A survey commissioned by the Intellectual Property Department of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government shows Hong Kong residents are becoming more aware of the importance of protecting intellectual property (IP) rights.
Since such surveys started in 1999, public awareness has significantly improved. The percentage of respondents who know IP includes copyrights, patents, trademarks and registered designs increased to 91.6% in 2008, compared to 84.7% in 2005.
A majority of the respondents (96.3%) consider it necessary to protect IP rights in Hong Kong.
Of the respondents, 8.6% often (0.2%) or sometimes (8.4%) buy pirated or counterfeit goods — markedly lower than the 15% in 2005. Survey data from previous years show the situation has been improving gradually.
“While it is encouraging to see that awareness of intellectual property among Hong Kong people is increasing and they are buying less pirated and counterfeit goods, we need to focus on new trends,” Director of Intellectual Property Stephen Selby said.
“The survey has provided us a better understanding of the situation of legal downloading of files from the Internet among the general public, especially the young generation,” he said.
More than 80% of respondents correctly identified that “selling (98.2%) [and] buying (89.2%) pirated CD/DVD/VCDs or computer software, buying counterfeit goods (87.5%) [and] downloading files and uploading them to Internet for sharing purposes (85.1%)” are acts that infringe IP rights. However, relatively fewer respondents (40.7%) consider “buying a genuine CD and converting it to mp3 for personal use” an infringing act, although doing so could result in civil liability.
Most of the respondents (80.3%) agree it is morally wrong to download files from unauthorized Web sites. However, the majority of those who surf the Internet (78.6%) claim they would not pay for legal downloading from authorized Web sites. A total of 47% of respondents consider it inconvenient to purchase online.
For the 2008 survey, the Intellectual Property Department added questions about respondents’ opinions toward the “No Fakes Pledge” program. Of the respondents, 50.1% have heard of the program, and more than four-fifths consider it helpful in building confidence among consumers and tourists shopping in Hong Kong: 83.9% think the program strengthens the city's status as a shopper’s paradise, and 80.7% think it promotes respect for IP rights among the general public.
The survey shows nearly 77% of respondents received information about IP protection through television, significantly more than the 65% in 2005.
Regarding public attitude toward long-term development of IP rights, 76% of respondents believe IP protection can help the development of local creative industries, and more than 80% feel the government should put more resources in protecting IP rights.
The survey report is available on the Web site of the Intellectual Property Department at [www.ipd.gov.hk].
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