Many congratulations to our Stephen KY Wong who has been appointed to the New Panel of Arbitrators of the Shanghai Arbitration Commission (SHAC) (上海仲裁委员会) with effect from 1 January 2022 for a term of 5 years.

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Congratulations to Au Lut Chi and Ian Chu who have been appointed as Chairmen of the Appeal Tribunal Panel, pursuant to section 45 of the Buildings Ordinance (Cap.123) from 1 December 2021 to 30 November 2024.

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A hearing for an opposition to trade mark application was heard before the IP Department on 27 August 2021 and the decision was handed down on 5 November 2021. The opposition concerns a registration of a trade mark “金佛水” under class 35 by an earlier trade mark “大佛水”.

Ian Chu acted for the applicant in the said hearing. In short, the IP Department was of the view that:-

• There is insufficient evidence supporting that the earlier trade mark has been widely used in Hong Kong for a long time and therefore the use of it does not make the earlier trade mark more distinctive;
• The degree of similarity between two marks is only medium; and
• While the wholesale and retailing of medicines, Chinese herbal medicine and nasal spray under the subject class 35 (“Class A Services”) are complementary to the goods covered by earlier trade mark, others including the sale of tonic food, cosmetic and skincare products and nutritious food etc (“Class B Services”) are not similar to the goods covered by the earlier trade mark.

Accordingly, the IP Department rejected the opposition to the registration of the subject trade mark under Class B Services.

For the full Statement of Reasons for Decision by the IP Department, please see https://www.ipd.gov.hk/chi/intellectual_property/trademarks/trademarks_decisions/decision/DEC304805190OP.pdf or contact our Ian Chu.

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Our Stephen Wong recently shared his insights about the Personal Information Protection Law of the People’s Republic of China (Effective Nov. 1, 2021) 《中华人民共和国个人信息保护法》 in an interview with the South China Morning Post (SCMP).

Click here to see the SCMP News Report. The full text of the PRC legislation and its English translation can be found on the International Centre of Cyber Law (网络法治国际中心) website.

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Our Stephen Wong recently shared his insights about the Personal Information Protection Law of the People’s Republic of China (Effective Nov. 1, 2021) 《中华人民共和国个人信息保护法》 in an interview with the Southern Metropolitan Post (南方都市报).

Click here to read the report of the interview (in Chinese language only).

The full text of the PRC legislation and its English translation can be found on the International Centre of Cyber Law (网络法治国际中心) website.

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Recently, the Hong Kong courts have considered two important issues for lenders relating to jurisdiction clauses in finance documents:

1. Should the Hong Kong courts dismiss a winding up or bankruptcy petition if the relevant finance document is subject to an exclusive jurisdiction clause (EJC) in favour of a foreign court?

2. Will the Hong Kong courts give effect to asymmetric jurisdiction clauses?

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Congratulations to Ian Chu who has been appointed as a panel member of the Insurance Appeals Tribunal, pursuant to section 2 of Schedule 10 to the Insurance Ordinance (Cap. 41) from 26 July 2021 to 25 July 2023.

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Congratulations to Kim Rooney who has recently been appointed for her second three-years term representing the HKSAR (China) as member of the ICC International Court of Arbitration.

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