After Dr. Marcelo Thompson (photo), Deputy Director, HKU Law & Technology Center chaired the panel discussing the Worldwide Patent Law Reform. Mr Timothy Hancock, President of Asian Patent Attorneys Association Hong Kong Group looked back the last three decades, when IP in Hong Kong was not the omnipresent field of law as it is nowadays, when Anton Pillar cases were frequent and when UK design rights automatically applied in Hong Kong. Mr Hancock explained that the use of the professional titles patent agent and attorney were controversial and would probably be regulated.
Mr Hancock’s Asian Patent Attorneys Association Hong Kong Group, the Law Society of Hong Kong;
and the Hong Kong Institute of Trade Mark Practitioners do not see a business case for having an OGP system. In contrast, the Hong Kong Institute of Patent Attorneys and the Hong Kong Institute of Patent Practitioners think it is beneficial for HK.
See the opinions of these organisations in the Report of the Advisory Committee on Review of the Patent System in Hong Kong, http://www.ipd.gov.hk/eng/intellectual_property/patents/review_report.pdf.
Dr. Jasemine Chambers (photo: right), Of Counsel, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, P.C., gave an overview of the implementation of the American Invent Act (AIA) which became effective in September 16, 2011 (PL 112-29). Dr. Chambers made clear that the AIA was the most significant patent reform in the U.S. since 1836, or at least the Patent Act of 1952. The AIA transitioned the U.S. from a first-to-invent to a first-to-file country (effective in March 16, 2013), it defines prior art (more broad) and grace period (more narrow). The goal of the AIA is to encourage innovation and create jobs. Dr. Chambers described the difficult creation of the AIA, which took 10 years. See more here: http://www.aipla.org/advocacy/congress/aia/Pages/summary.aspx.
See more of the Worldwide Patent Law Reform and Hong Kong’s Response HKU Workshop here: http://www.ipdragon.org/2015/01/17/worldwide-patent-law-reform-and-hong-kongs-response-hku-worksop/