The Bureau of Shanghai World Expo Coordination and the First Intermediate People's Court of Shanghai recently jointly convened a workshop on judicial protection during the expo.

As a result, a preliminary judicial protection plan was drawn up. The plan required Pudong New Area People's Court to safeguard the intellectual properties of the World Expo, and courts in Luwan and Huangpu districts located on the west bank of the Huangpu River will deal with complaints from tourists.

Two types of disputes are most likely to happen during the Shanghai World Expo. The first type is intellectual property disputes, such as infringements and disputes arising from the marks and audio-visual works of the World Expo, as well as violations of the right of invention of exhibition items and patent-related disputes; and the second is the violation of the rights and interests of tourists.

Pudong New Area will focus on the protection of the intellectual properties of the exhibition items, and set up a "World Expo Litigation Service Center" to conduct special hearings on cases involving the expo.

The courts in Luwan and Huangpu will open express channels for consumers during the World Expo, and simplify the procedure of lawsuits.

(China Daily 06/01/2009 page9)