Director of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (Toronto) (HKETO), Ms Emily Mo, joined the "Hong Kong: the IP and Commercialization Platform in Asia for Canadian Companies and Start-Ups" webinar hosted by Hong Kong-Canada Business Association (Toronto Section) (HKCBA) on May 18. This webinar aimed to promote Hong Kong as the ideal Intellectual Property (IP) hub in Asia and the IP commercialization opportunities available in the city.
In delivering a speech at the webinar, Ms Mo noted Hong Kong is fully committed to upholding a robust and effective system of IP protection. “According to the Global Competitiveness Report 2019 published by the World Economic Forum, Hong Kong is ranked the 5th among 141 economies in terms of IP protection,” Ms Mo said.
Besides, according to the World Intellectual Property Organization, Hong Kong also ranked among the world’s top 20 IP application centers for patents. “Most of the applications in Hong Kong are of overseas origin, with non-resident applications accounting for 98% of the total in 2020, which was an extremely high percentage,” Ms Mo continued.
Noting the surge in global and regional demand for IP offers huge opportunities for IP trading, Ms Mo highlighted that Hong Kong is well placed to be a premier IP trading hub in the region. “Hong Kong offers low taxes and no foreign exchange controls, provides an easy access of financing for start-ups, has a sound and independent legal system, as well as a large pool of bi-lingual professionals,” Ms Mo said.
Ms Mo pointed out that the National 14th Five-Year Plan pledged to develop Hong Kong into the region’s IP trading centre and the city also continues to introduce various initiatives to promote IP trading including boosting IP promotion and collaboration beyond Hong Kong.
Following Ms Mo’s remarks, the Head of Invest Hong Kong in Canada Mr Christopher Chen, presented the IP Commercialization landscape and opportunities for Canadian companies and start-ups. He encouraged Canadian companies to grasp the abundant IP opportunities in Hong Kong and the Asian region by setting foot in Hong Kong. Mr Andrew Yui, Director, Canada, Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) (Toronto Office) and Mr Pan Wong, Board of Governors and Co-founder International IP Commercialization Council - Hong Kong (GBA) Chapter, discussed HKTDC’s work in driving IP trading and invited participants to join the Business of IP Asia Forum to be held in Hong Kong on 1-2 December 2022.
香港經貿處處長推廣香港是亞洲知識產權商業化的理想平台
香港駐多倫多經濟貿易辦事處（香港經貿處）處長巫菀菁於五月十八日出席由港加商會（多倫多分會）舉辦的「香港：加拿大公司和初創企業在亞洲的知識產權及商業化平台」網上研討會，該研討會旨在推廣香港是亞洲的理想知識產權樞紐及介紹香港提供的知識產權商品化機會。
巫菀菁在網上研討會上致辭時指出，香港一直致力建設健全有效的知識產權保護體制。她說：「根據世界經濟論壇發表的《2019年全球競爭力報告》，香港在知識產權保護方面，在141個經濟體中排名第五位。」
此外，根據世界知識產權組織的資料，香港也是全球排行前20位的專利知識產權申請中心。 巫菀菁續說：「香港大部分申請是來自海外，2020年的非居民申請佔總數98%，這個比例非常高。」
巫菀菁強調，全球和亞洲地區對知識產權的需求激增，大力帶動知識產權貿易。香港具備優越條件作為地區首選的知識產權貿易中心。巫菀菁表示：「香港稅率低而不設外匯管制，為初創企業提供融資便利。香港並擁有完善和獨立法律制度，以及大量中英雙語專業人才。」
巫菀菁指出，國家《十四五規劃綱要》承諾將香港發展成為區內的知識產權交易中心，香港亦會繼續推出多項措施促進知識產權交易，包括在香港以外地區推動知識產權發展和合作。
巫菀菁致辭後，香港投資推廣署加拿大投資推廣總監陳立智介紹香港為加拿大公司及初創企業提供的知識產權商業化的概況和機會。他鼓勵加拿大公司以香港為基地，把握香港和亞洲地區龐大的知識產權商機。香港貿易發展局加拿大代表芮紹能及國際知識產權商品化促進會大灣區及香港分會共同創辦人及理事王鵬亦介紹香港貿易發展局在推動知識產權貿易方面的工作，並邀請與會者參加於2022年12月 1日至2日在香港舉行的亞洲知識產權商業論壇。
