HK Works to Enhance Awareness in Intellectual Property RightsStephen Selby, director of intellectual property, said Tuesday that education would remain a major priority in the work of the Intellectual Property Department (IPD) of Hong Kong.Announcing the findings of the second "Survey on Public Awareness of Protecting Intellectual Property Rights", Selby said the IPD would maintain its efforts in publicity and education. "The Survey shows that our education efforts have started to have an effect. Although the changes are not dramatic, the survey shows that our message is getting through to our target audience," said Selby. Based on the survey's findings, Selby said that nearly 60 percent of the respondents agreed that buying counterfeit or pirated goods was an immoral action. Most people still cite cheap prices as the incentive for buying pirated and counterfeit goods. "Nevertheless, it is encouraging to see that a majority of respondents were aware of what sort of situations infringe intellectual property rights. There was also an increase in the number of people aware of the laws to protect intellectual property rights in Hong Kong." Selby said that electronic media, particularly television advertisements, were most effective in disseminating information on intellectual property rights. He revealed that IPD would implement some new strategies in the coming year, such as a TV feature series and radio programs. This Survey was the second annual survey commissioned by the IPD. The first one was conducted in June last year. It aimed at exploring the degree of public awareness in intellectual property rights and to evaluate the effectiveness of existing promotion programs. |
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