Fee reductions

Fee reductions are applied across various key services of the Designs Registry:

• Application for registration of design (filing fee): 60% discount for paper filing and 70% for electronic filing.

• Application for registration of design (advertising fee): 60% discount.

• Renewal of design registration: 10% to 40% discount, depending on the renewal period.

• Other services, such as amendments of applications and documents: approximate 20% discount.

For detailed information on the new fee structure, please refer to the Registry’s table of revised official fees.

Encouraging electronic filing

The Designs Registry has introduced preferential pricing for electronic filing. The fees for paper filing applications have been reduced to a range between HK$235 and HK$630, a substantial cut from the former fees of HK$590 to HK$1,570. Electronic filing applications are set to benefit even more, with fees now ranging from HK$175 to HK$470.

With 86% of design registration applications currently submitted online, the Designs Registry aims to further boost this figure by offering a more economical fee for electronic submissions.

Progressive discount rates for renewal fees

Design registrations are eligible for renewal every five years, extending protection for a maximum of 25 years. The current fee structure for renewals is progressive, increasing with each subsequent renewal. This model is designed to encourage innovators to evaluate the necessity of maintaining registrations for designs that may no longer be in use, thereby preventing disused registered designs from hindering innovation.

To align with this policy objective, the Design Registry has implemented tiered discounts for renewals. These discounts are set at 40%, 30%, 20%, and 10% for the first to fourth renewal periods, respectively.

With these fee adjustments, the cumulative cost for the full 25-year protection term will decrease from HK$6,440 to HK$5,140, representing a total discount of 20%.

Conclusion

With the implementation of the revised fees, the Designs Registry has made design registration more affordable and accessible to creators and businesses. Should you require assistance in protecting and enforcing your design rights or managing your intellectual property portfolio, please contact any of our lawyers listed here.

Authored by Eugene Low and Carrie Yuen.