The badge is not a typical merit badge, but is the reward for participation in a series of seminars to begin this summer.

The programs will attempt to teach the public about the importance of preserving copyright and intellectual property rights, an Intellectual Property Department spokeswoman said Tuesday.

``It is really what they call a proficiency badge - the badge cannot be put on the shirt,'' she said.

A Mercado Solutions Associates survey completed in November last year for the IPD showed almost 96 percent of the 1,214 respondents, aged 15 or above, said intellectual property rights should be protected.

Seventy-six percent of those respondents thought copyright infringement was a serious crime.

There were no figures readily available that could measure how much money Hong Kong loses annually from piracy.

The 100,000 scouts in the Hong Kong Scouts Association, both adults and children, will sit in on the proficiency seminars throughout the year to familiarize themselves with issues involving intellectual property protection, she said.

The move to install the ``IPR Badge'' into the Scouts curriculum was made by several organizations, including the IPD and the Customs and Excise Department. It was initially suggested by Victor Chan, a local Hong Kong Scouts leader, in early January, said the IPD spokeswoman.

Hong Kong has seen a steady infringement on its own film industry in recent years, in part because DVD piracy has soared, cutting into profits and even limiting the number of new releases.

The merit badge is not related to other moves made in Hong Kong over the past year, and at least one from outside the territory.

The Strategy Targeting Organized Piracy or STOP! initiative, sponsored in part by the United States Justice Department, was brought to Hong Kong last month after commencement last October in an attempt to work with ``like-minded'' parties to prevent the shipment of pirated goods into US ports.

That initiative includes scrutinizing in ports for potential shipments of fake goods from Asia.

It also includes close partnerships with countries such as Japan, Singapore, South Korea and the United States to crack down on piracy.

The STOP! team sends information to relevant police departments to assist in raids on suspected pirate manufacturers.

The IPR badge move drew mixed reactions in the United States in a report carried by the Los Angeles Times newspaper Tuesday, with a Boy Scouts of America spokesperson calling it a ``little unusual'' and a director of the Motion Picture Association praising the move.

According to the Los Angeles Times, Mike Ellis, Asia-Pacific operations director for the film association, said the merit badge program could instill ``the value of intellectual property and the importance of protecting it'' in today's youth. Greg Shields, spokesman for the National Association for the Boy Scouts of America, said in the Los Angeles Times report that the merit badge idea was not a typical Scouts effort.

``Abiding by the law would be in the very Scout oath and law,'' he was quoted as saying. ``[The IPR badge] would not be a merit badge, that's kind of an expectation, so to speak, of a Scout.''

Cheung King-fung, chairman of the Hong Kong Invention Association, said Saturday the unorthodox program was a welcome educational move.

``It enables youngsters to have broad and concise understanding of intellectual property and fosters respect for creativity,'' he said.

That move would ``give encouragement and support to young inventors,'' he said.

The IPD said it would first start with some lessons to teach young children, starting with the 11- to 16-year-old range this summer.

``The IPD has been promoting the concept of IPR protection via formal classroom tuition,'' said Stephen Selby, Director of Intellectual Property, during a press conference Saturday.

``This program can provide young people with an alternative, informal education about protecting IP in an interesting and interactive way.''

``It is a long-term process involving continuous training of scout members throughout their formative years,'' he said.

``It's a complement to our promotional program,'' said Janey Wong, a spokeswoman for the IPD.

``We want to educate the youngsters to respect IP, [to know] what IP is, and to learn what to do in daily life to concern themselves with IP.'' douglas.crets@singtaonewscorp.com