Hong Kong Regulations

PATENTS (GENERAL) RULES - SECT 64

Claims

(1) The claims shall define the matter for which protection is sought in terms
of the technical features of the invention and, wherever appropriate, claims
shall contain-

   (a)  a statement indicating the designation of the subject-matter of the
        invention and those technical features which are necessary for the
        definition of the claimed subject-matter but which, in combination,
        are part of the prior art;

   (b)  a characterizing portion, preceded by the expression

"characterized in that" or "characterized by" or the equivalent Chinese
characters, as appropriate, stating the technical features which, in
combination with the features stated in paragraph (a), it is desired to
protect.

(2) An independent claim stating the essential features of an invention may be
followed by one or more dependent claims concerning particular embodiments of
that invention.

(3) (a) Any claim which includes all these features of any
other claim ("dependent claim") shall contain, if possible at the beginning, a
reference to the other claim and shall then state the additional features
which it is desired to protect.

   (b)  A dependent claim shall also be admissible where the claim it directly
        refers to is itself a dependent claim.

   (c)  All dependent claims referring back to a single previous claim, and
        all dependent claims referring back to several previous claims, shall
        be grouped together to the extent and in the most appropriate way.

(4) The number of the claims shall be reasonable in consideration of the
nature of the invention claimed; and if there are several claims, they shall
be numbered consecutively in Arabic numerals.

(5) Claims shall not, except where absolutely necessary, rely, in respect of
the technical features of the invention, on references to the description or
drawings; and in particular, they shall not rely on such references as "as
described in part ... of the description", or "as illustrated in figure ... of
the drawings" or the equivalent Chinese characters, as appropriate.

(6) If the application contains drawings, the technical features mentioned in
the claims shall preferably, if the intelligibility of the claim can thereby
be increased, be followed by reference signs relating to these features and
placed between parentheses; and these reference signs shall not be construed
as limiting the claim.