Ministry of Commerce, State Administration for Industry and Commerce, State Bureau of Copyright, State Intellectual Property Office Order of the Ministry of Commerce, State Administration of Taxation, State Bureau of Copyright and State Intellectual Property Office No. 1 The Protection Measures for Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) during Exhibitions adopted by the Ministry of Commerce, the State Minister of the Ministry of Commerce Bo Xilai Director of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce Wang Zhongfu Director of the State Bureau of Copyright Long Xinmin Director of the State Intellectual Property Office Tian Lipu January 10, 2006 Protection Measures for Intellectual Property Rights during Exhibitions Chapter I General Provisions Article 1 The present Measures are formulated according to the Foreign Trade Law of the People’s Republic of China, the Patent Law of the People’s Article 2 The present Measures shall apply to the protection of relevant patents, trademarks and copyrights in all kinds of exhibitions, trade Article 3 The administrative department of exhibitions shall intensify the coordination, supervision, examination regarding the IPRs protection Article 4 The exhibition sponsor shall safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of IPRs holders legally. The exhibition sponsor shall, The exhibition sponsor may, by the manner of signing the clause or contract on the IPRs protection with the participants of the Article 5 The participant of exhibition shall take part in an exhibition legally, not infract the IPRs of any other person or entity and assist Chapter II Treatment for Complaints Article 6 If an exhibition lasts for 3 days or more and if the administrative department of exhibitions believes it is required , the exhibition In case no office in charge of complaints is established for an exhibition, the IPRs administrative department at the locality of Article 7 An office in charge of IPRs complaints in an exhibition shall be comprised of the personnel from the sponsor of the exhibition, the (1) Receiving the complaints of the IPRs holders, and suspending the item as suspected of infringement on IPRs on display during the (2) Transferring the relevant complaint materials to the competent IPRs administrative department; (3) Coordinating and supervising and urging the treatment for complaints; (4) Carrying out the statistic and analysis on the information regarding the IPRs protection during the exhibition; and (5) Any other relevant matters. Article 8 An IPRs holder may file a complaint to the office in charge of IPRs complaints during an exhibition or to the IPRs administrative (1) A legitimate and effective certificate of IPRs ownership: where any patent is involved therein, the patent certificate, the text of (2) The basic information about the parties as suspected to have committed any infringement; (3) The explanations and evidence for any suspected infringement; and (4) Where an agent is entrusted to file a complaint, the relevant Power of Attorney shall be submitted. Article 9 In the case of any failure to meet the provisions of Article 8 of the present Measures, an office in charge of IPRs complaints during Article 10 Where a complainant brings any damage to the relevant respondent by submitting any false complaint material or by any other fabricated Article 11 After receiving the complaint materials accorded with Article 8 of the present Measures, The office in charge of IPRs complaints Article 12 When the local IPRs administrative department accepts the requirement of complaint or claim, it shall inform the relevant exhibition Article 13 In the procedures for handling any complaint or claim concerning infringement on IPRs, the local IPRs administrative department may, Article 14 Where a respondent to a complaint or claim submits his Statement of answer, the local IPRs administrative department shall make a Where the respondent to a complaint or claim fails to submit his Statement of answer within the time limit, the local IPRs administrative Article 15 Where an exhibition is concluded, the relevant IPRs administrative department shall notify the treatment decision to the exhibition Chapter III Patent Protection during Exhibition Article 16 Where any office in charge of IPRs complaints requires the assistance of any local intellectual property bureau, the local intellectual (1) Accepting a complaint of suspected infringement on IPRs is transferred by the office in charge of IPRs complaints in the exhibition, (2) Accepting the claim of treatment for any dispute over suspected infringement on patent relating to any exhibited item and handling (3) Accepting the tip-offs on any suspected counterfeit of other’s patent or imitated patent relating to any exhibited item, or investigating Article 17 Under any of the following circumstances, the local intellectual property bureau may not accept any complaint of patent infringement (1) Where a complainant or claimant has filed a lawsuit of patent infringement to the people’s court; (2) Where any patent is in the requiring procedures for declaring invalidation of patent right; (3) Where any dispute over the ownership of the patent right is in the trial procedures of the people’s court or in the mediation procedures (4) Where any patent right has been terminated and its owner is attempting to resume the patent right. Article 18 The local intellectual property bureau shall, when notifying the respondent to a complaint or claim, conduct instant investigation The local intellectual property bureau shall, when collecting the evidence, make the note that shall have the signatures or seals Chapter IV Trademark Protection during an Exhibition Article 19 Where an office in charge of IPRs complaints during an exhibition requires the assistance from the local industry and commerce administrative (1) Accepting complaints of suspected infringement on trademark transferred by the office in charge of IPRs complaints during the exhibition (2) Accepting complaints of infringement on the right to exclusive use of trademark in accordance with the provisions of Article 52 of (3) Investigating and punishing any case involving trademark irregularity by authority. Article 20 Under any case of the following circumstances, the local industry and commerce administrative department may refuse to accept any (1) Where a complainant or claimant has filed a lawsuit of trademark infringement to the people’s court; or (2) Where any right of trademark has been invalidated or cancelled. Article 21 The local industry and commerce administrative department may, after deciding to accept any complaint or claim, carry out the investigation Chapter V Copyright Protection during Exhibition Article 22 Where an office in charge of IPRs complaints during an exhibition requires the assistance from the local administrative department (1) Accepting the complaints of suspected infringement on copyright transferred by the office in charge of IPRs complaints during the (2) Accepting the complaints of infringement on copyright in accordance with the provisions of Article 47 of the Copyright Law and giving Article 23 The local administrative department for copyright may, after accepting a complaint or claim, adopt the following means to collect (1) Reading and copying the documents and archives, account books or any other written materials relating to the suspected infringement; (2) Collecting the evidence by sampling the duplicate of the suspected of infringement; and (3) Registering and preserving the duplicate of the suspected of infringement. Chapter VI Legal Liabilities Article 24 Where the local IPRs administrative department believes that a complaint of suspected infringement on IPRs is in fact, it may punish Article 25 Where the local IPRs administrative department believes that a claim for the treatment of suspected infringement on any invention Where the local IPRs administrative IPRs department believes that a claim for the treatment of suspected infringement on any patent Article 26 Where anyone fabricates any other’s patent or fabricates any patented by unpatented product, or fabricates any patented method by Article 27 Where the local industry and commerce administrative department believes that a claim for treatment of any infringement on trademark Article 28 Where the administrative department for copyright believes that a claim for treatment of any infringement on copyright as well as Article 29 Where, upon investigation, any exhibited item under complaint or claim of infringement has been determined or decided in fact by the Article 30 Where a claimant pleads not only to prohibit an infringing exhibition conducted by the infringer, but also pleads to prohibit any Article 31 Where any infringement by a exhibitor is in fact, the administrative department of exhibitions may make an announcement to this exhibitor Article 32 Where a sponsor fails to fulfill its obligation regarding the IPRs protection during an exhibition, the administrative department Chapter VII Supplementary Provisions Article 33 Where any case hasn’t been concluded at the end of an exhibition, the relevant facts and evidence of the case may be confirmed by Article 34 The term “IPRs administrative department” as mentioned in the present Measures refers to the administrative departments for patent, Article 35 The present Measures shall come into force as of March 1, 2006. |
Ministry of Commerce, State Administration for Industry and Commerce, State Bureau of Copyright, State Intellectual
Property Office
2006-01-10