Summary of Facts

Participants in the mock trial:

• Mr Liu Tsz-ming - Honorary Advisor
• Mr Andrew Liao S.C. - Honorary Advisor
• The Hon. Mr Justice Yeung - Judge
• Ms Priscilla Wong - Counsel for the Plaintiff
• Mr Martin C.K. Liao - Counsel for the 2nd Defendant
• Ms Winnie Tam - Counsel for the 1st Defendant
• Mr Lam Kin-hung - Solicitor for the Plaintiff
• Mr Wan Kah-ming - Solicitor for the 1st Defendant
• Mr Fung Kai-lin - Solicitor for the 2nd Defendant

Summary of Facts:

The Plaintiff of this action (Electronic Design Ltd.) is an incorporated company. It brings an action against the 1st Defendant (Fast Speed Enterprise Ltd.) (an incorporated company) and the 2nd Defendant, a director and shareholder of the 2nd Defendant (Chan Nin) (a natural person) before the Court of First Instance of the High Court, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, for infringement of its copyright and rights pertaining to its registered design. The copyright involved in this action is the copyright subsisting in the drawing of Calculator "X" of the Plaintiff, who claims that the said drawing is protected by the copyright law of Hong Kong. In addition, the Plaintiff also claims that having registered the design of the said calculator, the Plaintiff enjoys exclusive rights in the registered design under the laws of Hong Kong.

The Plaintiff alleges that the drawing of Calculator "Y" of the 1st Defendant is a copy of Calculator "X" of the Plaintiff and is therefore an infringement of the copyright subsisting in the latter's drawing. In addition, the Plaintiff alleges that there is little difference in the design of Calculator "Y" and Calculator "X" and this amounts to an infringement of the Plaintiff's registered design. It is also alleged by the Plaintiff that the 1st Defendant has been instructed and procured by the 2nd Defendant to commit the various acts of infringement. Therefore, the acts of the 2nd Defendant are also in violation of the law and he should also bear legal liabilities in respect of the acts of infringement as in the case of the 1st Defendant. The Plaintiff therefore asks the Court to grant an injunction against the 1st and 2nd Defendants to cease the continuation of the said acts of infringement and to order them to make compensation to the Plaintiff and pay the Plaintiff's costs.

The 1st and 2nd Defendants raise the following arguments as their major defence to the Plaintiff's allegations:

• The Defendants are of the view that the design of all calculators are more or less the same and therefore the design of Calculator "X" is not new and should not be entitled to copyright protection.
  
• Given that the Plaintiff has already put Calculator "X" on sale before applying for the registration of its design, the design of the Calculator "X" is no longer new when the Plaintiff applied for registration. Therefore, the Defendants apply to the Court for a revocation of the Plaintiff's registration of design.
  
• If the said drawing of Calculator "X" should be protected as copyright or registered design, the Defendants deny any infringement of the Plaintiff's rights.
  
• The 2nd Defendant denies that he has instructed or procured the 1st Defendant to commit any infringement and is therefore not legally liable.

Accordingly, the 1st and 2nd Defendants ask the Court to dismiss the Plaintiff's action and rule against the Plaintiff.

N.B.: While the aforesaid facts of the case are fictitious, all rights pertaining to the articles and drawings used in this case and rights arising from the registration are owned by the company which allows them for use in this case. The ruling of this case has no relevance to these rights.