Trademark Registration
A trademark is a sign used to identify the goods and services of different businesses. A trademark can be composed of words (including personal names), signs, designs, letters, words, numbers, graphic elements, colors, sounds, smells, the shape of goods or their packaging, and any combination of the above signs. Only signs that can be expressed in writing or drawing can be registered as trademarks.
The difference between trademark registration and company registration
In the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, the registration of company names, business names* and trademarks is governed by different laws and systems. The registration of company names is handled by the Companies Registry, the registration of business names is handled by the Business Registration Office of the Inland Revenue Department, and the registration of trademarks is handled by the Trademark Registry. Registering a business or company name does not entitle you to use the name as a trademark.
There have been recent reports that some people have registered words identical or similar to registered trademarks or trademarks as company names at the Companies Registry without authorisation, and then used such registered companies to infringe registered trademark rights in places outside the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (mainly in Mainland China).
The fact that a company possesses a Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Business Registration Certificate or Company Registration Certificate does not entitle it to use the name as a trademark to promote or operate its goods or services.
Registering a trademark protects the trademark owner's rights to the registered trademark in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region**. The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government's Intellectual Property Department provides a free online search service (The URL ishttps://esearch.ipd.gov.hk/), a service that allows you to check information on registered trademarks, trademark registrants, and persons or companies that have been granted permission to use the trademarks in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
In addition, in order to clarify the possible misunderstandings in Mainland China about the HKSAR system, the Intellectual Property Department of the HKSAR Government has arranged a number of activities to enhance the understanding of the HKSAR system among the Mainland business community and local governments. We would like to emphasize that company registration does not mean that the company owns a trademark that is identical or similar to its name.
