Macau Yearbook 2013 - Macao Yearbook

Economytrademarks; the names and logos of business establishments; places of origin and geographicalindications; and awards.Trademark RegistrationAny trademarks that fulfil the requirements of the Industrial Property Law may be registered inMacao, but registration is not compulsory. Trademark registration is geographical: trademarkregulations in the Macao SAR protect only trademarks issued locally. Separate applications mustbe made in other countries and regions for protection there.In 2012, the Intellectual Property Department of the Economic Services Bureau accepted 9,581applications for trademark licences, an increase of 11.54 percent on the 8,590 applications processedin 2011. Applications were mainly from mainland China, the United States, Hong Kong, Macao,Japan and British Virgin Islands. As at 31 December 2012, the Economic Services Bureau hadreceived a cumulative total of 87,336 applications.Patent RegistrationSince 7 June 2000, all applications for patents – including invention patents and utility patents,designs and new products – may be submitted directly to the Economic Services Bureau.The Economic Services Bureau and the State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) signed theCooperation Agreement on Intellectual Property between the State Intellectual Property Officeand the Economic Services Bureau of the Macao SAR on 24 January 2003. They agreed to extendthe applicability of SIPO patent approvals to Macao. The effective period of this agreement wasextended for five years from 2008.In 2012, the Economic Services Bureau accepted 239 applications for patent extensions forinventions, 82 patent registration applications, and applications for registration of 167 designsand new products. These applications were mainly from Switzerland, Japan, the United States,Macao and mainland China. As at 31 December 2012, the Economic Services Bureau had receiveda cumulative total of 966 applications for patent extensions for inventions, 1,309 applications forpatents and applications for the registration of 1,033 designs and new products.SME Assistance ProgrammeSupporting the development of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) has always been afocal point for the Government’s policy. In 2003, in response to the prevailing socio-economicsituation, three enterprise-finance programmes were introduced.Under the SME Assistance Programme introduced in May 2003, the Government providedenterprises with interest-free loans to improve business, enhance operating capacity and mitigateimpacts from SARS. During the past few years, Macao’s economy has grown rapidly. To meet theincreasing demands arising from development, in November 2006 the scheme was revised, and themaximum amount of financial aid was increased from 200,000 patacas to 300,000 patacas. Upona new revision in February 2009, the maximum amount was further increased to 500,000 patacas.171