Recently, the Hong Kong Intellectual Property Department issued an amendment to its Work Manual Chapter on relative grounds for refusal. It clarifies that under Section 12(4), if an application is identical or similar to an earlier trade mark, it will not be registered if the earlier trade mark is a well-known trade mark.
It also clarifies that the ground under Section 12(6) that an application is refused on the ground under Section 12(4) only if the objection is raised in opposition proceedings and does not arise at the examination stage.