If the United Kingdom is designated in a European Patent the patent protection can also be extended to Hong Kong.

Advantage and disadvantage of a European patent application:
The application is filed in one language only and the examination proceedings are carried out centrally in one language. In an ideal case the costs can thus be substantially lower than in the case of a respective number of national applications.
          However, on April 01, 2010 changes in the EPC entered into force which influence the applicant's freedom of decision concerning the desired patent protection. As a consequence, it may be necessary to file a divisional application for reasons of precaution which will substantially raise the costs.
          It is thus recommendable to consider in each individual case whether a filing of national applications in strategically selected European states could be more advantageous.

For information about the national validation of a European Patent, please click here.

 

To the website of the European Patent Office