To promote innovation, technology development and exchange, trade and investment, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) maintains a modern and internationally accepted intellectual property right (IPR) regime. The IPRs protected by the laws of the HKSAR include patent, copyright, trade mark, design, plant variety and layout-design of integrated circuits. The HKSAR Government (HKSARG) enforces these laws robustly.

The HKSAR's IPR regime is independent of the IPR regime of the Mainland. Basic Law Articles 139 and 140 provide, amongst other things, that the HKSARG shall on its own protect by law achievements in scientific and technological research, patents, discoveries and inventions, as well as achievements and the lawful rights and interests of authors in their literary and artistic creation.

The HKSARG recognises a number of international treaties, conventions and agreements which set out the standards, requirements and obligations for different types of IPR protection. The HKSAR in its own right is a signatory to the World Trade Organization's Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights Agreement. The HKSAR's IPR regime conforms to international standards on the protection of IPR.

The Commerce, Industry and Tourism Branch assumes policy responsibility for IPR within the HKSARG. The Branch is assisted by the Intellectual Property Department in executive functions such as registration of patents, designs and trade marks, and by the Customs and Excise Department in enforcement.

The statutory Copyright Tribunal adjudicates disputes on copyright royalties payable to copyright licensing bodies.