CityU Science Patent Challenge 2023-24

Patent Challenge Website

The 2nd CityU Science Patent Challenge: learn about intellectual property, win a chance to own a patent and be a real inventor!

Eligibility:

  • Contestants: Full-time secondary school students in Hong Kong.
  • School-based submission: Each School can submit at most two entries. Teachers and students are recommended to attend the information session and intellectual property workshop offered by the College of Science (“CSCI”), City University of Hong Kong (“CityU”).
  • Each school-based entry can be either on an individual basis or a team basis with a maximum of 8 students per team.

Timeline:

01 15 September 2023


Information Session

Date: 15 September 2023 (Friday)
Time: 5:00 pm
Venue: LT-16, 4/F, Yeung Kin Man Academic Building, City University of Hong Kong
Information Session Details (PDF) 
 
02 14 October 2023


Intellectual Property Workshop

Date: 14 October 2023 (Saturday)
Time: 9:00 am - 1:00 pm
Venue: LT-13, 4/F, Yeung Kin Man Academic Building, City University of Hong Kong
 
03 16 October – 15 December 2023


Online Consultation Session(s) (by appointment)

If your team would like to discuss your ideas with our experts, then the online consultation sessions are what you need. Please register online on or before 8 December 2023.



Submission of an Abstract

Deadline: 30 November 2023, 23:59 (HKT)
If your team would like to receive useful feedback before the final submission, please submit an abstract of your preliminary invention idea in the format of a 2-page Word document. The abstract must be in English. You are welcome to include pictures or photos to illustrate your idea. 

04 29 December 2023


Submission of Your Invention Idea

Deadline: 29 December 2023, 23:59 (HKT)
The Mentor Teachers should submit the students’ invention ideas in the format of a PowerPoint deck (max. 20 slides) or a video (max. 5 min) via online submission. The PowerPoint deck or video must be in English. Each student and mentor should sign an Agreement on Confidentiality to be included in the submission.

About your invention

  • Any scientific-technological inventions for the good of humanity
  • Should be innovative, scientifically sound & practical
  • Proof of Concept / Production of Prototype

Suggested content of your submission

  • Title of your invention
  • Details and Contributions of each team member
  • Invention Description
  1. Detailed technical description; novel features of your invention
  2. Main functions and applications of your invention
  3. Advantages of your invention over existing technology/product(s) on the market
  4. Status of your research (inception of idea / proof of concept / production of prototype)

 

05 17 February 2024


Pitching to Judging Panel (Shortlisted Teams only)


Assessment Criteria:

  • Innovation
  • Feasibility
  • Impact
  • Presentation
     

Enquiry:  

csci.office@cityu.edu.hk / 3442-7765

Important Dates

Date Activity
15 September 2023 Information session
14 October 2023 Intellectual property workshop
16 October – 15 December 2023 Online consultation sessions
29 December 2023 Entry deadline
Late January 2024 Announcement of shortlisted teams
17 February 2024 Final Pitch
February – August 2024 Application for the Hong Kong Short-term Patent


 

Terms and Conditions

 

A. Submission

  1. All submission(s) must be sent to CityU via email no later than 29 December 2023 HKT23:59.
  2. Any submission containing elements of threatening, abusive, obscene, offensive, or otherwise inappropriate content will not be considered by CityU. CityU reserves the right at its sole discretion to disqualify any submission if it is of the opinion that such submission is inappropriate or contrary to the spirit or intention of the Competition.

 

B. Patent

  1. The School should procure that Contestants have read the information on patents published by the Government of the HKSAR (https://www.ip.gov.hk/en/types-of-ip/patents/what-is-a-patent/index.html) before attending the workshop and briefing session offered by CSCI, CityU.
  2. CityU will instruct a patent attorney of its preference to file an application for one Hong Kong Short Term Patent (“Patent”) for the invention of each of the top three winners of the Competition.
  3. The School has the right to choose whether to make a patent application or not. If the School decides not to file a patent, Contestants from the School will be considered as having withdrawn from the Competition with immediate effect.
  4. Application for the Patent will be filed in the name of the School, that is, the School will effectively be the applicant or owner of the Patent. In order to ensure that the School is the rightful owner of the invention, it must ensure that the invention is assigned from each of the Contestants to the School.
  5. The Schools of the Gold and Silver winning teams are expected to seek an agreement with each of the Contestants (and their guardians if applicable) to assign ownership of the invention to the School, and a confirmatory assignment between the School and each of the Contestants (and their guardians if applicable) before an application for Patent is made. The School shall be responsible to take all necessary steps and do and execute any act, document and thing for the purpose of applying for the Patent.
  6. CityU does not guarantee the successful granting of the Patent, which is regulated by the Hong Kong Intellectual Property Department. Under no circumstances should CityU be held responsible or liable should the application fail.
  7. Once the Patent is granted, CityU will hand over the control of the Patent to the School. The School will be responsible for the administration and maintenance of the Patent at its own expense, and may instruct any patent attorney to take any further action as it sees fit.
  8. CityU retains the rights to disqualify the School or any of its Contestants from the Competition at any time. For example, (i) in the sole discretion of CityU, the School or any of the Contestants has violated any term in these Terms and Conditions; or (ii) after taking into account the prevailing circumstances and in its sole discretion, CityU determines that it is not possible or practicable to file an application for Patent; or (iii) failure to make a submission to CityU on time; or (iv) the School or any of the Contestants failing to comply with the instructions of the staff or representatives of CityU. The determination by CityU is final and not subject to appeal.

 

C. Others

  1. The School shall ensure that all information provided by the Contestants is genuine and correct, and the submissions are original work and free from any third party ownership interests.
  2. CityU is not responsible for any confidentiality issues that may occur before, during and/or after the Competition.
  3. The School shall procure the Contestants to sign or enter into agreements on confidentiality, if any submission is shortlisted for the final pitch.
  4. CityU reserves all the rights and has the full authority to make final decisions in all matters related to the Competition without prior notification.
  5. The School shall not, and procure that the Contestants shall not, use the name, logo, trade or service marks and trade name of CityU or any CityU’s employees in any advertising or promotional activities without the prior written consent of CityU.
  6. The School shall procure consent from the Contestants that CityU and its representatives may take photographic or video footage of the Contestants for the purpose of the Competition and other educational or promotional purposes.

CityU Science Patent Challenge Poster

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)


General Information

You may read the information on patents published by the Intellectual Property Department at https://www.ipd.gov.hk/en/patents/index.html.

Public disclosure of a pending invention can sometimes destroy patent rights. Therefore, contestants should carefully protect their ideas at all times until the patent is granted. As a protective measure, all contestants of the shortlisted entries are required to sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) before the Final Pitch, and to undertake to keep strictly confidential all information, know-how and secrets obtained or received during the course of the Final Pitch, and shall not disclose the same to any third party by any mean.

If you/your team did not win the Gold or Silver Award in CityU Science Patent Challenge 2022-23, then you/your team can enhance the original invention idea and submit it as a new invention idea to CityU Science Patent Challenge 2023-24. On the other hand, you/your team are also welcome to submit a new invention idea that is totally different from the previous entry.

If you/your team won the Gold or Silver Award in CityU Science Patent Challenge 2022-23, then you/your team can submit a new invention idea to CityU Science Patent Challenge 2023-24.

 

Information Session & Intellectual Property Workshop

Students and teachers are recommended to attend the information session on 15 September 2023 at City University of Hong Kong in order to receive first-hand information.
If you have missed the information session, you might refer to Information Session Details (PDF) for details.

Students and teachers are strongly recommended to attend the intellectual property workshop on 14 October 2023 at City University of Hong Kong. The workshop covers topics such as idea origination, invention process, and patent. Attendees would also be provided with details on the requirements on their entries. All attendees would receive a certificate upon successful completion of the workshop.

The information session and the intellectual property workshop would be conducted in Cantonese (with presentation materials in English).

Online Consultation Sessions

Online consultation sessions are optional and will be offered from 16 October to 15 December 2023 via Zoom. If your team already has ideas in mind or something in hand for the competition, we would be delighted to discuss them with you and provide preliminary comments as appropriate. Registration link will be available on the competition webpage in early October 2023.

The duration of each session is 30-45 minutes depending on the questions that you might have with your invention idea.

Any team can attend more than one online consultation session with genuine needs. However, priority will be given to teams that have not attended any consultation before.

Submission

The submission is on a school basis. Please talk to your school teacher and see if your school can submit an entry for you/your team.

Each school can only submit at most two entries.

The preliminary submission is optional. If your team would like to receive useful feedback from CityU professors before the final submission, please submit an abstract of your preliminary invention idea in the format of a 2-page Word document. The abstract must be in English. You are welcome to include pictures or photos to illustrate your idea. The more details you can provide, the better feedback we can offer.

The Mentor Teacher will submit the students’ invention ideas in the format of a PowerPoint deck (max. 20 slides) or a Video (max. 5 min). The PowerPoint or video must be in English. It must clearly explain and demonstrate the operation of the invention with a focus on the innovation. A prototype can be included if deemed appropriate but it is not a must. Your invention idea will be presented to the selection panel for evaluation. An online Zoom meeting will be set up with the inventor(s) for further clarification with all or part of the panel members, if deemed necessary.

Basically, your invention ideas can relate to anything but it must be patentable. The school shall ensure that all information provided by the contestants is genuine and correct, and the submissions are original work and free from any third party ownership interests. School representatives will learn more about patents at the intellectual property workshop on 14 October 2023.

Final Pitch

The Final Pitch will be held at City University of Hong Kong.

The Final Pitch will be conducted in English (for both oral presentation and visual materials).

Depending on the quality of the entries, around 8-12 entries will be shortlisted for the Final Pitch.

The College of Science will announce the shortlisted entries for the Final Pitch by 31 January 2024.

In the Final Pitch, each shortlisted team will be given 10 minutes to present their invention in front of the judging panel, followed by a Q&A session. Each team should prepare a PowerPoint deck including the key contents (a) identification of the problem, (b) specifications of the invention idea, (c) novelty of the invention idea, and (d) drawing/ photos. The contestants may also make use of other presentation materials such as a prototype as deemed appropriate but it is not a must.

Awards

The Gold and Silver Award winning teams will be provided with full fee for the application of a Hong Kong short-term patent and for the consultation of patent attorney. However, CityU does not guarantee the successful granting of the Patent, which is regulated by the Hong Kong Intellectual Property Department.

The College of Science will instruct a patent attorney to file an application for one Hong Kong short-term patent for the invention of each of the Gold and Silver Award winning teams. The winning teams shall work with the patent attorney to take all necessary steps and do and execute any act, document and thing for the purpose of applying for the Patent.

For the Gold and Silver winning teams, the application for the patent will be filed in the name of the school, hence the school will effectively be the applicant or owner of the patent while the contestants will be the inventors. In order to ensure that the school is the rightful owner of the invention, the invention must be assigned from each of the contestants to their school.

CityU Science Patent Challenge Press Conference (15 September 2023)

CityU Science Patent Challenge Press Conference
CityU Science Patent Challenge Press Conference

The Gold Award-winning team from Diocesan Girls’ School and the Silver Award winners from Heep Yunn School and Po Leung Kuk Ngan Po Ling College successfully obtained their Hong Kong short-term patents, with professional support from a patent attorney appointed by the College. For more details, please click here.

Winners of CityU Science Patent Challenge 2022

Secondary school students were invited to join the first CityU Science Patent Challenge 2022 by proposing creative and feasible ways to solve real life problems.

At the final pitch on 18 February 2023, shortlisted teams took the challenge to present their innovative ideas on stage to the judging panel composed of Professor Chun-Sing Lee, Dean of the College of Science, Professor Jianping Wang, Assistant Provost (Strategic Planning and Quality Assurance), Professor Shuk Han Cheng, Chair Professor of Molecular Medicine, and Mr. Jason Chiu, Chairman of Hong Kong Startup Council under Federation of Hong Kong Industries.

We are pleased to announce the winners of the competition (in alphabetical order):-

Gold Award: · Diocesan Girls' School
Silver Award: · Heep Yunn School
· Hoi Ping Chamber of Commerce Secondary School
· Po Leung Kuk Ngan Po Ling College
Bronze Award: · Pope Paul VI College
· St. Paul's School (Lam Tin)
· Wah Yan College Kowloon
· Yew Chung International School - Hong Kong

 

The team from Diocesan Girls' School won the Gold Award.
The team from Diocesan Girls' School won the Gold Award

Team members from Heep Yunn School.
Team members from Heep Yunn School
Team members from Hoi Ping Chamber of Commerce Secondary School.
Team members from Hoi Ping Chamber of Commerce Secondary School
Team members from Po Leung Kuk Ngan Po Ling College.
Team members from Po Leung Kuk Ngan Po Ling College
Team members from Pope Paul VI College.
Team members from Pope Paul VI College
Team members from St. Paul's School (Lam Tin).
Team members from St. Paul's School (Lam Tin)
Team members from Wah Yan College Kowloon.
Team members from Wah Yan College Kowloon
Team members from Yew Chung International School - Hong Kong.
Team members from Yew Chung International School - Hong Kong

Congratulations to all the winners! Last but not least, we wish to express our gratitude to all the judges of the competition, and thank all the participants who helped make it a success.