Audit report ｜ The Intellectual Property Department sent a letter for up to 3 years for trademark registration hearings over civil cases

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Written by: McCain

2020-04-29 13:36

The Audit Commission reviewed the registration and protection of intellectual property rights of the Intellectual Property Department, and pointed out that the Department had increased the number of trademark applications by 29% last year, but the maximum waiting time for the first letter processed by some applicants was 1156 days, and the hearing involved trademark registration. The average waiting time is 11 months, which is longer than the average waiting time of civil cases in the judiciary of 5.5 months.

Audit has recommended that the Director of Intellectual Property should take measures to expedite the processing of trademark applications, closely monitor the waiting time for hearings, and take measures to shorten the waiting time.

Audit found that some trademark applicants had to wait up to 3 years before receiving the first letter from the Intellectual Property Department. (Profile picture / Photo by Luo Junhao)

The Audit Commission reviewed the registration and protection of intellectual property rights of the Intellectual Property Department. In 2018-19, the revenue of the Department was 220.7 million yuan, and the total expenditure was 177.5 million yuan. After analyzing the backlog of trademark applications, Audit noted that the number of pending applications increased by 29% from January 2018 to December 2019, from 5270 to 6775 applications; 765 of these applications are pending It took more than 90 days to send the first letter to the applicant, and even some cases waited for 1156 days, which was more than 3 years.

As for hearings involving parties involved in trademark registration, the average waiting time is 11 months. Compared with the “Hong Kong Judiciary Annual Report 2017”, the average waiting time for civil fixed-term trial forms from application scheduling to hearing is 163 days. That is about 5.5 months longer.

Audit has recommended that the Director of Intellectual Property should take measures to expedite the processing of trademark applications, closely monitor the waiting time for hearings, and take measures to shorten the waiting time. The government responded that the Director of Intellectual Property generally agreed with the audit recommendations.

The Intellectual Property Department pointed out that trademarks are important and valuable assets of enterprises and have a key impact on their business plans and strategies. In January 2020, a senior civil servant position was created in the hearing group to replace senior lawyer non-civil service contract positions, To strengthen the ability of hearing work.

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Audit Office Audit Report Intellectual Property