Your brand name, logo, product designs, inventions, software, photographs and marketing copy are often worth more than the equipment on your balance sheet. Hong Kong runs its own IP system through the Intellectual Property Department (IPD), separate from Mainland China and Macao, so registration in Hong Kong protects you in Hong Kong only.
Trade marks, patents and registered designs must be applied for and kept renewed; copyright arises automatically and cannot be registered in Hong Kong. The cheapest time to protect IP is before you launch: a trade mark application starts at HK$2,000 in government fees, a fraction of the cost of rebranding or fighting an infringer later.
At a glance
- Trade mark
- Brands, logos, slogans; 10 years, renewable without limit; from HK$2,000
- Standard patent
- Inventions; up to 20 years, annual renewal from year 4
- Short-term patent
- Inventions, lighter process; up to 8 years
- Registered design
- Product appearance; 5-year terms up to 25 years
- Copyright
- Creative works; automatic, no registration, generally life plus 50 years
How Hong Kong's IP system works
The IPD operates the Trade Marks Registry, the Patents Registry and the Designs Registry.
| Right | Main legislation |
|---|---|
| Trade marks | Trade Marks Ordinance (Cap. 559) |
| Patents | Patents Ordinance (Cap. 514) |
| Registered designs | Registered Designs Ordinance (Cap. 522) |
| Copyright | Copyright Ordinance (Cap. 528) |
| Counterfeit goods and false trade descriptions | Trade Descriptions Ordinance (Cap. 362), enforced by the Customs and Excise Department |
| Unregistered brand reputation and confidential information | Common law: passing off and the law of confidence |
- IP is territorial. A Hong Kong registration protects you in Hong Kong only.
- Registration is largely first come, first served. Delay is the most common and most expensive mistake we see.
- Rights must be maintained. Registered rights lapse if renewal fees are not paid on time, and an unused trade mark can be removed.
Before you file: know what you own
| What you have | Likely form of protection |
|---|---|
| Company or product name, logo, slogan, Chinese name | Trade mark registration |
| A new technical product, device, formula or process | Patent; keep confidential until filed |
| A distinctive product shape, packaging form or pattern | Registered design; possibly also trade mark and copyright |
| Software, website, app, marketing materials, photographs, manuals | Copyright (automatic) plus clear ownership documents |
| Customer lists, pricing models, recipes, know-how | Confidential information: contracts and internal controls |
| Domain names and social media handles | Not IP rights in themselves; register them alongside your trade mark |
Check who actually owns it. Work created by founders before the company existed belongs to the individual unless assigned in writing. For commissioned work from contractors and agencies, ownership depends on the contract. For copyright, the employer is generally the first owner of work made by an employee in the course of employment, but contracts should still deal with IP expressly. In a group, decide which entity should hold the IP before filing.
Trade marks: protecting your brand
A trade mark can be a word, name, logo, slogan, letters or numerals, and in suitable cases shapes, colours and sounds, in English, Chinese or both. Descriptive or generic terms are likely to be refused; invented or distinctive words are easiest to register and enforce. Goods and services are divided into 45 classes, and you pay for each class you claim.
| Step | What happens | Timing |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Clearance search | Search the register and the market. The IPD also offers a paid preliminary advice service (Form T1). | Before filing |
| 2. File | Form T2 with the mark, owner, classes, specification and a Hong Kong address for service | Day 1, the filing date |
| 3. Examination | Checked for distinctiveness and conflicts; objections may need a response | Typically a few months |
| 4. Publication | Published in the Hong Kong Intellectual Property Journal | After acceptance |
| 5. Opposition | Third parties may oppose | 3 months |
| 6. Registration | Certificate issued if there is no opposition | As short as 6 months from filing |
| Item | Government fee (HK$) | Type |
|---|---|---|
| Application, first class (Form T2) | 2,000 | One-off |
| Each additional class | 1,000 | One-off |
| Preliminary advice, first class (Form T1) | 400 (plus 200 per additional class) | Optional |
| Renewal, first class | 2,670 | Every 10 years |
| Renewal, each additional class | 1,340 | Every 10 years |
| Late renewal surcharge | 500 | If renewed late |
| Restoration and renewal (after removal) | 4,000 (plus 1,340 per additional class) | Only if needed |
| Notice of opposition | 800 | If you oppose another mark |
| Recording an assignment (T10) or licence (T11) | 800 each | When needed |
- Renewal can be filed in the 6 months before expiry; after removal, restoration is possible only within 6 months.
- A mark not genuinely used for 3 consecutive years can be removed. Keep dated evidence of use.
- Use ® only for registered marks; misuse is an offence. Use "TM" while pending.
- Consider registering your English mark, Chinese name and combined logo separately, before launch.
Patents: protecting your inventions
An invention must be new, inventive and capable of industrial application. Discoveries, scientific theories, business methods and computer programs as such are not patentable; software may qualify only where it produces a further technical effect.
| Standard patent (R): re-registration | Standard patent (O): original grant | Short-term patent | |
|---|---|---|---|
| How it works | Two stages, based on an application at CNIPA, the European Patent Office (designating the UK) or the UK IPO | Filed directly in Hong Kong and substantively examined by the IPD | Filed directly in Hong Kong; formalities examination, with a search report |
| Maximum term | 20 years | 20 years | 8 years |
| Renewal | Annually from year 4 | Annually from year 4 | Once, after year 4 |
| Points to note | Strict deadlines tied to the foreign application | Examination must be requested and paid for | At most two independent claims; substantive examination needed before enforcing in court |
For the re-registration route, Stage 1 must be filed within 6 months of publication of the designated application; Stage 2 follows grant by the designated office, within the prescribed period.
| Item | Government fee (HK$) |
|---|---|
| Standard patent (R): Stage 1 (Form P4) | 275 + 68 advertisement |
| Standard patent (R): Stage 2 (Form P5) | 275 + 68 advertisement |
| Standard patent (O): application (Form OP1) | 345 + 68 advertisement |
| Standard patent (O): substantive examination (Form OP2) | 4,000 |
| Short-term patent: request for grant (Form P6) | 545 + 68 advertisement |
| Short-term patent: substantive examination (Form OP4) | 4,000, if required or chosen |
| Standard patent renewal, years 4 to 10 / 11 to 15 / 16 to 20 | 450 / 620 / 850 per year |
| Short-term patent renewal (once) | 1,080 |
| Late renewal surcharge | 270 |
The figures shown are the lower filing rates published by the IPD; paper filings cost more for some items. Drafting the specification and claims is specialist work by a qualified patent attorney, and those fees are usually the larger part of the budget.
Registered designs: protecting how your product looks
A registered design protects the shape, configuration, pattern or ornament of an article where those features appeal to the eye. Only new designs can be registered, so keep designs confidential until filed. The Registry carries out a formalities examination only, and a certificate is normally issued within about 3 months. Priority from a first filing elsewhere may be claimed within 6 months.
| Item | Government fee (HK$) | Type |
|---|---|---|
| Application, one design (Form D1) | 235 | One-off |
| Each additional design in the same application | 175 | One-off |
| Publication fee | 62 per design | One-off |
| Renewal, 2nd / 3rd / 4th / 5th term | 475 / 835 / 1,410 / 2,420 | Every 5 years |
| Late renewal surcharge | 390 | If renewed late |
Copyright: protecting creative work
Copyright protects the expression of original works, not ideas. In Hong Kong it is automatic, and there is no official copyright registry.
| Type of work | Duration |
|---|---|
| Literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works | 50 years after the end of the year the author dies |
| Computer-generated works | 50 years from creation |
| Sound recordings | 50 years from making or release |
| Films | 50 years after the death of the last of the principal contributors |
| Broadcasts and cable programmes | 50 years from broadcast |
| Typographical arrangement of published editions | 25 years from first publication |
Prove ownership with dated drafts and source files, version-controlled code, signed assignments and records of first publication. A logo is protected by copyright as artwork, but register it as a trade mark as well.
Other protections
- Confidential information: no separate trade secrets statute; protect know-how with NDAs, contract clauses, access controls and exit procedures.
- Passing off: possible for an unregistered name or get-up, but slower, costlier and less certain than enforcing a registered mark.
- Company, business and domain names: none of these gives exclusive rights in a brand.
Protecting your IP beyond Hong Kong
Hong Kong registrations do not extend to Mainland China or Macao. Mainland trade marks and patents are filed with CNIPA on a first-to-file basis; file your Chinese-language mark too, before manufacturing or negotiating there.
| Right | Priority period to file elsewhere |
|---|---|
| Patents | 12 months from first filing |
| Trade marks | 6 months from first filing |
| Registered designs | 6 months from first filing |
Owning, licensing and enforcing
- Assignment transfers ownership; it should be in writing and recorded with the IPD for registered rights.
- Licensing lets others use your IP while you keep ownership; record trade mark licences promptly.
- IP can be valued, used in fundraising and offered as security; clean ownership records add value in due diligence.
- Enforcement usually runs: monitor, gather evidence, oppose or challenge, warning letter (with legal advice), online takedown, Customs action, and civil proceedings through solicitors.
Your IP calendar
| Deadline | Applies to | If missed |
|---|---|---|
| 3 months from publication | Opposing someone else's trade mark | Invalidation later, at higher cost |
| 6 months from first filing | Priority for trade marks and designs | Later filings take their own date |
| 12 months from first filing | Priority for patents | Later date; novelty may be lost |
| 6 months from publication of the designated application | Standard patent (R) Stage 1 | Re-registration route may be lost |
| Every year from year 4 | Standard patent renewal | Patent lapses |
| Every 5 years | Registered design renewal | Design lapses; no extension |
| Every 10 years | Trade mark renewal | Surcharge, then removal |
| 3 consecutive years of non-use | Registered trade marks | Vulnerable to removal |
Government fee budgets side by side
| Scenario | Government fees (HK$) | Recurring |
|---|---|---|
| One trade mark in 1 class | 2,000 | Renewal 2,670 every 10 years |
| One trade mark in 3 classes | 4,000 | Renewal 5,350 every 10 years |
| English and Chinese marks, 2 classes each | 6,000 | Renewal every 10 years |
| One registered design | 297 | Renewal every 5 years from 475 |
| Short-term patent | 613 | Renewal 1,080 once; examination 4,000 if needed |
| Standard patent (R), both stages | 686 | Annual renewals from year 4 |
| Standard patent (O) | 4,413 | Annual renewals from year 4 |
| Copyright | Nil | Not applicable |
These are government fees only, as published by the IPD in October 2026. Our professional fees, and any patent attorney or legal fees, are quoted separately in writing.
- An IP review: what you have, who owns it and what to protect first.
- Trade mark searches, filing, examination responses, opposition monitoring, renewals and recordals.
- Patent route selection, coordination with patent attorneys, Hong Kong filings and renewals.
- Registered design filings and renewals; copyright assignments, licences and NDAs.
- One deadline calendar for your portfolio, with advance reminders, and acting as your Hong Kong address for service.
- MAP Asia Pacific advises on IP within expansion, licensing and M&A; RENT-CFO supports IP in reporting and budgeting.
We do not guarantee that any application will be accepted or registered; outcomes are decided by the Registries and, where relevant, the courts.
In summary
- Register your brand as a trade mark, in English and Chinese, before you launch.
- Keep inventions and new designs confidential until filed.
- Make sure the business, not the founder or freelancer, owns what it paid for.
- Copyright is automatic; protect it with evidence and contracts.
- Plan Mainland China and other markets within the priority periods.
- Track every renewal and use deadline.
Official references
- Intellectual Property Department, www.ipd.gov.hk
- Hong Kong IP portal, www.ip.gov.hk
- Trade Marks Ordinance (Cap. 559); Patents Ordinance (Cap. 514); Registered Designs Ordinance (Cap. 522); Copyright Ordinance (Cap. 528), www.elegislation.gov.hk