Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Algernon Yau said on Thursday the government would "modernise" its copyright-related rules as it rolled out new schemes as part of measures to tap into the booming intellectual property (IP) economy around the world.

He made the remarks at the 15th edition of the Business of IP Asia Forum at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, where some 3,000 IP owners, service providers and users gathered to discuss the opportunities brought by IP and related financing and tech trends.

Financing for IP had been growing fast in the world, he noted, with market revenue put at US$8.5 billion in 2024 and forecast to almost double to reach US$15.2 billion by 2033.

Such figures, he added, indicated "strong demand expansion" – with the annual growth rate expected to be around 7.2 percent by then.

To better grasp the growth opportunity, Yau said the city would roll out a pilot IP financing sandbox, as announced earlier by Chief Executive John Lee in his Policy Address, to help companies secure funding to support their innovation efforts and the commercialisation of their products.

The city, he added, would also introduce and revise regulations as part of efforts to transform Hong Kong into a regional hub for intellectual property trade.

"Our patent examiner team is expanding and we are taking forward the preparatory work for introduction of regulatory arrangement for local patent agent services, with a view to building a local pool of patent talents," Yau told event participants.

"Our Copyright Ordinance and registered design regime will be modernised to ensure our legal framework is fit for the digital age.

"And we are creating the deal flow by arranging a business-matching programme connecting mainland enterprises with Hong Kong's world-class IP service providers to embody our 'bringing in and going global' strategy."

Yau also noted that other than the sandbox, funding under a two-year pilot scheme would also be released to assist small and medium-sized businesses in adding value to their intellectual properties.

Li Shengjun, deputy head of the patent office at China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA), announced that a pilot project granting priorities for Hong Kong IP applications to be examined on the mainland "would be regularised".

Since its launch at the start of 2023, about 200 applicants have applied for such prioritised IP examinations under the project, he said, adding that these "represented good results" as the "patent rights cycle was greatly shortened".

The national IP regulator official also noted that Beijing has issued revised patent examination guidelines to improve standards involving emerging fields, such as artificial intelligence. The new guidelines are set to come into effect next month.

By the end of October, the number of patents for inventions in China has reached 5.28 million, with the number of valid trademark registrations reaching 50.22 million, Li said.