The Government announced today that an initial batch of seven pilot cases under the Intellectual Property Financing Sandbox has successfully secured credit approval. These successful pilot cases span the electronics, construction, toy manufacturing and medical device sectors.

The approved loan amounts range from $1 million to $39 million, backed by patent and trade mark assets. This milestone demonstrates that Hong Kong can steadily develop intellectual property (IP) financing while unlocking a new funding channel for enterprises.

Participating banks demonstrated flexibility regarding loan values and financing terms during the sandbox pilot. The Commerce & Economic Development Bureau, the Monetary Authority and the Intellectual Property Department will continue to evaluate feedback from stakeholders to shape the next phase of the sandbox.

Future expansion plans include increasing the number of participating financial institutions and refining intellectual property valuation processes. Concurrently, the Government today launched a two-year Pilot Patent Valuation Support Scheme through the Hong Kong Technology & Innovation Support Centre.

The scheme operates on a one-to-one matching grant model for eligible small and medium-sized enterprises. Approved businesses will receive a one-off funding cap of $80,000 to commission qualified valuation service providers.

Opening for applications from today, the initiative aims to leverage professional services to promote IP valuations and provide concrete reference data for credit financing, thereby stimulating a robust local IP trading ecosystem.

Originally introduced in last year’s Policy Address, the sandbox serves as an important initiative to promote IP financing. It provides a risk-controlled, collaborative environment for key stakeholders – including financial institutions, enterprises and professional services organisations – to test the full lifecycle of funding arrangements.

Adopting a "pioneer and pilot" approach, this initiative allows participants to collectively experiment with asset-backed arrangements, enabling the sector to accumulate vital practical experience.