Patent in Hong Kong

The patent application procedure in Hong Kong consists of two stages. To obtain a patent in Hong Kong, an applicant is required to file an application with one of the three designated patent offices (i.e. National Intellectual Property Administration, P.R.C. (CNIPA), United Kingdom Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO), or European Patent Office (EPO) designating the United Kingdom) and then file a request to record in Hong Kong within 6 months after publication of the designated application by the designated patent office. Said term is non-extendable. Additionally, the applicant should file a request for grant within 6 months after publication of the request to record or the grant of the designated patent by the designated patent office, whichever is later.

As of December 19, 2019, it is possible to file patent applications in Hong Kong directly via the Original Patent Grant System without prior filing in China, the UK or the EPO designating the UK.

Required documents for the first stage:
- request to record;
- applicant’s and inventor’s details;
- copy of the published designated patent application;
- title and abstract of the invention in Chinese and English;
- priority data, if the priority is claimed;
- statement explaining the entitlement to apply for the grant of a standard patent and the prescribed documents supporting that statement if the applicant is not the same as the one in the designated application.

For the second stage, a standard patent application must comprise:
- request for registration and grant;
- copy of published specification of the designated patent;
- title of the invention in Chinese and English;
- statement explaining the entitlement to apply for the grant of a standard patent and the prescribed documents supporting that statement if the applicant is not same as the one recorded in the register.

To obtain the filing date, it is necessary to provide the Hong Kong Patent Office with:
- request to grant a patent;
- applicant’s and inventor's details;
- a description of the invention, the set of claims, abstract;
- drawings, the figure accompanying the abstract, if any;
- priority data and priority document, if the priority is claimed. The priority document can be filed at a later stage with no additional attorney fee;

- payment of the filing and publication fee.