CentreO Blog

Quite a few people tend to confuse the two notions: company registration and trademark registration. Some even think they are the same and require one application.

This is not the case. Separate laws and systems regulate the registration of company names, business names and trademarks in Hong Kong.

Let’s say you want to register a business in Hong Kong.  You will have to apply at the Business Registration Office (Inland Revenue Department) to get the name of your business registered. However, this is not an indication of trademark rights.

The thing is: A Hong Kong business registration certificate or a company registration certificate does not by itself indicate that the business or company has rights to use its name or a trademark in promoting or dealing in goods and services.

Only a proper trademark registration is a guarantee of trademark rights.

Take a look at http://ipsearch.ipd.gov.hk  for registered trademarks, owners/persons licensed to use the trademarks in Hong Kong.

Need more advice on company/business/trademark registration? Give us a shout at sales@centreo.hk.

 

 

We are very happy to have Stephen Barnes, author of the Hong Kong Visa Handbook and renowned expert on visa and immigration matters in the HKSAR, to talk about the challenges faced by foreign national entrepreneurs in securing the necessary immigration permissions to join in or establish businesses here in Hong Kong.

This is a free seminar. Stephen will be spending quite a lot of time discussing one man investment visas and also explaining how the Hong Kong Immigration Department view such applications. Moreover, Stephen will also talk about dependant visa and employment visa applications, ways to improve chances of a successful application and giving detailed, practical step-by-step procedures (including all the resources you will need in your application.)

There will also be a Q&A section at the end of the presentation for your questions about your own visa.

Date: December 13^th, 2013 ( Friday)

Time: 4pm – 6pm

Location:  HKTDC SME Centre
(Ground Level, Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre,
1 Expo Drive, Wan Chai, Hong Kong)

RSVP: sales@centreo.hk

Briefly about Stephen:

Long-recognized by his peers as the leading authority on Hong Kong business immigration matters, LSE law graduate Stephen Barnes published the first edition of the Hong Kong Visa Handbook on the internet in 1996.

For the 17 years since then, Stephen (aka the Hong Kong Visa Geeza) has been at the forefront of the immigration services industry in Hong Kong.

A regular guest RTHK Radio 3, Stephen answers visa questions live on air, frequently delivers Continuing Professional Development programmes to Hong Kong’s legal and accounting professions on the topic of business immigration to the HKSAR and is in demand as a subject matter expert locally and internationally.

Let’s say that you and your partner got married in California. Then one of you gets a promising career or business opportunity in Hong Kong and would like to move. Under standard circumstances, your married partner should be eligible for a dependent visa, right?

Unfortunately, Hong Kong still does not recognize same-sex marriages and your partner will not be a able to get a dependent visa.

So what are the options?

First – your partner can get a job in Hong Kong and apply for an employment visa.

Second, if your finances allow this, you can set up a company in Hong Kong and apply for two investment visas under the same company.

Whichever option you choose, make sure you talk to a visa consultant to be fully aware of all requirements and possible complications.

We’d be happy to help – sales@centreo.hk

Let’s say that you and your partner got married in California. Then one of you gets a promising career or business opportunity in Hong Kong and would like to move. Under standard circumstances, your married partner should be eligible for a dependent visa, right?

Unfortunately, Hong Kong still does not recognize same-sex marriages and your partner will not be a able to get a dependent visa.

So what are the options?

First – your partner can get a job in Hong Kong and apply for an employment visa.

Second, if your finances allow this, you can set up a company in Hong Kong and apply for two investment visas under the same company.

Whichever option you choose, make sure you talk to a visa consultant to be fully aware of all requirements and possible complications.

We’d be happy to help – sales@centreo.hk

So, the situation is this: you are divorced and the child is living with you. You are considering a move to Hong Kong and are applying for an employment visa. Is your child eligible for a dependent visa to come along and stay with you in Hong Kong?

The answer is YES. However, you will need to submit supporting documents, showing that:

–        your ex-spouse has no objections to you taking the child abroad

–        you are the guardian of your child, as stated in the relevant divorce papers

Additionally, your child has to be 18 or below years of age or studying full time.