Around 4,000 trade fairs take place on the Chinese mainland every year with Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou being the most important locations, followed by Dalian, Shenzhen and Zhuhai. One of the main concerns many foreign investors have when approaching the Chinese trade fair circuit is how to protect their intellectual property while at a fair.

The norms aimed at enforcing intellectual property rights (IPRs) during exhibitions are relatively new. This special set of administrative norms was promulgated by the Ministry of Commerce and the State Administration for Industry and Commerce on January 10, 2006 and entered into force on March 1, 2006.

If a trade fair lasts three days or longer, trade fair organizers are obliged to establish a complaint center for IPR-related issues. In all other cases, the local IPR authorities are encouraged to step up their efforts to offer consulting and monitoring services.

Preparation

Foreign companies attending exhibitions or trade fairs in China should do their homework in order to make sure that their IPRs are protected and can be enforced in case of infringements. Trade fairs often serve as a monitoring tool where illegal copies of a product can be detected.

Before participating in a trade fair, a company needs to check whether its products are registered in China in the form of patents, utility models, design patents or trademarks. Copies of the relevant documents should be available on the spot.

In case the exhibiting company has a local lawyer in China, it is advisable to inform them in advance of participation in the trade fair. The lawyer should be provided with the necessary documents and be available during the time of the exhibition.

As mentioned above, trade fair organizers are obliged to set up a complaint center for IPR issues if the fair lasts at least three days. It is useful to establish contact with this complaint center before the trade fair starts and figure out what legal means they have in case of infringements, e.g. whether they have the right to clear stands or to expel an infringer.

If the trade fair lasts only one or two days and the organizers do not provide a complaint center, the exhibiting company can check whether local enforcement authorities such as the administration for industry and commerce, the public security bureau or the technical supervision bureau will be present at the trade fair. If not, they may at least provide a contact person who can be addressed in case of infringements. If authorities show little ambition to be supportive, it might be useful to cooperate with other firms attending the trade fair or contact a national chamber of commerce in order to increase the pressure on the authorities.