The 2024 Guangdong/Hong Kong Seminar on Intellectual Property (IP) and Development of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) was held today (September 5) in Zhongshan, with an audience of over 200 comprising representatives of SMEs and IP practitioners, as well as government officials from Guangdong and Hong Kong.
The seminar, entitled "Innovative Development Strategies: Intellectual Property Management and Commercialisation of Small and Medium Enterprises in the Greater Bay Area", sought to raise the level of awareness of IP rights among Hong Kong SMEs and Mainland enterprises in Guangdong Province, and enhance the protection and efficient use of IP for developing effective IP strategies and fostering technology transfer, thereby encouraging enterprises to capitalise on the opportunities offered by the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) development under the National 14th Five-Year Plan to expand their business nationwide and worldwide.
Speaking at the opening ceremony of the seminar, the Deputy Director of Intellectual Property, Mr Thomas Tsang, said that the seminar was a significant milestone of the long and sustained efforts of the IP authorities of the two places in strengthening exchange and collaboration, implementing cross-boundary IP protection facilitation measures and jointly enhancing the level of IP protection and management in the GBA. Mr Tsang also introduced the latest work of the Government in promoting IP trading, including the implementation of the "patent box" tax incentive and the preparation for the establishment of a World Intellectual Property Organization Technology and Innovation Support Centre. Such measures would enable Hong Kong's better integration into the country's high-quality development, and assist in accelerating its development of new quality productive forces.
At the seminar, speakers presented and shared their insights on various topics, namely "Realising innovative value with standards", "Collaborative innovative thinking and relevant considerations", "Evolution of China's IP beyond the GBA" and "IP management and value enhancement for enterprises".
The seminar was a key co-operation item under the framework of the Guangdong/Hong Kong Expert Group on the Protection of Intellectual Property Rights, and was jointly organised by the Intellectual Property Department (IPD), the Guangdong Administration for Market Regulation (Guangdong Intellectual Property Administration), the Zhongshan Municipal People's Government and the Hong Kong Trade Development Council; undertaken by the Zhongshan Administration for Market Regulation (Zhongshan Intellectual Property Administration); and co-organised by the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Guangdong of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and the Zhongshan S&Z Institute of Standards and Quality. The event was also supported by members of the Expert Group and the Federation of Hong Kong Industries.
Since 2004, Guangdong and Hong Kong have co-organised a number of activities to promote the importance of IP protection and exploitation among SMEs.
Details of the seminar are available on the IPD's website (www.ipd.gov.hk).
Follow this news feed: East Asia