The average GDP per capita of Hong Kong is as high as HK$360,000. In the eyes of many foreign companies, Hongkongers have high spending power, making the city a very attractive market. In addition, Hong Kong’s sound business environment and comprehensive legal system have given many overseas enterprises confidence in basing their operations in Hong Kong to expand their business in Asia.

A Japanese drugstore chain which has been actively expanding into Asian markets in recent years has just opened a store in Hong Kong. Under the protection of Hong Kong’s comprehensive intellectual property laws, how can a registered trademark help them build their brand image and enhance consumer confidence? How does the design of their trademark illustrate their concept of “health and beauty”?

Toys are the things that children come into contact with most frequently. If elements of innovation and technology (I&T) are added to a toy, children may become inspired and take an interest in I&T during the process of play. Such a toy can pave the way for them to become I&T elites in 10 or 20 years’ time.

A Hong Kong toy design company which views toys as the genesis of the I&T ecosystem began incorporating STEAM concepts into their designs as early as 1999. Through trademark registration and design patents, it has gained a firm foothold in the global creative educational toy market.

Product design is ubiquitous in our everyday lives. From small components and overall structure to the relevant technologies, inventors and designers have to put in a lot of effort to create innovations. Through patent registration, their creations and rights can be effectively protected. A patent owner can exercise the legal rights conferred by their patent to prohibit others from making, using, selling, or importing already patented inventions.

A product design company which has based its R&D and design operations in Hong Kong has been continuously developing protective electronics accessories that offer high functionality. Its unique waterproof and drop-proof technology has been patented in various parts of the world. June Lai, the company’s CEO, will be sharing how patent and design registration has helped their products obtain protection and launch into international markets.

A non-fungible token, better known by its abbreviation, NFT, can represent the ownership of a digital asset. Original digital works such as illustrations, art pieces, sound recordings, and videos are some examples. Creators can upload their digital works to the NFT marketplace and hold auctions for buyers to bid against each other. Although the works themselves can be replicated an infinite number of times, these tokens that represent them are fully traceable via the blockchain of the underlying assets, and therefore able to provide buyers with unique identifiers to prove that the work purchased is an original and not a replica.

Can the use of this technology provide greater copyright protection for digital works? In this episode, we will visit a world-renowned auction platform and interview a specialist in this area to explore this issue.

When scientific research projects are concerned, patent application does not only protect the results, but also helps with technology transfer, enabling the projects to transform into commercial products. However, the copious processes and extensive legal knowledge involved in patent application have discouraged many academic teams from taking the first step, thus hindering the market development of their projects.

Known as the “Father of Non-Invasive Prenatal Testing”, Prof. Dennis Lo received the Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences, often dubbed the “Oscars of Science”, for his non-invasive prenatal diagnostic technique in 2021. He has also set up a lab dedicated to promoting molecular diagnostics which specialises in the research of gene sequencing technologies. At the same time, Prof. Lo is also the Chairman of the Patent Committee at CUHK. He often encourages other academic teams to apply for patents and provides them with the relevant support.