Report

Chapter 3 : Regulation of Patent Agency Services in Hong Kong (55 submissions received)
13. Other suggestions / comments received.
and/or patent attorneys from countries with laws and legal systems with relevance to
Hong Kong to live, work and practise in the patent field in Hong Kong.
APAA suggests that an element of regulation should be included to ensure that
qualified patent agents with a technical scientific background and training in patent
drafting do not, unless otherwise qualified, themselves handle patent related legal
issues outside their field of expertise and, conversely, that solicitors not otherwise
qualified do not handle the drafting of patent specifications and claims, as very
different skill sets are involved in these different fields of endeavour.
APAA advises that formal qualifications, including education, training, requisite
skills and experience for a patent agent and/or patent attorney in Hong Kong should
be kept up with the standards adopted by jurisdictions having credible patent agents
and/or attorney professions and systems.
APAA recommends that any formal qualification must be a professional
qualification comparable to the standards required by legal practitioners in Hong
Kong and patent agents/attorneys in other comparable jurisdictions, or that of other
professions.
APAA emphasises that neither APAA nor any of the bodies in Hong Kong which
currently offers training courses in relation to patents, offers anything remotely
approaching the level required to qualify as a professional patent agent/attorney (i.e.
with a scientific background and the ability to draft and interpret patent
specifications and claims). For example, none of the courses offered recently by
APAA (in association with FICPI (Fédération Internationale des Conseils en
Propriété Industrielle) and SEAD (South East Asian Drafting Course)) and HKIPA
(with Warwick University) come close to qualifying the attendees to describe
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