Hong Kong could inaugurate an Intellectual Property Academy by the end of the year, as part of measures in the budget to further boost the city's intellectual property (IP) economy, according to sources.

It comes as Financial Secretary Paul Chan is scheduled to unveil the budget on Wednesday at 11am, with various sectors eyeing sweeteners to help ease business pressure and improve livelihoods.

According to sources, the academy would be set up by the Intellectual Property Department and the Vocational Training Council to train relevant professionals, so that they can assist companies, especially start-ups, to apply for patents, protect patents, and raise funds.

"Currently, most of such professionals come from the legal field, but more talent from other professional industries are also needed due to the wide-ranging nature of IP protection, such as those involved in IP certification and financing," the source told RTHK.

The source added the government would set aside tens of millions of dollars from the budget to establish the academy, hopefully by the end of the year, and that the new institute would target training working professionals and offer qualifications and career paths for them.

Separately, the source said the finance minister would propose allocating more funds for the Hong Kong Technology and Innovation Support Centre to help local tech firms evaluate the quality of their products and patents, while facilitating the financing and trading of related products.


Edited by Tony Sabine