HONG KONG -- Hong Kong has approved its first-ever standard patent under a new system aimed at encouraging original patents as the global financial hub also aims high in innovation and technology.

The invention, involving the use of artificial intelligence to manage inventory in an e-commerce system, was granted earlier this week under the original grant patent (OGP) system, according to the Intellectual Property Department of China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government.

Launched in December 2019, the OGP system creates a direct route for innovators to seek standard patent protection in Hong Kong with a maximum term of 20 years.

Under the old but still existing "re-registration" route, patents must first be approved by three designated patent management authorities outside of Hong Kong. Otherwise, inventions can only have short-term protection for at most eight years.

"It's an exciting moment to see the granting of the first-ever standard patent by original grant," Edward Yau, Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, said Saturday, calling the approval a "milestone" in the development of Hong Kong's patent system.

Yau said the OGP system meets the needs of Hong Kong's innovation and technology and the creative industries, as well as its long-term economic development.

The 14th Five-Year Plan for national economic and social development raises the support for Hong Kong to develop into a regional intellectual property trading center and an international innovation and technology hub, he said. "We are equipping ourselves to leverage these new opportunities."

By the end of May, the government has received a total of 426 OGP applications, of which 33 percent were submitted by Hong Kong residents or enterprises and 67 percent from non-local applicants.