Fair goes out of its way to protect intellectual property rights

Online-offline model making complaints processing easier 

Using an "online plus offline" complaints handling process, the ongoing Canton Fair has been able to provided effective protection for enterprises' intellectual property rights.

According to organizers, the digital fair built an online platform for settling IP complaints from scratch. Registered users can submit complaints online, withdraw applications and review the progress reports on how their cases are being handled. 

In addition, an IP protection team was set up offline, consisting of authorities and experts in patents, trademarks and copyrights. They have worked on providing professional and accurate judgments so as to ensure the fair handling of IP complaints, said the fair's organizers.  

To prevent infringements, the fair published guidance online for businesses participating in the event. Organizers also called upon trade delegations from provinces and cities to conduct self-examinations of their exhibits before the fair. 

While the event was held online for the first time, organizers still placed much attention on IPR protection, said Liu Junqiang, vice-general-manager of the Xi'an Yuanfar International Trade.

"The online platform offers reliable protection to enterprises' interests," Liu added.

Among exhibitors at the fair is Beijing Beixiong Technology, a glassware manufacturer which is displaying around 200 proprietary products.

Businesses must respect others' IPR and defend their own interests, said Dai Hong, general-manager of the company.

"While encouraging new ideas and innovation, we must avoid plagiarism and piracy," he added.

Dai said that the fair has attached great importance to the protection of IPR.

"We welcome the measures taken by the fair to crack down on IP infringement," Dai said. "Our company was one of the victims whose designs and products were plagiarized before," he added.

Dai expressed his hope that the government would roll out more supportive policies to ensure enterprises' IPR can be protected especially when they face related disputes and difficulties.