4 June 1989 Tiananmen Square

It has been 20 years.

Let us have a moment for those who were killed, hurt, and deprived of human rights since then. There are activists still kept in prison because of what happened 20 years ago.

There are many ways to show we are concerned. Here is one of them:
My Square is Tiananmen Square - Solidarity photo action

The Chinese government also shows their concern by shutting down web access to a lot of sites in the past few days, including twitter. People in Southern China also cannot watch Hong Kong TV that they used to watch in the past.

Chinese Bidder on Yves St. Laurent Auction Refuses to Pay $40 Million

I think that caught a lot of attention lately, in particular, the Chinese guy who succeed in bidding the Chinese Bronze Rat Head and Rabbit Head last week at Christie's.

This 'winner' hold a press conference on 2 Mar 2009, proudly saying that he will not pay, and the other spokesperson in the press conference said (in Chinese) "The world has learnt a lesson".

I think we learnt that lesson long time ago and this press conference just reinforce our learning:
We demand money on account for all Chinese customers, no matter they are new or recurring customers. In particular, when it is time for filing of application that we need to pay for government fee, we felt as urgent as the client. That is, if they don't pay us money on account, we will not pay on their behalf for any government fee.

We do understanding inventors / companies do have cash flow problem from time to time, but holding a press conference and say that out loud (and proudly) "... what I want to stress is that I will not pay" is a little bit too much.

See the related news here: http://abcnews.go.com/International/Business/story?id=6987633&page=1

Meeting fellow professional in Facebook

From time to time, I have questions such as trademark registration in Indonesia and Italy. Apart from Google, I am also using facebook to look for fellow professional and groups in other countries. I found that very useful.

Peace in Gaza

In the year of 2009, we wish peace in Gaza and concern about types of weapons used by the invading army.

Blooming business

It seems that the patent business is not affected by the current economic downturn. At lest two of our customers have increased their global patent filing in the past two to three months. I understand that they are preparing for roll out of new product that is cheaper to manufacture; and these improvement include lower the cost to make, transport (reduce weight) and maintain. To make all these patent protection, it also means that their competitors cannot use such new method to produce lower cost product.

I am back with a new hosting service

Hi,
I was busy, then I am lazy, then problem with hosting service. Now I am back. Hopefully I can write / blog more.

How to become a patent attorney in Hong Kong

From Day One, this is a personal view blog, so I share my personal experience.

First, I need to say a few words about not writing for a long long time. When you are busy, you stop for a few weeks, then it extends to a few months. I wanted to pick up again, then I forgot the password. Now that is a push with two comments. So I am back.

There is no such thing as patent attorney in Hong Kong. As there is no independent patent examination in Hong Kong, there is no need for this profession.

Typically a lawyer may take this up as one of the area of practice. There is no formal requirement who can and connot take up patent work.

There is a Asia Patent Attorney Association - Hong Kong Group. Being a member is as close as being a patent attorney in Hong Kong. To become a member, you need a few years experience in patent drafting and execution, and referral from a few members.

Without a membership, if you know what you are doing, and have trust from your clients, and do produce good result, then you can call yourself whatever you like. This is a unregulated profession.

Sent via my phone...