Hong Kong, China

The Intellectual Property Department (IPD) of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region is responsible for patent administration in Hong Kong. Under the "One Country, Two Systems" framework, Hong Kong maintains a patent regime and judicial system distinct from that of Mainland China. Patent protection in Hong Kong is mainly divided into two categories: Standard Patents, which may last up to 20 years, and Short-term Patents, which may last up to 8 years.

The Standard Patent system now operates through two parallel routes: the Original Grant Patent (OGP) route and the re-registration route (Standard Patent (R)). Historically, Hong Kong relied primarily on the re-registration model, under which the applicant first files with and obtains grant from one of the designated patent offices—CNIPA, the EPO, or the UKIPO—and then completes the prescribed recordal and registration steps in Hong Kong within strict statutory deadlines. Since the implementation of the new system in late 2019, applicants have also been able to file directly for a Standard Patent (O) with the IPD. Unlike a Standard Patent (R), which is subject mainly to formality review, a Standard Patent (O) is subject to both formality and substantive examination under Hong Kong's local system, thereby strengthening Hong Kong's own patent-granting capacity.

Hong Kong's Short-term Patent is broadly analogous to a utility model and is designed for inventions with shorter commercial life cycles or where rapid protection is commercially desirable. It is granted after formality examination only and does not undergo full substantive examination before grant, but the application must be supported by a search report issued by a recognised international search authority or a designated patent office. To prevent abuse of unexamined rights, the current regime expressly requires that before commencing court proceedings for infringement, the proprietor of a short-term patent must first request post-grant substantive examination of that patent by the Registrar. Following that process, the patent may either receive a certificate of substantive examination or be revoked. Patent infringement and validity disputes are heard by the High Court of Hong Kong, and its common-law tradition, procedural predictability, and specialised judicial environment continue to make the jurisdiction highly attractive to international businesses.