The Intellectual Property Department (IPD), in collaboration with the business community, launched the Intellectual Property (IP) Manager Scheme on May 21. The Scheme aims to assist Hong Kong enterprises, especially small and medium enterprises (SMEs), to build up their IP manpower capacity so as to grasp the opportunities brought by IP trading, which in turn will drive new forces for the economic development of Hong Kong.

Speaking at the launch ceremony, the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Mr Gregory So, said, "In addition to excellent hardware support, it is equally important to strengthen software support for the holistic development of IP trading. Fostering manpower capacity is an integral part and the IP Manager Scheme launched by the IPD today is the signature programme in this area.

Mr So said the Scheme could nurture and attract talents in IP management, build up a professional community and provide a cluster effect for enhancing the development of IP trading in the long run.

The Scheme encourages enterprises to appoint a staff member in a managerial position as their in-house IP Manager, who will be responsible for overseeing the compliance, management, exploitation and commercialisation of IP assets.

The IPD will provide relevant training and resources on IP management for the IP Managers to carry out their duties within their enterprises. The first two-day IP Managers Training Programme will be held on June 29 and July 6 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. The Scheme has invited artistes Ms Lenna Yeung and Mr Max Cheung as image ambassadors and gained the support from a relevant government department as well as business organisations.

The Director of Intellectual Property, Ms Ada Leung, also introduced other supporting measures for SMEs at the ceremony, including Free IP Consultation Service in collaboration with the IP Committee of the Law Society of Hong Kong and a dedicated website "Hong Kong - The IP Trading Hub" (www.ip.gov.hk).

The website provides a one-stop shop for disseminating IP trading information including "Types of IP", "Trading IP", "Managing IP", "Protecting IP" and other useful resources.

The IP Manager Scheme, Free IP Consultation Service and the dedicated website "Hong Kong - The IP Trading Hub" are among the measures the Department is putting in place in response to recommendations in the report released by the Working Group on IP Trading in March this year. The IPD will spare no effort in collaborating with other stakeholders to take forward other recommendations on supporting measures, to further develop Hong Kong as a premier IP trading hub in the region.

Source: HKSAR Government