(Issued on August 18, 2009 in accordance with Decree No. 21 of the People’s Government of Guangzhou Municipality, amended for the first time on June 16, 2012 in accordance with Decree No. 72 of the People’s Government of Guangzhou Municipality and amended for the second time on November 14, 2019 in accordance with Decree No. 168 of the People’s Government of Guangzhou Municipality)

　　Article 1     These Measures are formulated in accordance with relevant laws and regulations, on the basis of the actual conditions of this Municipality and with a view to strengthening the protection of intellectual property rights (hereinafter referred to as the “IPRs”) and promoting the orderly and sound development of the exhibition industry.

　　Article 2     These Measures are applicable to the protection of relevant patents, trademark rights and copyrights in all kinds of exhibitions, expositions, trade fairs and shows held in the administrative areas of this Municipality.

　　Article 3     The IPRs protection during exhibitions shall abide by the principles of adhering to the supervision of competent authorities, the sponsor’s being in charge, the participants’ self-discipline and the general public’s oversight.

　　Article 4     The authorities in charge of patent, trademark and copyright shall strengthen the IPRs protection during exhibitions, and perform the following functions and duties:

　　(1) Organizing exhibition sponsors and exhibitors to participate in various IPR trainings, and providing them with guidance and consulting services;

　　(2) Supervising and urging the exhibition sponsors and participants to consciously perform their IPRs protection obligations;

　　(3) Investigating and handling all kinds of cases concerning infringements upon IPRs during the exhibition.

　　The authorities in charge of intellectual property management specified in the preceding paragraph shall establish a statistical system for information on IPRs protection during exhibitions. The patent authority and the trademark authority shall, in conjunction with the copyright authority, establish an information sharing and coordination mechanism.

　　Article 5     For any exhibition held for more than 3 days and under any of the following circumstances, the authorities in charge of intellectual property management shall set up an on-site office or designate a liaison officer to accept administrative resolution requests from IPRs holders or interested parties, and shall handle the cases that meet the acceptance standards:

　　(1) The exhibition is sponsored by the government or any government sector;

　　(2) The exhibition has significant international or domestic influence;

　　(3) The exhibition is highly likely to bring disputes over IPRs infringement.

　　For any exhibition without an on-site office or a designated liaison officer, the IPRs holders or interested parties may directly submit an administrative resolution request to the authorities in charge of intellectual property management.

　　Article 6     The exhibition sponsor shall include IPRs protection clauses in the exhibition contract entered into with the exhibitor, including:

　　(1) The exhibitor shall undertake that all their exhibition items will not infringe the IPRs previously owned by others;

　　(2) For any exhibition item deemed by the exhibition sponsor to be suspected of infringement, and the exhibitor cannot present proof of non-infringement, the exhibitor shall immediately cover or remove the exhibition item;

　　(3) Where an infringement judgment has been made by the people’s court or an infringement decision has been made with legal effect by the authorities in charge of intellectual property management, and the exhibitor refuses to cover or remove the exhibition item, the exhibition sponsor may take back the exhibitor’s exhibition permit or cancel the exhibitor’s participation qualification for the current exhibition;

　　(4) Other contents related to the IPRs protection during the exhibition.

　　Article 7     The exhibition sponsor shall establish a filing and publicity system for IPRs, compile and print the filed IPRs of exhibitors of this exhibition into the IPRs protection catalogue by category, and announce to the exhibitors 15 days before the start of the exhibition.

　　Article 8     The exhibition sponsor shall perform the following obligations:

　　(1) Publishing on a prominent position in the exhibition hall or in the exhibitor guidebook the contact information of the authorities in charge of intellectual property management to accept complaints or handling requests and acceptance standards thereof;

　　(2) Providing exhibitors with publicity and consulting services on IPRs;

　　(3) Accepting complaints from IPRs holders or interested parties, and handle disputes over IPRs infringement during the exhibition according to the exhibition agreement;

　　(4) Upon the request of IPRs holders or interested parties, issuing relevant factual certification, or providing necessary convenience for IPRs holders, interested parties and their entrusted agents to enter the exhibition to collect evidence;

　　(5) Properly keeping the IPRs protection information and documents of the exhibition, collecting, sorting out and analyzing, after the exhibition, statistics on the IPRs complaints and disputes accepted during the exhibition, and submitting the statistics to the authorities in charge of patents, trademarks and copyrights respectively;

　　(6) Cooperating with the work of the authorities in charge of intellectual property management.

　　The exhibition sponsor shall set up an IPRs-related working agency taken charge of by special personnel and participated by professional technicians and legal professionals in related fields.

　　Article 9     An exhibitor shall perform the following obligations:

　　(1) Preparing relevant rights certification documents and registering with the exhibition sponsor 30 days before the start of the exhibition if the exhibition item involves IPRs;

　　(2) The marking of IPRs marks and signs on the exhibition item, if any, shall comply with the relevant provisions of the State;

　　(3) Consciously examining the IPRs status of the exhibition item, and refusing the entry of any exhibition item suspected of infringing the IPRs previously owned by others;

　　(4) Accepting the supervision, inspection and handling of the authorities in charge of intellectual property management.

　　Article 10   IPRs holders or interested parties may complain to the exhibition sponsor against the suspected infringement of the respondent, and the exhibition sponsor shall handle the complaint in accordance with the provisions of Article 11 herein.

　　The IPRs holders or interested parties may also directly file a lawsuit with the people’s court or submit a request for resolution to the authorities in charge of intellectual property management.

　　Article 11    When an IPR holder or an interested party files a complaint with the exhibition sponsor, it shall submit corresponding supporting documents; the exhibition sponsor shall accept the complaint timely and inform the respondent.

　　The respondent, once informed of suspected infringement of any exhibition item, shall present relevant evidence timely to prove non-infringement. If the respondent cannot present valid evidence, the exhibition sponsor shall ask the respondent to immediately cover or remove the exhibition item in accordance with the exhibition contract.

　　Where an infringement judgment has been made by the people’s court or an infringement decision has been made with legal effect by the authorities in charge of intellectual property management, the exhibition sponsor shall ask the respondent to immediately cover or remove the complained exhibition item.

　　Article 12   Where the respondent refuses to take measures in accordance with the provisions of Article 11 herein, the exhibition sponsor shall take photos of the complained exhibition item to collect evidence and hand it over to the complainant, or cooperate with the notary office to collect evidence.

　　If the respondent refuses to cover or remove the complained exhibition item in accordance with the provisions of Paragraph 3 of Article 11 herein, the exhibition sponsor may also take back the exhibitor’s exhibition permit or cancel the exhibitor’s participation qualification for the current exhibition.

　　Article 13   The exhibition sponsor shall not allow the exhibitor under any of the following circumstances to participate in the next three sessions of the same exhibition:

　　(1) Refusing to cover or remove the complained exhibition item in accordance with the provisions of Paragraph 3 of Article 11 herein;

　　(2) Refusing to cover or remove the exhibition item deemed by the exhibition sponsor to be suspected of infringement and subsequently found by the people’s court or the authorities in charge of intellectual property management to be a real infringement, as proved by the complainant;

　　(3) Carry on displaying the exhibition item that was found by the people’s court or the authorities in charge of intellectual property management to be a real infringement in the previous exhibition and was thus covered or removed, while the IPR involved is still in the valid protection period;

　　(4) Carry on displaying the exhibition item that was deemed by the exhibition sponsor to be suspected of infringement and thus covered or removed in the previous exhibition and subsequently found by the people’s court or the authorities in charge of intellectual property management to be a real infringement, as proved by the complainant, while the IPR involved is still in the valid protection period;

　　(5) Severe violation by failing to act for IPRs protection during the exhibition.

　　Article 14   When applying for resolution by the authorities in charge of intellectual property management, an IPR holder or an interested party shall submit the following documents:

　　(1) A letter of request signed or sealed by the IPR holder or the interested party; if an agent is entrusted to handle it, a letter of authorization shall be submitted as well, with the scope of authority being clearly defined;

　　(2) The patent certificate, the text of the patent announcement, the identity certification of the patentee, and the legal status certification of the patent if a patent is involved; the trademark registration certificate and the identity certification of the trademark owner if a trademark is involved; the copyright certificate and the identity certification of the copyright owner if a copyright is involved; if the application is made by the interested party, it shall also submit the sole license agreement or the exclusive license agreement and other supporting documents;

　　(3) Basic information of the respondent, including the respondent’s name, booth, etc.;

　　(4) A patent evaluation report issued by the patent authority under the State Council if a utility model patent or design patent is involved;

　　(5) The name of the exhibition item subject to suspected infringement, the reasons for the suspected infringement and related evidence.

　　Article 15   The evidence mentioned in Item (5) of Article 14 herein shall meet the following requirements if it involves a request for handling patent infringement:

　　(1) Where the invention patent involves a method or the product is obtained directly according to the patented method, except for the invention patent for the manufacturing method of a new product, the formula and components of the product involved or the method adopted by the respondent shall be submitted;

　　(2) For utility model patents and invention patents involving such products as large-scale machinery and equipment, precision instrument structures, etc., relevant supporting documents to prove that their shapes and/or structures fall within the scope of patent protection shall be submitted;

　　(3) Other evidence that can prove the infringement of the suspected infringed products.

　　Article 16   The documents submitted by the parties in accordance with Articles 14 and 15 herein shall be true and legal. No false document shall be submitted.

　　If the documents submitted by the parties are formed outside the People’s Republic of China, the relevant laws and regulations on notarization and certification shall be followed, and the corresponding Chinese translations version shall be attached thereto.

　　Article 17   The authorities in charge of intellectual property management shall not accept the case of dispute over intellectual property infringement during the exhibition if:

　　(1) The IPR holder or the interested party has filed an IPR infringement lawsuit with the people’s court;

　　(2) The patent is pending for invalidation;

　　(3) There is a dispute over the ownership of the patent, which is under the hearing procedure of the people’s court or the mediation procedure of the patent authority;

　　(4) The registered trademark, after being revoked or confirmed invalid, is under the procedure of rehearing or hearing by the people’s court;

　　(5) Relevant documents have not been supplemented within the time limit required by the authorities in charge of intellectual property management as specified in the relevant provisions of Articles 14, 15 and 16 herein.

　　Article 18   When investigating and handling a case related to an IPR dispute arising during the exhibition, the authorities in charge of intellectual property management may go to the respondent’s booth to conduct on-site inspection, consult and copy the documents related to the case, question the parties, and take photos/videos, conduct sampling or use other methods to investigate and obtain evidence.

　　Article 19   The on-site office established by the patent authority may apply the summary procedure to handle patent infringement disputes that meet the following conditions:

　　(1) The patentee or the interested party only requests the respondent to stop the infringement during the current exhibition;

　　(2) The conditions specified in Articles 14, 15, 16 and 17 herein are met;

　　(3) The patent involved have been registered and announced before the exhibition in accordance with the provisions of Article 7 herein.

　　Article 20   For a case handled in accordance with the summary procedure, the patent authority shall, within 24 hours after receipt of the request document, file the case and serve to the respondent.

　　The respondent shall, within 24 hours after receipt of the response document, make a defense; failure to submit the defense document within the time limit will not affect the case handling of the patent authority.

　　Article 21   For any case handled in accordance with the summary procedure, the patent authority may conduct mediation first; if the mediation fails, given that the facts are clear and the evidence is conclusive, the patent authority shall make a decision within 24 hours after the respondent’s defense period expires.

　　The decision made shall be sent to both parties to the dispute and the exhibition sponsor. The exhibition items found to be infringed shall be immediately covered or removed.

　　Article 22   For an application for resolution made by the patentee or the interested party in less than 48 hours before the end of the exhibition, the summary procedure shall not apply.

　　For a case filed in accordance with the summary procedure that cannot be judged by on-site comparison on whether it falls within the scope of patent protection, the summary procedure shall not apply, and it shall be handled in accordance with the provisions of relevant laws, regulations and rules.

　　Article 23   Where the exhibition sponsor, in violation of the provisions of these Measures, commits any of the following acts, the authorities in charge of intellectual property management shall order it to make corrections:

　　(1) Failing to publish on a prominent position in the exhibition hall or in the exhibitor guidebook the contact information of the authorities in charge of intellectual property management to accept complaints or handling requests and acceptance standards thereof;

　　(2) Failing to provide exhibitors with publicity consulting services on IPRs;

　　(3) Failing to submit the information and documents related to IPRs during the exhibition.

　　Article 24   Where the exhibition sponsor, in violation of the provisions of these Measures, commits any of the following acts, the authorities in charge of intellectual property management shall order it to make corrections; if it refuses to make corrections, a fine of not less than RMB 2,000 but not more than RMB 10,000 may be imposed; in case of severe violation, a fine of not less than RMB 10,000 but not more than RMB 30,000 may be imposed:

　　(1) Refusing to accept complaints from IPRs holders or interested parties, or failing to take measures to deal with the suspected infringed exhibition item in accordance with regulations or exhibition contract;

　　(2) Refusing to issue relevant factual certification, or refusing to take photos of the suspected infringed exhibition item to obtain evidence, or refusing to cooperate with the notary office to obtain evidence, upon the request of the IPRs holder or interested party;

　　(3) Allowing the exhibitors to continue to participate in the same exhibition in violation of the provisions of Article 13 herein.

　　Article 25   Where the complainant submits false documents, the competent authority handling the complaint shall give a warning; in case of severe violation, such as forging main evidence, a fine of not less than RMB 10,000 but not more than RMB 30,000 shall be imposed.

　　Article 26   Where any authority in charge of intellectual property management or its staff member, in violation of the provisions of these Measures, fails to perform its/his/her duties required by law, the competent authority shall order it/him/her to make corrections and impose sanctions on the person in charge responsible and other persons directly responsible; if a crime is constituted, criminal liabilities shall be investigated and affixed according to law.

　　Article 27   The term “exhibition item” herein includes exhibits, exhibition boards, booths, products, photos, catalogues, videos and other relevant publicity documents.

　　Article 28   These Measures shall come into force on October 1, 2009.