Senior Superintendent and Head of Enforcement Division of Macao Customs Service, Ian Chan Un, was invited by Consumer Council as speaker to introduce to ‘Adherents’ and ‘Certified Shops’ the legislations regarding intellectual property rights in Macao.

Consumer Council offers various professional training to its ‘Adherents’ and ‘Certified Shops’, aiming to let both businesses and consumers aware of their own rights and obligations by spreading knowledge of legislations regarding consumer rights. Head of Enforcement Division of Macao Customs Service, Ian Chan Un, was invited to speak at the talk on ‘protecting consumer rights’ and ‘intellectual property’ earlier.

Ian Chan Un gave an introduction to ‘what is intellectual property’, explained its importance and the scopes involved during the talk. The three main legislations for protecting intellectual property rights in Macao include Decree-Laws 43/99/M, 51/99/M, and 97/99M. The three decree-laws cover intellectual property rights of the author, the production and sales of discs, and industrial production.

Ian Chan Un reminded that retail businesses like ‘Adherents’ and ‘Certified Shops’ should be aware of the regulations in Decree-Law 97/99/M as they involve the protection of industrial intellectual property rights, including the rights of patent and trademark. Ian pointed that any person who violates the regulations are subject to fines and penalties. The Macao Customs Service is keen on attacking infringements on intellectual property rights and through the co-operation with Consumer Council in recent years, many cases of intellectual property infringement have been tackled.

Ian believes that ‘Adherents’ and ‘Certified Shops’ are self-disciplined and abide by the laws but certain businesses may infringe intellectual property rights during procurement due to insufficient knowledge about the product, neglect or misguidance. Therefore, businesses should pay attention to the sources and trademarks of the products during procurement and only buy from reliable suppliers. Businesses are welcome to contact the Macao Custom Service or Consumer Council when they have doubts about the origins of products.

Participants included industries such as drugstores, optical retail and clothing & apparel.