Hong Kong, October 29:

A Hong Kong business group wants the sale of personalised car number plates featuring company brands banned after tags featuring HSBC and Sony were snapped up at auction, a media report stated today.

The plates — including another spelling the name Ferrari with the numeral 1 — were sold yesterday to a restaurateur for around $258,000, the South China Morning Post reported. Business groups want a ban on brand names on the plates, warning of copyright issues and possible lawsuits if the plates are used for commercial purposes. But the paper quoted government officials defending the personalised plate scheme, which has seen two lucrative auctions since being introuced earlier this year.

“We had already consulted legal opinion when we formulated the scheme,” finance development chief was quoted as saying. “We are confident that the personalised vehicle registration scheme can stand up to legal challenges.”