An aerial view of the 10th China Flower Expo site on Shanghai's Chongming Island. [Photo/China Daily]

The cornucopia of wonderful flower and garden designs – created by international masters at the recently concluded 10th China Flower Expo in East China's Shanghai – reportedly offered visitors a feast for the eyes and enthralled them with their creativity.

The expo, which ran from May 21 to July 2 on Shanghai's Chongming Island, was one of the largest and most influential national flower events in China. With a total planning area of 10 square kilometers, it attracted 189 exhibitors this year, the most in its history.

Another important facet of the expo this year was the intellectual property protection being offered for the trademarks, geographical indications, as well as for the new varieties of plants on display.

During the 1,140-day preparations period, the Shanghai Intellectual Property Administration, or SIPA, and the Chongming district IP administration rolled out a few documents on IP protection and services for the expo.

Under them, SIPA issued a work plan which strengthened the protection of registered trademarks, geographical indications, patents and other IP rights and severely cracked down on all kinds of violations of IPR.

After the opening of the expo, the IPR protection continued to be strengthened.

"During the expo, Chongming district inspected 926 business households and 64 commodity markets, dispatched 691 law enforcement officers and carried out inspections of shops, signs, printed matter and media advertisements in the expo venue and surrounding areas," said Xu Bo, deputy director of the Chongming district IP administration.

In addition, the administration joined hands with the district culture, tourism and tobacco monopoly departments to carry out IPR enforcement and inspections focusing on the licensed products at the Flower Expo. These intensified the investigations and punishment of illegal acts such as counterfeiting of trademarks, piracy and infringements and sales of counterfeit products, Xu added.

It is understood that the measures effectively reinforced and consolidated market order during the expo.