prohibited in Hong Kong
- the registration of the mark was made in bad faith
- there is a failure to observe any condition or policy in the registration process
- the mark has not been genuinely used in Hong Kong by the owner
The following trademark rights are established by registration:
- the exclusive right to use and enjoy the benefits of the registered trademark
- the right to object to later conflicting applications
- the right to request for a cancellation order against a later conflicting registration
- the right to file an infringement case against a confusingly similar mark;
- the right to license third parties to use the trademark
- the right to request from the customs authorities to confiscate counterfeit goods
- the right to obtain damages from third parties for infringing the registered trademark
The opposition period begins on the date when the application particulars are published in the Hong Kong Intellectual Property Journal.
The opposition period ends three months from the date of the publication of the application in the Hong Kong Intellectual Property Journal.
Hong Kong is not a member of the Madrid Agreement or the Madrid Protocol.
Periodic statements of use are not required.