Tsang talked about the branding of Hong Kong since 1997, when the city returned to China as “one country, two systems.” Hong Kong is the “epitome of change” and its logo represents the blue skies (which were welcomed yesterday), the green of sustainable development and the red of the city’s lion rock (which symbolizes its can-do spirit). Its slogan, “Asia’s World City”, is both a “quality control benchmark” and an “aspirational statement locally,” said Tsang.
INTA’s history goes back 136 years to 1878, but Hong Kong’s first trademark is even older, having been filed in July 1874. The mark was for Nestlé’s EAGLE brand of condensed milk, and it is still going strong in the city. “Hard work and quality control is required to make that happen,” said Tsang. Today, there are 330,000 trademarks registered in Hong Kong and the city is becoming an IP trading hub that promotes IP creation and exploitation, as well as intermediary services and collaboration. Tsang had one final piece of advice for Annual Meeting attendees: “Do shop a lot!”
