"For a smooth application," she said. "The company should remember that prior to an application submission, all details regarding the patent pending must be confidential, avoid any exposure of the products to potential buyers, and to avoid the possibility of a future patent lawsuit calling into question the originality of a product or invention."
She pointed out that upon the application on the patent's origin, all new innovations and patents are granted a 12 months grace period to prepare documents that are required by other countries for a foreign patent application.
"Since the patent application process in each country is expensive, the enterprise can use this period of time to prepare additional applications and documents," she said.
Cheong has been a member of the Association of International Property Professionals, the International Trademark Association and the Federation International des Conseils en Propriete Industrielle and travels abroad to promote intellectual property rights among countries.
She added, classifications of some registered product trademarks in the Chinese mainland are different from the international system of classification and harmonization of the two systems in future would be a significant object for IP trade.
Hong Kong has a comprehensive legal and IPR protection system and a good international reputation for professionalism, Cheong said.
Many foreign companies are choosing a package of IPR services offered by Hong Kong law firms, which boosts demand for related professional services
Cheong advised many Hong Kong and Chinese mainland enterprises not to overlook the importance of IPR. Some companies may object to the whole concept, she added.
The company's Internet domain name or even the company's name itself can be taken over by another party, which could lead to a loss of business.
Cheong shared an incident about her law firm, which had registered the name 'ellacheong.com' two or three years ago. One day, they received a notification from the Chinese mainland telling them that the name 'ellacheong.com.cn' had been registered and solicited a trade with Cheong for that domain name.
In response, the law firm replied, "we have already registered this service mark on the mainland. We will see you in court," Cheong said ECHK took them to court, but in the end the mainland party did not respond to the settlement.
This incident has shown that there are traps to IP registrations in the cyber world and the risk to get infringed on one's right is high, so a company must protect its registrations and ensure they have sufficient IP protections, she said.
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