Commentary

Just when you thought your Hong Kong website had every possible permutation covered from dot com to dot asia and beyond, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (which mouthful we’ll refer to as ICANN from now on) has decided that April 2013 is as good a time as any to open the flood gates just a little wider, with the variety of available domain names zooming from twenty or so now to potentially fourteen hundred sometime this year. Most industry participants in Hong Kong tend to see the logic for the increase in choice of available domain name real estate. British readers will no doubt remember the adding of the “1” and “020” to telephone numbers in the UK, which was a headache at the time but paved the way for the 60 million or so cell phone numbers that were yet to be released. ICANN has received applications covering many generic names including “.shop” and “.buy” and more notoriously “.book” by Amazon. The Trade mark owners and their legal advisers couldn’t however help but notice the elephant in the room with a path paved for (at best) cyber squatting, and (at worst) the likelihood of cunningly named pretenders such as www.louisviutton.luxury. Thankfully ICANN has taken note, or at least the lobbying on this front has been very successful. Built in to the new domain name issuing program, is the Trademark Clearinghouse (TMCH). This service, which launched on 26th March, allows brand owners to submit their trademark data into one centralised database while the new names are introduced into the domain name system. The TMCH accepts registered word marks from any jurisdiction for registration. TMCH users are offered a two pronged service. The Sunrise Service gives trademark owners 30 days before a domain name is offered to the public to safeguard the name that matches their trademark. The Trademark Claims Service warns both domain name registrants as well as trademark holders of possible infringements when a new domain is being registered. This allows the owner to take any appropriate action if the infringer goes ahead and registers regardless. Of course, the service isn’t free and the one-year, three-year and five-year plans for registering trademarks on their database run at US$150 for one year, US$435 for three-years, and US$725 for the five-year plan, with discounts for higher volumes of trademark registrations. In view of the relatively inexpensive costs however and the potential time and costs savings offered by the TMCH it may well pay to take advantage now and protect your trademarks while you can.

The Personal Data (Privacy) Amendment Ordinance (“Amendment Ordinance”) was passed in October 2012, with the provisions relating to the use of personal data for direct marketing becoming effective as of 1 April 2013. The long-awaited data privacy reforms encapsulated in the Amendment Ordinance reflect years of public consultations and legislative deliberations. Interestingly, some of the new restrictions in the Amendment Ordinance are more onerous and stringent than those of its Western counterparts (e.g. in the UK).

If you are managing a small to medium size company, or getting ready to do business in Hong Kong, you have probably spent a lot of time defining your product or service for the local market, analyzing your target audience, setting your pricing strategy and scouting ideal locations. Having completed all of the above, you are probably thinking about how to communicate your amazing product/service/restaurant/club to the city's online audience.

In Hong Kong, Business Training is more important than ever. Our businesses increasingly need every employee to have the skills, knowledge and confidence to take the initiative in order to assess situations, solve problems, and seize opportunities. Not only to build richer relationships with existing customers and suppliers, but also to extend and expand market presence, and to innovate internal practices.

The H7N9 avian influenza had been restricted to Shanghai and neighbouring regions on the Eastern seaboard in China recently, up to 23 April, but still it has infected over a hundred people resulting in more than 20 deaths. Experts worry that the new development with mutation may see H7N9 quickly spread across large areas of China, and beyond.

A company is only as good as its people. That might seem common sense to most managers. However, it seems that many fail to ask themselves one important question: “How can I ensure the company does all it can to help our employees reach their full potential?”

Most Chinese companies in Hong Kong understand why their reputation is important. It's a bit like your health: if you don't have it, nothing else matters.

On the face of it, things don't look great for Hong Kong's economy this year. As I write this, I've just read that business bankruptcies in Hong Kong were up in March compared to February, and also year-on-year, blamed on weak demand in overseas markets. Unemployment, traditionally low in Hong Kong compared to elsewhere, has also increased slightly, and it looks like government policies to rein in the once-buoyant housing market are starting to take effect.

A typical office worker in Hong Kong is no stranger to long hours spent at the office.

Without understanding what motivates the younger members of Hong Kong’s Generation ‘Y’, expat employers in particular, can find recruiting this generation especially baffling.

Bitcoin, an alternative currency that doesn't exist physically, has become the talk of the financial world recently as people lose faith in the euro and other traditional currencies.

Hong Kong experienced a 24% decrease in the number of financial services job opportunities in Q1 of 2013 compared to Q1of 2012, according to the latest quarterly Job Barometer from eFinancialCareers.

The recent forming of the Standard Working Hours Committee has once again sparked discussions around how to keep Hong Kong’s economy healthy and competitive.

To establish a successful and sustainable business in this sector, Hong Kong business people should consider adopting the principle of “Safe Cosmetics, and Healthy Body Shaping” plus an integrated 3-prone SBU model, comprising of Products, Services & Education.

Over 60% of organizations in North Asia particularly Hong Kong, Taiwan and Korea expect transformation in the areas of customer experience and care in 2013. Acquiring customers and reducing churn is their top business concern.

Employees are not unhappy and low on productivity in Hong Kong, in fact, they are amongst the world’s best but, then again, as the old saying goes, “there is always room for improvement and growth.”