Protecting your IP at Trade Fairs

This guide provides an overview of Intellectual Property (IP) protection strategy for EU SMEs specifically on how to be ready before, during and after a trade fair or exhibition in China, South-East Asia, India and Latin-America. Trade fairs provide IP owners with the opportunity to present their innovations and ideas to potential business partners and customers. In addition, participation in exhibitions and trade fairs allows them to learn from and collaborate with other innovators. With the advent of increasingly integrated global-value chains and the continuous drive to innovate, trade fairs have become one of the most important and most efficient instruments for accessing new markets worldwide. From a prevention point of view, although attending a trade fair or exhibition can reap substantial benefits, SMEs should be aware of the possible IP risks that are implied.