Report

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on the above issues, as well as the special role of the short-term patent
system in Hong Kong, which is to supplement the standard patent system
by offering protection to inventions with a shorter commercial life cycle.
The Advisory Committee had also looked into other jurisdictions which
have a lesser patent system similar to the short-term patent system in
Hong Kong, including Australia, Mainland China, Denmark, Germany
and Japan (a comparison of key features of their lesser patent systems at
Annex D).
Retention of the Short-term Patent System
Considerations
4.5 Unlike the re-registration system for standard patents which
could be traced back to the early 20 th century, the short-term patent
system was only introduced in Hong Kong in 1997 when our patent
system was localised. 35 There have since been a good number of
applications and subsequent grants of short-term patents. 36 It is apparent
that the short-term patent system is serving the intended purposes by
offering a fast and inexpensive means of protecting inventions with a
limited commercial life span in the market. It encourages local
inventions for exploiting the indigenous market early, without the need
for seeking full-fledged standard patent protection first in one of the three
designated patent offices outside Hong Kong which may otherwise incur
considerable time and expenses.
4.6 The present system also has the advantage of providing a
convenient and inexpensive way of securing a Paris Convention priority
date for subsequent standard patent application elsewhere or in Hong
35
36
Enacted in 1997, the Ordinance repealed the then Registration of Patents Ordinance which hitherto
provided for re-registration of patents obtained in the UK and EPO (designating the UK).
See Annex E.