Judicial appointments
The following is issued on behalf of the Judiciary:
The Judiciary today (April 30) announced the appointment of one Recorder and the reappointment of two incumbent Recorders of the Court of First Instance of the High Court. All appointments are made by the Chief Executive on the recommendation of the Judicial Officers Recommendation Commission.
Mr Eric Kwok Tung-ming, SC, is newly appointed as Recorder of the Court of First Instance of the High Court. The appointment will be effective from May 1, 2025, for a term of three years.
Miss Maggie Wong Pui-kei, SC, and Mr Derek Chan Ching-lung, SC, are reappointed as Recorders of the Court of First Instance of the High Court. The reappointments will be for three years commencing onMay1,2025, upon expiry of their current terms.
The biographical notes of the appointees are as follows:
Mr Eric Kwok Tung-ming, SC
Mr Kwok, SC, was born in 1959 in Hong Kong. He obtained a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Reading, United Kingdom, in 1983. He completed the Bar Final Examination of the Council of Legal Education in the United Kingdom in 1984. He was called to the Hong Kong Bar in 1985. He was appointed as Senior Counsel in 2004. He served in the then Attorney General's Chambers between 1985 and 1988. He has been in private practice since 1988. He was appointed as Deputy Judge of the Court of First Instance of the High Court for periods from 2022 to 2025.
Miss Maggie Wong Pui-kei, SC
Miss Wong, SC, was born in 1973 in Hong Kong. She obtained her LL.B. from the University of Hong Kong in 1995. She further obtained her P.C.LL. from the University of Hong Kong in 1996. She was called to the Hong Kong Bar in 2000, and in Brunei Darussalam on an ad hoc basis in 2004 respectively. She has been in private practice in Hong Kong since 2001. She was appointed as Senior Counsel in 2018. She was appointed as Deputy Judge of the Court of First Instance of the High Court for periods from 2020 to 2022. She has been appointed as Recorder of the Court of First Instance of the High Court since 2022.
Mr Derek Chan Ching-lung, SC
Mr Chan, SC, was born in 1979 in Hong Kong. He obtained his LL.B. and Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Auckland, New Zealand, in 2001. He further obtained his P.C.LL. from the City University of Hong Kong in 2003. He was called to the Hong Kong Bar in 2004. He has been in private practice in Hong Kong since 2004. He was appointed as Senior Counsel in 2018. He was appointed as Deputy Judge of the Court of First Instance of the High Court for periods in 2020 and 2021. He has been appointed as Recorder of the Court of First Instance of the High Court since 2022.
Government launches public consultation on review of registered designs regime
The Government today (December 17) launched a three-month public consultation on the review of the registered designs regime of Hong Kong.
Industrial design as a type of intellectual property broadly refers to the ornamental aspect of a product. It embodies a designer's intellectual efforts and acumen for making a product appealing to customers. Legal protection of an industrial design can be obtained in Hong Kong by way of registration under the Registered Designs Ordinance (Cap. 522) (the Ordinance).
A spokesman for the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau (CEDB) said, "Since the enactment of the Ordinance in 1997, design trends around the world have significantly evolved with technological innovation and advancement, opening up new possibilities and opportunities for growth of the creative and manufacturing industries. With technological innovation and integration of industries, designs that a business applies to products have become instrumental to the degree of its success."
The spokesman stressed, "In driving towards new industrialisation, Hong Kong must continue to afford effective protection for designs which is crucial to not only incentivising sustainable innovation and creativity, but also enhancing the design capability of our advanced manufacturing sectors and emerging industries. As a matter of fact, there have been a number of reviews and reforms in different areas of designs laws in various jurisdictions over the years."
The spokesman added, "The Government is fully committed to upholding an effective and robust intellectual property protection regime. To ensure that our registered designs regime is up to date and remains competitive for meeting the changing needs of our industries, the Government considers it timely and necessary to conduct a comprehensive review of the regime. As announced in the 2025 Policy Address, the Government is now embarking on the next step of the review by launching a consultation on various issues pertinent to updating the regime."
The consultation document looks into a wide range of issues pertaining to the local registered designs regime, from the scope of and requirements for legal protection of designs, the procedures for design applications and registrations, to the possible alignment with international practices and standards. It has been uploaded onto the websites of the CEDB (www.cedb.gov.hk) and the Intellectual Property Department (IPD) (www.ipd.gov.hk). Members of the public may submit their views and relevant information by email (design_consultation@cedb.gov.hk), fax (2147 3065) or post (Division 3, Commerce and Economic Development Bureau, 23/F, West Wing, Central Government Offices, 2 Tim Mei Avenue, Tamar, Hong Kong) on or before March 16, 2026.
The Government will also organise engagement sessions to collect views on the consultation. Details will be announced on the websites of the CEDB and IPD in due course.
Source: AI-found images
