In 2002, the commercial industry standard "Classification and Evaluation of Professional Exhibitions" approved by the State Economic and Trade Commission was issued and implemented on March 1 2003.
At the CEPA meeting in 2003, China and Hong Kong and Macao signed "allowing Hong Kong companies to provide exhibition services in the Mainland in the form of sole proprietorship".
On June 5438+1October 65438+February, 2004, the first ministerial meeting of the Ministry of Commerce of People's Republic of China (PRC) and People's Republic of China (PRC) deliberated and passed the Interim Provisions on the Establishment of Foreign-invested Conference and Exhibition Companies, which came into effect one month later.
In 2005, the exhibition intellectual property protection policy was promulgated and relevant opinions were sought.
In 2006, the Interpretation of Provisions on the Protection of Intellectual Property Rights in Exhibitions was promulgated. ……
Generally speaking, the history of China's convention and exhibition industry is relatively short, still in the initial stage of development, and in the period of exploration and experience accumulation. These "new policies", which once made the industry overjoyed and sensational, have been implemented steadily after several years of development. However, there are also some problems that cannot be ignored and need to be solved urgently.
In 2005, it was the Ministry of Commerce that "cancelled the examination and approval of the qualification of China's exhibition organizers"; The China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, together with the Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Public Security and the General Administration of Customs, issued a document on further strengthening the examination and approval management of overseas exhibitions in the third year. The promulgation of the two "clauses" and the presence of a large number of foreign-funded enterprises have attracted people in the industry to exclaim that "the wolf is coming", which makes our enterprises face the policy and ask: Do we defend or join hands with domestic and foreign enterprises?
This is an important topic for China's convention and exhibition industry to adapt to WTO rules and seek development under the background of international economic integration. It is an unavoidable fact that China's convention and exhibition industry is still a "naive industry" with low degree of industrial organization and weak international competitiveness. There are many reasons for this situation, such as the relatively backward reform of the convention and exhibition industry, the relationship between government and enterprises in the convention and exhibition industry has not been straightened out, the policy supply is seriously lagging behind, the exhibitors are mixed, and the development of industry self-regulatory organizations is lagging behind. These problems are caused by historical reasons and cannot be completely solved in a short time. However, China has joined WTO, and it is an inevitable trend to open its market to foreign convention and exhibition industry. Therefore, coordinating the relationship between national convention and exhibition industry and international convention and exhibition industry is also a problem that must be seriously considered in policy formulation.
From the industry point of view, the convention and exhibition industry is a rapidly developing emerging industry in recent years. In the past, many large-scale exhibitions were government actions. There are too many exhibitions held in the name of the government, especially some large-scale exhibitions planned by the government, which not only reflects the strong demand of local governments in this regard, but also reflects that the industrialization and marketization of exhibitions are not enough to meet the requirements of China's rapid economic and social development.
At present, there is no unified exhibition management department and industry self-discipline organization in China. The current exhibition management has led to many exhibitions and repeated exhibitions. Many national and local departments have the right to approve and hold exhibitions, which leads to confusion in exhibition management. Eating "policy meals" depends on government departments to examine and approve tasks and financial subsidies. This system must be changed. Exhibition companies must be registered in accordance with the law, must go to the market, take the road of industrial development, and grow and develop through market competition. As a fully competitive industry, the state-owned economy should gradually withdraw from the industry and form a competitive pattern of enterprises with various ownership systems. Strengthen the macro-control of the government and improve the "rules of the game" of the exhibition economy. The key point is to formulate and improve relevant laws and regulations as soon as possible, and clarify the market access mechanism and the qualifications of the organizers of the exhibition. Market-oriented and dynamic evaluation and certification of exhibition quality and exhibition enterprise qualifications will be carried out, and the examination and approval system will gradually transition to the standard system and registration system, so that the exhibition industry will have "laws" to follow and "chapters" to follow.
In addition, from the analysis of different levels and industrial chains of the convention and exhibition industry, there are some intellectual property problems in all aspects of the domestic convention and exhibition industry. How to effectively solve these problems has become the key to improve the overall level of intellectual property rights of exhibitions in China. Since 2005, intellectual property disputes related to exhibitions have been full of twists and turns. I believe no one will forget the embarrassing scene that 1 19 China Company was demolished at the Glasgow Crop Science and Technology Exhibition in early October 2005 because of being accused of patent infringement. In the same year1October 30th 10, Bing Xu, deputy secretary-general and spokesperson of the canton fair, announced that 454 enterprises were found to be suspected of patent infringement in the 98th canton fair. Experts in the exhibition industry pointed out that many enterprises in China still lack the protection and understanding of intellectual property rights.
Regarding the intellectual property protection of exhibitions, the current reality is that there is no unified exhibition industry association organization in China. However, some local exhibition industry associations have been established one after another, and some associations have begun to pay attention to the protection of intellectual property rights in the exhibition industry. However, there are many problems that need to be clarified and worth discussing about the intellectual property protection of convention and exhibition industry, whether it is the basis, scope or means of management. In the face of international competition, China enterprises must enhance their awareness of self-protection, improve their ability of independent innovation and avoid infringing on the legitimate rights and interests of others. In terms of policy, it is not enough for the whole country to have only one "Blue Sky Action". Our enterprises should also put "intellectual property protection" on the agenda of law and enterprise self-discipline.
Infringement of intellectual property rights in exhibitions
1. Exhibition infringement
Exhibitions with exactly the same positioning, content, market and title flooded the whole country. As long as an exhibition is well run, without analyzing the economic base, regional market and purchasing power, and how others invest manpower and material resources to run the exhibition well, it will blindly follow the trend, leading to too many similar exhibitions, good exhibitions will be diverted, and poor exhibitions will be complained and disorderly competition will occur. The price competition makes exhibitors and spectators at a loss, resulting in the so-called "exhibition bubble".
2. Evidence infringement
No matter in domestic exhibitions in China or in various exhibitions abroad, there are acts of China exhibitors infringing and damaging other people's product patents. Either show off other people's patented products, or plagiarize the results and be complained on the spot.
The intellectual property disputes that may be involved in the exhibition are mostly in patents and trademarks. Their common feature is exclusivity. Both patents and trademarks are obtained through legal procedures and are protected by law, and the owner enjoys exclusive rights. Without the permission of the obligee, no one may use, produce, sell or import or export patented products and products using the same trademark for the purpose of production and operation, otherwise it will constitute infringement and be punished by law.
3. Software infringement
Pirated software was used in the exhibition held in China. It is manifested in the use of pirated software in computers for demonstration purposes, the use of pirated software in exhibits themselves and the sale of pirated CDs.
For the above problems, according to the current laws and regulations in China, it is difficult for administrative organs to directly and effectively handle all kinds of intellectual property disputes during the exhibition according to their functions and powers. One of the important reasons is that the duration of the exhibition is usually only a few days, and the general administrative handling and administrative investigation procedures can not adapt. As an important growth point of China's economy, the convention and exhibition industry has gained great vitality, but all kinds of intellectual property disputes arising during this period will seriously affect the healthy development of the industry if they are not properly handled.