By Benjamin Choi, Managing Director The Commerce and Economic Development Bureau of the Government of Hong Kong just released on 24 November 2021 a public consultation paper on updating Hong Kong’s copyright regime. This is brilliant news to copyright owners and fingers crossed with the passage of the new legislation! If you may wonder the meaning […]
By Benjamin Choi, Managing Director As a leading commercial hub, Hong Kong is often viewed by foreign brand owners as an ideal gateway into Asia. However, local conditions – from the worth placed on family-run business to the impact of sky-high rents – are often under-estimated or misunderstood. Analysis of successful home-grown brands and some not-so-successful […]
By Benjamin Choi, Managing Director Hong Kong is expecting the launch of the International Registration (IR) of Trade Marks under the WIPO Madrid System by tentatively end of 2022 or early 2023. This will be in addition to the long established and territorial based trade mark registration system, whereby trade mark owners domiciled or incorporated in […]
Congratulations to Benjamin Choi, Managing Director of OLN IP, who is a ‘Ranked Individual’ in the Silver Tier for Prosecution & Strategy in 2021 World Trademark Review 1000 – the world’s leading trade mark professionals. Benjamin Choi recently joined our legal and business solutions platform as Managing Director of OLN IP Services (OLN IP), a […]
By Benjamin Choi and Angel Luo The general principles in determining whether a trade mark can be registered in China are to a large extent the same as in most other countries, considering China is also one of many jurisdictions in the WIPO Madrid International Registration system. Indistinctive or descriptive marks which fail to achieve registration in […]
By Patricia Bodalo Distinction, that was the key. The day Louboutin took his assistant’s nail polish in 1993 and painted the sole of the shoe he was making, he was telling the entire world, or at least the European Union, that shoes with red soles must be Louboutin’s. In 2021, the French shoe designer is […]
By Vincent Fong & Benjamin Choi The Intellectual Property Department granted the first ever original grant patent (OGP) on 4th June 2021, within 14 months after the date of filing of the original patent application by the applicant. The OGP was introduced as part of the patent system reform in 2019 to provide inventors an additional […]
By Benjamin Choi Crossover is a peculiar Hongkie term to describe ‘collaboration’ merchandises co-designed, manufactured and marketed by two established brands only for a particular season and in a limited number of production rendering such items rare, iconic and sought after in the market, such as a Supreme x Louis Vuitton Monogram Box Logo Hoodie (Farfetch […]