Legal issues pertinent to the World Expo

The 2010 Shanghai World Expo, being held from 1 May to 31 October, inevitably brings with it an array of complex legal issues. This article will analyze several of these.

Commercial activities

Article 1 of the Convention Relating to International Exhibitions makes clear that the objective of exhibitions organized by the Bureau International des Expositions, such as the Expo, is “education of the public”. Accordingly, commercial activities are permitted only where necessary, e.g. catering services, and where conducive to cultural exchange.

Commercial operations during the Expo are also subject to many restrictions. Pursuant to the Registration of the Business Activities Engaged in by Official Participants at the Shanghai Expo Administrative Measures, official participants wishing to engage in commercial activities must undergo necessary approval and registration procedures similar to those for regular foreign investments, although there are also some differences:

1. the scope of business is limited solely to “catering”, “sales” and “pavilion construction”, and approval for other business activities is seldom granted;
2. the area on which the business is conducted is restricted to the pavilion of each respective participant, and cannot be expanded;
3. the term of operation does not, in principle, extend beyond the duration of the Expo.

For foreign investors who wish to engage in long-term investment in China, the Expo is perhaps not the ideal point of entry. The relevant authorities should consider adding new rules or amending existing ones so as to further broaden the transitional channels open during the post-Expo period to entities that invested in commercial activities during the Expo. This would encourage the development in the Chinese market of quality business operators.

Protection of consumer rights

Legal disputes relating to the protection of the rights and interests of consumers will be an important legal topic in the Expo.

As a fundamental principle, if an official participant, in the course of its business activities, sells a product or provides a service that infringes the lawful rights and interests of a consumer, it must bear various types of legal liability, including indemnification of losses, in accordance with the law.

Moreover, under the provisions on exhibitions in the PRC Protection of the Rights and Interests of Consumers Law, a consumer who has suffered a tort may, during the Expo, directly make a demand for compensation to the official participant with whom a legal relationship has arisen. After the closing of the Expo, he may also opt to assert his rights against the Expo organizers.

Pursuant to Article 1 of the Special Rules for the Shanghai World Expo No. 1: Definition of the Theme of the World Expo and Guidelines on Reinforcement of the Theme by the Organizers and Participants, the Bureau of Shanghai World Expo Coordination is the organizer of the Expo. If the rights or interests of a consumer are infringed and the claim is made after the Expo has closed, the attendant liability should be borne by the Bureau.

Naturally, pursuant to the PRC Protection of the Rights and Interests of Consumers Law, the Bureau may likewise seek recourse against the business operator that actually committed the infringement.

Personal injury

The Expo will draw more than 70 million visitors from different countries and regions around the world. It is almost unavoidable that some personal injuries will occur.

If, after a dispute arises, it cannot be resolved through consultations, the parties will face the issue of selecting the competent court.

Pursuant to relevant Chinese laws, when a tort occurs in China, Chinese courts can exercise jurisdiction. However, the fact that a Chinese court has jurisdiction does not necessarily preclude jurisdiction over the same case by the court of another country. In recent decades, under the influence of the US doctrine of “arm’s length jurisdiction”, there has been a pronounced trend towards countries expanding the scope of their jurisdiction. As visitors to Expo will come from different countries, personal injury cases may result in parallel lawsuits in different countries and different courts, thereby complicating their resolution.

Intellectual property protection

Traditionally, world Expos have been hotbeds of new technologies and new trends. The question of how to protect rights and interests in intellectual property (IP) during the Expo will not only affect the immediate lawful rights of the participants, but will also indirectly determine Expo’s success, or otherwise, in promoting technical innovation.

The following efforts have been made to protect IP at the Expo:

1. the Shanghai World Expo No. 11 Special Rules: On Intellectual Property cover various rights, including patent rights, trademark rights and copyrights;
2. in consideration of the requirements of Chinese laws, “participation letters” will be provided for inventions, creations and trademarks that appear for the first time at the Expo, thereby enabling them to maintain their novelty for six months from the date of their exhibition. Certificates will also be provided for performances given during the Expo;
3. there will be special arrangements protect IP during the Expo and efforts will be made to facilitate applications for patents, trademarks and copyrights; and
4. the filming and photographing of the exhibitions, forums and performances of the participants are forbidden, so as to help prevent infringements.

All intellectual property cases arising during the Expo and while it is being dismantled will be heard by the IP division of the Shanghai Pudong New Area court (except in cases where an intermediate court has jurisdiction).

Additionally, the IP divisions of Shanghai Municipal courts have all established “dedicated Expo IP case collegiate benches” which will be responsible for trying Expo-related IP cases.

Vincent Mu is an associate at Martin Hu & Partners.

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Vincent Mu
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