The Intellectual Property Department (IPD) announced today (March 4) the results of the Survey on Public Awareness of Intellectual Property Right Protection 2014. The survey has been commissioned by the IPD since 1999 to gauge public awareness of intellectual property (IP) rights protection in Hong Kong.
Similar to previous surveys, an overwhelming majority (94.9 per cent) of the 1 005 respondents considered it necessary to protect IP rights in Hong Kong. Around 90 per cent of them are aware of the existence of legislation protecting copyright, trade marks and patents, while around 60 per cent are aware of legislation protecting registered designs.
Most of the respondents considered that IP rights protection would help the development of local creative industries (70.9 per cent) and the overall economic development of Hong Kong (63.1 per cent).
On consumer behaviours, only 7.4 per cent of the respondents indicated they often or sometimes bought pirated or counterfeit goods, down from 8.5 per cent in the last survey.
In the online environment, more than one-third of Internet users (38.8 per cent) indicated that they would definitely or possibly pay to listen to songs, watch movies online or to download songs/movies/computer software/games/e-books from authorised websites, which was similar to the result of the last survey (36 per cent). The top three reasons for making a payment were similar to those in the last survey, namely, "for better quality" (51.2 per cent), to "respect IP rights" (32 per cent), and to "give support to creative industries" (23.8 per cent). Conversely, 60.6 per cent indicated that they possibly/definitely would not pay, the top three reasons being "too expensive"
(23.4 per cent), "too troublesome/complicated to purchase online" (19 per cent) and "other channels for free downloading are available" (17.8 per cent).
The three most-mentioned risks of listening to pirated music, watching pirated movies/TV shows online or downloading music/movies/TV shows from unauthorised websites were "computer may get virus" (36.2 per cent), "computer may be hacked by hackers" (17.8 per cent) and "fear of violating the law" (12.1 per cent).
The survey also revealed that a larger percentage of respondents in the youngest age group (below 30) had engaged in online IP infringing acts, or did not consider such infringing acts to be morally wrong, compared to respondents in the other age groups (30 to 49, and 50 or above).
On the "No Fakes Pledge" scheme jointly operated by the IPD and a number of retail and industry associations, nearly half of the respondents (48.7 per cent) indicated that they had heard of the scheme, up from 42.5 per cent in the last survey. A total of 87 per cent of these respondents also considered the scheme helpful in building the confidence of consumers and tourists for shopping in Hong Kong, or in strengthening Hong Kong's status as a shoppers' paradise, which was higher than 81.5 per cent in the last survey.
The Director of Intellectual Property, Ms Ada Leung, said, "It is encouraging to see that the awareness of IP rights protection and respect for IP rights remain high among the general public in Hong Kong. Nevertheless, we must remain vigilant of the challenges to IP protection brought about by the fast advancement of technology and the popularity of mobile devices. We will keep up our efforts to enhance public awareness of IP rights protection and respect for IP rights, especially among the younger generation, through various educational and promotional programmes and by stepping up promotion on different channels."
(Source: HKIPO)
