The 2018 Intellectual Property Business Asian Forum (BIP), co-organized by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government together with the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (TDC) and the Hong Kong Design Centre (HKDC), was held on the 6th and 7th of December at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. This is the 8th Forum held annually since 2011. The theme of the Forum is "IP and Innovation in the New Socio-technological Landscape". Launched in 2011, the BIP Asia Forum has become one of the premier IP events in not only Hong Kong but also the Asia Pacific region. This remarks the critical role played by Hong Kong as a regional IP trading hub. The Forum attracted some 2500 participants from local and overseas.

As one of the sessions of the Forum activities, CCPIT Patent and Trademark Law Office held a corporate stage focused on how "Belt and Road" Initiative brings opportunities for the IP development in Hong Kong ", well attended by Ms. Maria Ng, Deputy Director of the Intellectual Property Department of Hong Kong, Mr. Thomas Tsang, Assistant Director of IPD, Ms. Lee Sau Kong, Deputy Solicitor General (Policy Affairs) of Legal Policy Division of Department of Justice, Dr. Lewis Luk, President of the Hong Kong Institute of Patent Attorneys, Dr. Wang Wenying, Secretary General of the China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission Hong Kong Arbitration Centre, Ms. Amy Wang the president of Macao Trademark Association, and some 50 guests from Hong Kong, the Mainland and Macau as well as overseas.

Mr. Andrew Liao, GBS, JP, who is one of the founders of the BIP Forum, chairman of Advisory Committee on Review of the Patent System in Hong Kong and past member of the Executive Council of the SAR Government, delivered a warm speech to the forum. He reviewed the background and process of the founding of the forum and said that in the new stage of reform and opening up of the country, the development of the "Belt and Road" and the Greater Bay Area of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao depend on technological innovations, which involve many intellectual property industry issues. "Belt and Road" brings both new challenges and opportunities for parties of Greater Bay Area where "one country two systems" are applied. Different regions have different laws and systems and it is desirable to explore a set of mechanisms under different systems, for instance for IP dispute solutions. Therefore, to strengthening communication and cooperation in various regions is the way to ensure that legal services such as arbitration and mediation are resolved at one time, avoiding multiple treatments one by one.

Mr. Ma Hao, President of CCPIT Patent and Trademark Law Office and former President of the International Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property (AIPPI), pointed out with his remarks that Hong Kong has a unique advantage in the "One Belt, One Road" intellectual property work. Hong Kong is the world's freest economy and China's most international city. The "Belt and Road" Initiative and the "Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau Greater Bay Area" strategy have brought huge policy dividends and created huge demand space for the development of intellectual property in Hong Kong. Hong Kong's geographical advantages, talent advantages, capital advantages and institutional advantages are also in-depth. Participating in and doing a good job of cross-border intellectual property rights in the "Belt and Road" provides a solid guarantee to meet the challenges. Hong Kong's sound legal system and distinctive intellectual property protection system will play an important role in the construction of the Greater Bay.

According to Mr. Ma Hao, CLT Patent & Trademark (H. K.) Limited, as a subsidiary and representative office of CCPIT Patent and Trademark Law Office, has witnessed Hong Kong's rapid development and brilliant achievements in the field of intellectual property for 20 years. According to statistics, Hong Kong now attracts more than 35,000 trademark applications, more than 13,000 standard patent applications and more than 4,000 design applications from around the world annually recent years. CLT has proudly provided its quality services for domestic and overseas clients with IP registration in Hong Kong, being listed within top 20 e-filers according to the monthly statistics of Hong Kong Intellectual Property Department.

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