On December 20, 1999, Macao, a Chinese territory under Portuguese administration was formally integrated into the People's Republic of China as a Special Administrative Region, within the principle of "One Country, Two Systems", under the name of Região Administrativa Especial de Macau (Macao Special Administrative Region). In accordance with Macao's Basic Law, its capitalist system will remain in place for at least fifty years. The Basic Law also guarantees that Macao SAR will have a high degree of autonomy, and independent executive, legislative and judicial powers, as well as the power of final decision.

Macao SAR is situated on the west bank of the Pearl River Delta and forms a triangle with Hong Kong and Guanghzhou in what is the fastest growing economic area in the region.

An autonomous tariff region, a founder member of the World Trade Organization and an associate member of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and Pacific, Macao has also signed trade and cooperation agreements with the European Union, therefore establishing itself as a strong member of the international business community.

As an autonomous customs territory and adopting free port policy Macao SAR will continue to develop economic and trade relationships with full autonomy. Macao SAR has an independent industrial property rights legal system, which complies with the provisions of the TRIPS Agreement, ensuring that effective and adequate procedures are taken to enforce these rights.

On August 16, 1999, the Government of Macao enacted the Decree-Law No. 43/99/M whereby a new Statute was laid down under the heading "Regime do Direito de Autor" (Copyright System). This Statute came into force on October 1, 1999.

On December 13, 1999, the Government of Macao enacted the Decree-Law No. 97/99/M whereby a new Statute was laid down under the heading "Regime Jurídico da Propriedade Industrial" (Industrial Property Legal System), intended to replace and revoke all previous legislation on industrial property matters that was in force during Macao's Portuguese administration. Decree-Law No. 97/99/M came into force through the publication of Dispatch No. 87/2000 June 6, 2000.

From 1999 to date, the Government of Macao made progress in strengthening Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) laws, tightening controls over DVD and VCD manufacturing, and stepping up street-level IPR enforcement. Further reinforcing these positive trends was the strong performance of the new Customs Services that took responsibility for IPR enforcement in November 2001. As a result of these improvements in legislation and a stepped-up enforcement effort, most optical disc manufacturers were either forcibly shut down or moved operations to other jurisdictions.

Macao is now leaning more towards becoming an important regional meeting and conference center as can be seen with the number of new venues that have been constructed over the last few years.

The protection of intellectual property is an important part of Macao SAR government's strategy to attract overseas investors by providing a secure economic environment. Although in previous years Chinese investment had been considerable in a wide variety of sectors, since the handover more and more investment has been coming in from further afield.

On February 8, 2002, Macao formally ended the forty-year-old monopoly held by STDM when it granted two of the three gambling concessions to companies from outside the SAR that had submitted interesting bids. Macao's economy is centered on gambling and tourism related industries and this action is the centerpiece of the post-handover government's policy to improve Macao's international reputation.

From the granting of the three gaming concessions onwards, Macao's economy experienced a rapid growth that lasted until the end of 2019, when the Covid-19 outbreak paralyzed the tourism sector worldwide.

The impact on Macao was significant, as gross gaming revenues fell 98% from pre-pandemic levels and reached an all-time low in July 2022.

On June 26, 2022, the gaming licenses expired for Macao's six major casino operators: Galaxy Entertainment, Melco Resorts & Entertainment, MGM China, Sands China, SJM Resorts, and Wynn Macao. Collectively, these six operators manage Macao's 41 casinos, and were granted a short extension to accommodate the bidding process until December 31, 2022.

On November 26, 2022, the Chief Executive of Macao announced the result of the license bid and the existing six operators were granted the licenses.

On the other hand, it has been apparent in the last few years that most of Macao's manufacturing industry has moved across the border. While the IT sector has blossomed to further promote the economic development in Macao, nowadays it is important that the transfer of technology is handled favorably. Although, industrial property rights are not generally considered the most important factor for potential investors, it is obvious that overseas owners of technological knowledge will be far more likely to engage in the transfer of technology if there is an appropriate system in place that protects their exclusive rights of ownership to the technology.

In line with China's Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Development Policy and in order to develop non-gaming business revenues, further steps are being taken by the Macao government, such as, the setting up of the Cultural Development Fund to provide financial support and encouragement of cultural industry projects.

At the same time, taking advantage of its historical and cultural background, Macao has transformed itself into the platform between China and Portuguese-speaking countries. With the strong support of the Central Government of China, the Portuguese-speaking countries and the Government of the Macao SAR, five Ministerial Conferences of Forum Macao were held with remarkable success in the Macao SAR.

Furthermore, in order to carry out its role, the Permanent Secretariat of Forum Macao and its Training Centre, the headquarters of the China-Portuguese-speaking Countries Co-operation and Development Fund, the Business Federation of China and Portuguese-speaking Countries and the Youth Innovation and Entrepreneurship Program of China and Portuguese-speaking Countries Centre, etc. have been established in Macao.

Special Remarks

Current Legal Instruments:

Intellectual Property law in Macao is mainly governed by the following legislation:
– Law on Copyright and Related Rights, enacted by Decree-Law No. 43/99/M of August 16, 1999. The updated and consolidated version of this Decree-Law incorporates all the amendments up to Law No. 5/2012 of April 10, 2012, on Amendments to the Regime of Copyright and Related Rights, which came into force on June 1, 2012.
– Decree-Law 51/99/M of September 27, 1999, regulating the manufacture and trade of optical discs embodying protected subject matter, and amended by Law No. 11/2001 of August 6, 2001.
– Legal Regime of Industrial Property, enacted by Decree-Law 97/99/M of December 13, 1999, governing the protection of patents, utility models, topographies of semiconductors products, trademarks, designs and models, appellations of origin and geographical indications, names and signs of establishments, and industrial awards and prizes. The updated and consolidated version of the Legal Regime of Industrial Property incorporates all the amendments made by Article 18 of Law No. 11/2001 of August 6, 2001, on the Establishment of the Customs Services of the Macao SAR, which came into force on November 1, 2001.
– Chief Executive Dispatch No. 54/2000 of April 17, 2000, relating to the installation of software in the public services.
– Law No. 7/2003 of June 23, 2003, on establishing the general principles of foreign trade and regulating the entry, the exit and transit of goods into, from and through the Macao Special Administrative Region.
– Chief Executive Dispatch No. 57/2005 of March 14, 2005, establishing the fees in connection with industrial property rights applications.
– Chief Executive Dispatch No. 174/2020 of August 31, 2020 (amended by Chief Executive Dispatch No. 69/2021), enabling the extension of Chinese patent or Chinese patent applications to Macao and designating the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) as the designated entity to conduct the substantive examination of the patent applications filed in Macao. Moreover, the applicant of a patent application in Macao must submit to Macao Intellectual Property Office all the necessary documents written/translated in the Chinese language.
– Chief Executive Dispatch No. 68/2021 of May 4, 2021, regulating the registration of collective management organizations for copyright and related rights.

Note: the above-mentioned legislation deals with substantive issues, procedural aspects are contained in other, more general Statutes. For example, civil actions are governed by the Code of Civil Procedure, enacted by Decree-Law 55/99/M, of October 8, 1999, and criminal actions by the Code of Criminal Procedure, enacted by Decree-Law 48/96/M, of September 2, 1996.

International Treaties:

After December 20, 1999, Macao became a Special Administrative Region of China, and remained a member of the following Conventions:

– Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property.
– Nice Agreement Concerning the International Classification of Goods and Services for the Purposes of the Registration of Marks (9th Edition).
– Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works.
– The Universal Copyright Convention (1952), as revised.
– WTO’s TRIPS Agreement.
– The Hague Convention (Apostille).

Until further notice, the PCT, the Madrid Agreement and Protocol on International Registrations shall not be applicable to Macao. The extension of European Patents is enacted but not yet in force.