Index Page Replies to initial written questions raised by Finance Committee Members in examining the Estimates of Expenditure 2016-17 Director of Bureau : Secretary for Commerce and Economic Department Session No. : 8 File Name : IPD-1-e1.docx Question Reply Serial Serial Name of Member Head Programme No. No. CEDB(CIT)271 5451 CHAN Chi-chuen 78 CEDB(CIT)272 1224 CHUNG Kwok-pan 78 (2) Protection of Intellectual Property CEDB(CIT)273 2790 Regina IP LAU Suk-yee 78 (2) Protection of Intellectual Property CEDB(CIT)274 4903 Dennis KWOK 78 CEDB(CIT)275 2765 Andrew LEUNG Kwan-yuen 78 (2) Protection of Intellectual Property CEDB(CIT)276 2937 Martin LIAO Cheung-kong 78 (2) Protection of Intellectual Property CEDB(CIT)277 4787 MA Fung-kwok 78 (2) Protection of Intellectual Property CEDB(CIT)278 2326 Charles Peter MOK 78 (2) Protection of Intellectual Property CEDB(CIT)279 5761 Charles Peter MOK 78 (2) Protection of Intellectual Property CEDB(CIT)280 5060 SIN Chung-kai 78 CEDB(CIT)281 1788 James TIEN Pei-chun 78 (2) Protection of Intellectual Property Examination of Estimates of Expenditure 2016-17 Reply Serial No. CEDB(CIT)271 CONTROLLING OFFICER’S REPLY (Question Serial No. 5451) Head: (78) Intellectual Property Department Subhead (No. & title): (001) Salaries Programme: Not Specified Controlling Officer: Director of Intellectual Property (LEUNG Ka-lai, Ada) Director of Bureau: Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Question: What is the estimate of the amount required in 2016-17 for the salaries and allowances of the Director of Intellectual Property and the Deputy Director of Intellectual Property? Asked by: Hon CHAN Chi-chuen (Member Question No. 210) Reply: The notional annual mid-point salaries (NAMS) of the Director of Intellectual Property post and the Deputy Director of Intellectual Property post in 2016-17 are $2,683,800 and $2,290,800 respectively. - End - Examination of Estimates of Expenditure 2016-17 Reply Serial No. CEDB(CIT)272 CONTROLLING OFFICER’S REPLY (Question Serial No. 1224) Head: (78) Intellectual Property Department Subhead (No. & title): ( ) Programme: (2) Protection of Intellectual Property Controlling Officer: Director of Intellectual Property (LEUNG Ka-lai, Ada) Director of Bureau: Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Question: Under this Programme, it is mentioned in Matters Requiring Special Attention in 2016-17 that the Intellectual Property Department will organise promotion and education activities specially for small and medium enterprises with emphasis placed on intellectual property protection and management. Please advise this Committee of the details of the activities, and the expenditure and manpower required. How effective are such efforts in recent years? Will the promotion work be stepped up? Asked by: Hon CHUNG Kwok-pan (Member Question No. 31) Reply: For 2016-17, the Intellectual Property Department (IPD) has earmarked about $6.8 million (of which $5 million came from the allocation set aside by the Bureau for promoting Hong Kong as an intellectual property (IP) trading hub in the region) for IP promotion and education targeted at the business sector (including small and medium enterprises (SMEs), business associations, IP intermediaries, etc.) SMEs remain a prime target of our promotion and education efforts. Through activities such as seminars and exhibitions organised by IPD or in collaboration with other organisations, we will continue to help SMEs understand the importance of protecting their IP rights and to raise awareness of innovation and IP management among them. Moreover, to tie in with the promotion of Hong Kong as a premier IP trading hub in the region, we will assist SMEs to enhance their competitiveness through IP management and IP commercialisation, so as to make use of the opportunities brought by IP trading. In 2016-17, the programmes that IPD will carry out in Hong Kong include: (i) continuing to implement the “IP Manager Scheme”, providing training courses and relevant information for “IP managers”. From April 2016, IPD also plans to organise “Practical Workshops for IP Managers” regularly in order to encourage and assist IP managers to effectively protect and manage IP assets in their enterprises, and to integrate IP commercialisation and IP trading into their overall business strategy; (ii) continuing to implement the pilot scheme on free IP consultation service in collaboration with the IP Committee of the Law Society of Hong Kong to provide face-to-face consultation service for SMEs, with a view to enhancing SMEs’ understanding of IP and assisting them in developing effective IP management and commercialisation strategies. Drawing on experience, IPD is discussing with the Law Society with a view to implementing the service later this year as a formal and long-term programme; (iii) working with legal practitioners with expertise in IP transactions to compile and publish a checklist containing basic practical guidelines on two areas, namely “IP audit” (management for day-to-day business) and “IP due diligence” (due diligence for IP transactions), which is expected to be made available later this year; (iv) continuing to update and enrich the content of the dedicated website "Hong Kong - The IP Trading Hub" (www.ip.gov.hk) in order to facilitate local SMEs and other stakeholders in obtaining the latest information on IP trading; (v) continuing to co-organise the “Business of IP Asia Forum” with the Hong Kong Trade Development Council and the Hong Kong Design Centre; (vi) participating actively in major exhibitions and seminars for SMEs held in Hong Kong, such as the “Entrepreneur Day”, “Hong Kong International Licensing Show”, and exhibition held in parallel with the “Business of IP Asia Forum”; (vii) co-organising promotion activities, such as seminars and exchange activities, with various business associations, to brief SMEs on the latest information on IP rights as well as issues on the protection and management of IP rights, and distributing relevant booklets at these events; (viii) continuing to sponsor and promote training courses on IP related subjects organised by professional bodies as well as business organisations, so as to foster the development of IP-related services in the industry and to nurture talent; and (ix) continuing to promote IP trading and introduce support services relating to IP trading through different channels, including newspapers, websites, exhibitions, seminars and business associations. To help the business sector (including SMEs, business associations, IP intermediaries, etc.) strengthen protection and management of their IP rights in the Mainland, IPD maintains close co-operation with the Mainland authorities responsible for IP protection. In 2016-17, IPD will organise the following activities: (i) continuing to co-organise the “Mainland, Hong Kong SAR and Macao SAR Intellectual Property Symposium” with the State Intellectual Property Office and the Macao Economic Services of the Macao SAR Government to keep the business sector abreast of the latest development of IP protection in the three places; and (ii) continuing to co-organise activities with the IP authorities of the Guangdong Province under the framework of the “Guangdong/Hong Kong Expert Group on the Protection of Intellectual Property Rights” to promote and publicise the importance of IP protection and management as well as the concept of IP trading. These activities will include organising thematic seminars, and updating and enriching the content of the “Intellectual Property Database for Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao” (www.ip-prd.net) as well as the “Guangdong/Hong Kong IP Co-operation Corner”, “Mainland Enterprises Corner” and “Mainland and Hong Kong Trademark Column” on IPD’s website (www.ipd.gov.hk), with a view to providing the business sector with information about IP protection, management and trading in Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao, including laws and regulations, registration procedures, law enforcement, and promotion and education activities. IPD will also continue to organise thematic exchange activities to enable the business sector to establish contact with the IP authorities and business sector in the Mainland, with a view to enhancing the understanding of IP management and trading in the two places and fostering mutual co-operation on IP trading. As for manpower resources, the implementation of the above measures is mainly supported by the Marketing Division of IPD. The Division currently comprises 10 staff members who are responsible for different areas of work on IP promotion and education as well as promotion of IP trading. Regarding the effectiveness of the above work, apart from maintaining continuous liaison with the business sector and stakeholders, IPD collects feedback from participants of the relevant promotion and education activities to evaluate the effectiveness of these activities and draw up appropriate promotion strategies and programme plans. In 2015-16, IPD participated in 4 exhibitions; the seminars, public lectures, workshops, exchange activities, training programmes and consultation services organised by IPD attracted about 2 000 participants and were well received. - End - Examination of Estimates of Expenditure 2016-17 Reply Serial No. CEDB(CIT)273 CONTROLLING OFFICER’S REPLY (Question Serial No. 2790) Head: (78) Intellectual Property Department Subhead (No. & title): ( ) Programme: (2) Protection of Intellectual Property Controlling Officer: Director of Intellectual Property (LEUNG Ka-lai, Ada) Director of