Effective Cure To Infringements Of Intellectual Property Rights In Hong Kong: Interlocutory Injunction

Introduction

The Hong Kong Toys and Games Fair is the second largest toy fair in Asia. In 2007, it was held in early January at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre with over hundreds of exhibitors participating. One of the exhibitors, COG Limited, which is a reputable designer and manufacturer of educational toy experiments ("the Exhibitor"), noticed one of the other exhibitors in the Fair, Eastcolight (Hong Kong) Limited ("the Infringer"), had exhibited a series of products that were virtually or visually similar to one of their series. The similarities are so significant that some customers mistakenly identified the Infringer's products as manufactured by the Exhibitor or misconceived that they were identical to those sold by the Exhibitor.

The Exhibitor sought an interlocutory injunction order from the High Court of Hong Kong to stop the Infringer from infringing the Exhibitor's copyright and passing off the Exhibitor's products. So what is an interlocutory injunction and how to apply for one?

The Law and Procedure

According to Section 21L of the High Court Ordinance of the Laws of Hong Kong, the Court can grant an injunction in cases which it appears to the Court that it is "just and...