Of the 1,206 businesses surveyed for Hong Kong’s Intellectual Property Department earlier this year, 95.6% of the respondents considered it necessary or quite necessary to protect IP rights in the business environment of Hong Kong.  A similar number – 96.1% – considered their intellectual property rights as valuable assets.  Yet only 22.9% said they have registered their trademarks.  Less than one quarter of businesses actually register their trademarks even though they consider them valuable assets.

Registration provides excellent return on investment and a high degree of protection of valuable assets.  Yet, businesses willing to spend thousands or tens of thousands of dollars and numerous manhours on designing logos or trademarks are hesitant about spending a few thousand dollars to register their trademark.  This is akin to locking the front door while leaving the back door wide open.   Waiting until a claim of infringement is imminent (either issuing or receiving one) before registering is locking the doors after the horses are gone. 

Registration -- locking the barnyard doors -- will help guard against infringement.