I. General provisions

1.These procedures are prepared in accordance with the Method of Intellectual Property Rights Protection for Exhibition to enhance intellectual property rights protection, to protect the lawful interests of various parties concerned, and maintain the normal order of exhibition.

2.The Organisers of ITMA ASIA + CITME 2024 (“Exhibition”) respect and protect the lawful interest of intellectual property rights owners during the Exhibition. Exhibitors shall ensure that their exhibits do not constitute an infringement of other parties' intellectual property rights.

II. Complaint handling organisation

3. An on-site intellectual property rights office (“IPR Office”) will be set up for the Exhibition from 13/10/2024 to 18/10/2024, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., which will consist of the Organisers, external IPR administrative authority and IPR practitioners.

4.The IPR Office shall handle alleged patent infringements within the exhibition venue during the Exhibition in a fair and impartial manner.

III. Conditions for accepting IPR complaints

5.The complainant must be a patent holder or an interested party such as the licensee of a patent licence agreement and the legal successor of the patent right. In the case of a sole licence agreement, the licensee may file complaints independently, and in the case of an exclusive licence agreement, the licensee may file complaints independently upon approval by the patent holder. In the case of a simple licence agreement, the licensee may not file complaints independently unless otherwise agreed in the agreement.

6.The complainant who discovers a potential serious patent infringement in the exhibits, promotional items and other displays in the exhibition venue may file a written complaint to the IPR Office.

7. For any serious alleged patent infringement which has been dealt with in previous exhibitions and recurring in this exhibition, the complainant shall also produce valid documents concerning the settlement of such infringement dispute obtained after the previous exhibitions, such as a court verdict, an administrative decision, a mediation agreement and reconciliation agreement, otherwise, the IPR Office may refuse to accept any repeated complaint.

8. The IPR Office may reject any patent infringement complaint or claim in any of the following situations:

• (1) The complainant or claimant has already instituted a patent infringement suit with the people’s court of competent jurisdiction.
• (2) A request for invalidation of the patent involved is currently being processed.
• (3) A dispute exists on the patent involved, and a hearing by the people’s court or a mediation process of the patent administration authority is currently pending.
• (4) The patent involved has expired and the patent holder is currently applying for restoration of patent rights.

9.The complainant shall agree to bear any expenses incurred as a result of the complaint filed with the IPR Office, and request made to the IPR Office for actions taken against the alleged infringing party. Additionally, the complainant shall compensate for economic loss, if any, caused to various parties due to its unjustified complaint.

IV. Complaint handling procedure

10.The complainant shall complete the IPR Infringement Dispute Complaint Form indicating the facts and reasons of the complaint, and provide attaching photos of the infringing products that are on display, and provide the following documents in duplicate:

• ①A valid document proving the identity of the complainant. In case an agent is appointed for filing an IPR complaint, the complainant shall also provide a power of attorney made for that purpose. In case the complainant is an interested party, it shall provide a proof indicating its identity as the legal successor of the patent right or a copy of the relevant patent licence agreement. If the complainant is a foreigner, foreign company or other foreign organisation, the documents should be notarized and apostilled (herein referred to as the Company Registration Certificate if the complainant is a company, or a personal identification document if the complainant is a person) In case an agent has been appointed, the power of attorney should be notarized and apostilled. In case the complainant is from Hong Kong SAR, Macao SAR, or Taiwan Province, the documents provided by the complainant shall be notarised, and if an agent is appointed to act for the complainant, the relevant power of attorney shall also be notarised.
• ②The patent publication document embodying the patent right claimed by the complainant.
• ③The patent certificate and the duplicate of the patent register embodying the patent right claimed by the complainant or the receipt issued by the China National Intellectual Property Administration indicating the most recent payment of the annual patent fee by the complainant.

11.Upon examination of the above-mentioned documents, the IPR Office shall forward one of the two copies to the alleged infringer, who shall be required to provide a written reply to the IPR Office within one day from receipt of the said documents.

12.The alleged infringer may, after being informed of the alleged infringement, has one opportunity to submit valid evidence proving non-infringement and the defence to the IPR Office unless it is due to special circumstances. After submission, the alleged infringer is not allowed to change the proof or the defence. In case the alleged infringer fails to respond or provide evidence within the specified period (see clause 11), and should the IPR Office decide that a serious patent infringement has occurred, the IPR Office shall have the right to suspend the display of the infringing exhibits.

13.The alleged infringer may resume display upon producing valid evidence showing non-infringement to the IPR Office during the exhibition period.

14.In case the infringing exhibits have been found constituting an infringement through a decision rendered by the people’s court or a competent patent administration authority, which has become effective, the IPR Office shall have the right to stop the display of such exhibits.

15. To maintain the normal order of exhibition, during the period from when the IPR Office has decided and the alleged infringer accepts such decision until the end of the Exhibition, the complainant shall not take further legal action against the alleged infringer in the exhibition venue.

V. Penalty provisions

16.For any alleged patent infringement found in the exhibition venue, the complainant shall file a complaint with the IPR Office. The Organiser shall have right to prohibit the entry or evict an exhibitor or non-exhibitor party who has approached the alleged infringer directly without the intervention of the IPR Office, causing a dispute in the venue and affecting the order of the exhibition.

17.The Organiser may revoke the permit issued to an exhibitor who is suspected of infringement and refuses to cooperate with the IPR Office, and may cancel the exhibitor’s qualification for participating in the next Exhibition.

18.An exhibitor who is suspected of patent infringement shall be solely responsible for the economic losses arising from the prohibition of exhibition or other actions taken by the competent patent administration authority.

19.Exhibitors shall strictly abide by the Complaint Procedures and rules of the IPR Office. It is strictly prohibited to bring out the documents and materials of the IPR Office without permission, and audio and video recordings are prohibited when the complaint and defence are filed and handled. If there is any violation, the Organiser have the right to refuse to accept the complaint or defence.

VI. Miscellaneous

20.Any disputes involving alleged copyright and trademark rights infringement shall be settled according to the above Articles 4-19.

Dated 26 July, 2024/ipr
The Organiser of ITMA Asia + CITME 2024 reserves the right to update this document.