Filing an IP Complaint at the 140th Canton Fair from Abroad: Legalized Documents, a Signed and Sealed Chinese Translation, and the Agent Badge

Checked on 5 October 2026. We are an interpreting and translation company in Guangzhou (Guangzhou Guanri Translation Service Co., Ltd.). We are not a law firm, not an IP agency, and not the Canton Fair organiser. The service this article points to — a certified Chinese translation of your documents — is one we sell. This is not legal advice. Every rule and number below comes from the organiser's own documents or from China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs; none comes from our own data.

The 140th Canton Fair runs in three phases: 15–19 October, 23–27 October and 31 October – 4 November 2026. If you find a product on a booth that you believe infringes your patent, trademark or copyright, the Fair has its own Complaint Station for IPR and Trade Disputes inside the halls. It can have an allegedly infringing product taken off display within the phase. But a complainant from abroad meets three requirements long before the station looks at the booth. The identity and ownership documents must be notarized and legalized at home, or go through the treaty route. Foreign-language materials need a Chinese translation signed by the translator and bearing a translation agency's official seal. And whoever files in the halls needs the right badge. This article covers those three in the organiser's own words, and points out where the text stops.

1. Which line is yours

2. The rule on foreign documents, in the organiser's own words

The organiser publishes three short procedures for offline complaints — patent, trademark and copyright. Item 7 of the document list is the one that matters to a complainant from abroad. In the patent and trademark procedures it reads as follows. It is one list item with no full stop; the copyright procedure uses a comma, not a semicolon, before the translation clause.

7.投诉人为外国人的，需提交经其所在国相关政府机构公证，并经我国驻该国使领馆认证，或者履行我国与该国订立有关条约中规定证明手续的身份证明文件及其权属关系的证明文件；材料是外文的需附有中文译本，中文译本应由翻译人员签名并加盖翻译机构公章；投诉人为香港、澳门、台湾地区居民的，身份证明文件及其权属关系的证明文件按司法部等部门有关规定办理；

The organiser's own English of the same item is three sentences:

7. Foreign appellant shall provide identity documents that are notarized by relevant government agencies in their country and authenticated by the Chinese embassy or consulate in that country or has undergone the legalization formalities prescribed in the relevant treaty concluded by China and that country, along with their IPR ownership certificates. Materials in a foreign language must be with Chinese translation, and the Chinese translation must be signed by the translator and with the official seal of translation agency. Appellants from Hong Kong SAR, Macao SAR and Taiwan Province shall submit relevant notary documents.

Three things in it. First, the notarization and legalization attach to two kinds of document, your identity documents and your ownership documents, and the notarization is done in your own country. Second, the translation rule is wider: its sentence opens "Materials in a foreign language", not only those two kinds. Third, the two texts differ on Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan. The Chinese sends those complainants to "the relevant provisions of the Ministry of Justice and other departments" (our working translation); the English says "relevant notary documents". The Chinese is the more specific of the two, which is why the Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan row in §1 sends you to ask.

Two more conditions sit in the same procedure. The complainant conditions (item 2 in the patent and copyright procedures, item 3 in the trademark one) require the right holder filing in person, or the agent, to hold a "valid Canton Fair badge". And the Chinese and English differ slightly on originals. The Chinese says originals are checked on site where originals are required; the English says "originals mentioned above shall be brought to the site for verification". Bring them.

The organiser's 140th-session FAQ, which we found only in Chinese, lists three kinds of material to submit. The first is the one that can end a trip before it starts (quoted in full; it is one list item):

（1）在中国境内注册登记的知识产权权属证明文件；

Our working translation: "(1) documents proving ownership of an IP right registered within China;". For trademarks the procedure goes one step further. In the organiser's English, "Foreigners or foreigner enterprises without any habitual residence or business office that tend to complain about trademark shall authorize the legal trademark agency to complain." For copyright, the document asked for is the "Voluntary registration certificate and the original copy of the works".

Two clauses of the organiser's Complaint and Settlement Provisions for Suspected Intellectual Property Infringement in the Canton Fair (2017 revision) are about you, not the exhibitor. Article 7, in its own English: a complainant "should agree to pay the relevant departments of Canton Fair for expenses incurred by the handling of the complaint, and indemnify the respondent against any loss in case of improper complaint." Article 8: "Those who negotiates with the infringing party directly and disturbs the order in the exhibition hall rather than make complaints to the Complaint Station shall be settled with violating the on-site order." Do not take the matter to the booth yourself, or send anyone else to.

3. Apostille or consular legalization: what the organiser's text does and does not say

China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that the Apostille Convention took effect for China on 7 November 2023. Its notice says this about documents coming into China (one sentence, quoted; our working translation follows):

其他缔约国公文书送中国内地使用，只需办理该国附加证明书，无需办理该国和中国驻当地使领馆的领事认证。

Our working translation: "public documents of other contracting states used in mainland China need only that state's apostille, without consular legalization by that state and by the Chinese embassy or consulate there."

The organiser's text does not name the apostille. It names notarization plus authentication by the Chinese embassy or consulate, "or" the formalities "prescribed in the relevant treaty concluded by China and that country". Whether an apostille satisfies that clause for your country and for each of your documents, the text does not say. That is the station's decision, not ours. Settle two things before you fly. First, check whether your country is a contracting state; the ministry's notice attaches a list dated 23 October 2023, so check that it is still current. Second, check whether each document you will use is a public document — the ministry's notice speaks of 公文书, public documents — or needs a notary first. Your notary can answer the second. If either answer is unclear, ask the station in writing at ipcomplain@cantonfair.org.cn. None of this section applies to complainants from Hong Kong, Macao or Taiwan; see §2.

An apostille or a legalization stamp certifies where a document came from. It does not translate the document, and it is not the translation item 7 asks for. Our own FAQ says the same about our work: the apostille or consular stamp is issued by the government authority, not by us.

4. The translation: what the rule covers, and what it leaves open

The agent-badge notice repeats the translation rule in its own words. In Chinese it is one sentence:

材料是外文的应当附有中文译本，中文译本应由翻译人员签名并加盖翻译机构公章。

The organiser's English of that sentence:

If the documents are in a foreign language, a Chinese translation signed by the translator and affixed with the seal of the translation agency must be provided.

That English says "the seal of the translation agency"; the Chinese says 公章, the agency's official seal, and the procedure's English in §2 keeps "official seal". The instruction is the same in all three: the translation is signed by the translator and carries the translation agency's official seal.

What the rule does not say. It does not say the translation agency must be in China. It does not say whether the notarial certificate, or the apostille or legalization page, must itself be translated; it speaks of "Materials in a foreign language". It does not ask for the translation to be notarized. We are not going to fill those gaps. If you want certainty, send the station the list of what you plan to upload and ask, in writing, before you translate.

A suggestion on order, which is ours and not the organiser's: translate the bundle in the form you will submit, after notarization and the apostille or legalization, not before. That way the translation matches the pages that are checked against the originals.

We are a translation company, and this is a service we sell. Our FAQ says our certified translations carry the translation company's official seal, and that for court-admissible translations we provide signed translator declarations. Item 7 asks for the translation itself to be signed by the translator and to carry the agency's official seal. When you write, say that the use is a Canton Fair IP complaint and quote that line, and we will confirm what will be on your translation before we start. Whether the station accepts a given translation is the station's decision. We do not file complaints, we do not handle notarization or legalization abroad, and we do not advise on whether you have a case.

5. If a law firm or IP agency files for you: the agent badge

The organiser's page 投诉代理人证件申请 (complaint agent badge application), published on 16 September 2026 for this session, has four points. It links the notice; it gives the application link; it gives an address for collecting the badge; and it adds this (Chinese only; one item):

4.特别注意：请于进馆日前至少2日提交投诉代理人证件办理申请。

Our working translation: "Special attention: please submit the complaint agent badge application at least 2 days before the day of entry." By our count, for entry on 15 October that is 13 October — eight days from the date at the top of this article — and 21 October and 29 October for the first days of the second and third phases. The page gives no worked example of the count, and no approval time, so do not leave it to the last day. The application itself uploads the complainant's identity documents, ownership certificate and power of attorney. Everything in §2 to §4 — notarization, legalization or the treaty route, and translation — has to be finished before the firm can apply.

The notice it links has no date on its face. Its file properties say it was created on 3 April 2024, and the organiser's English translation of it is dated 24 September 2024 and states that "the Chinese text shall prevail". It is the version the organiser links for this session. What it says:

• Who. Practising professionals of IP agencies and law firms, authorised by a rights holder or a party to a trade dispute, to file complaints during the offline sessions. A party filing directly without an agent is outside the notice.
• Badge names. "Business (IPR)" and "Business (Trade Dispute)".
• What the agent uploads. Nine items: the agent's ID (colour copy); an ID photo on a blue or white background; the complainant's ID document; the complainant's IPR certificate, or a contract signed at the Canton Fair; proof of licensee or heir; the power of attorney issued by the complainant; the agency's identity document; the agency's introduction letter; and the agent's professional qualification document. The notarization, legalization and translation rules in §2 and §4 apply to these too.
• Quota. Only the agent named in the power of attorney. If the power of attorney names only the firm, at most two of its practising staff per authorisation. Each firm is capped at 60 person-days of badges per session, and an approved application uses up quota "regardless of whether the badge is actually produced or paid for".
• Fee. In the organiser's English: "Each badge requires a production fee of RMB 50, plus a service fee of RMB 300 per person per day."
• Collection. The agent brings the application receipt bearing the firm's seal, plus original ID, to pay for and collect the badge. The validity period printed on the receipt "cannot be modified on-site", so choose the days when you apply.
• One badge per person. In the organiser's English: "Each individual can hold only one type of Canton Fair badge. Any existing badge will be invalidated if another is issued." The station will not accept complaints filed by agents holding any other type of badge.
• Questions. tsz@cantonfair.org.cn.

Two loose ends that the documents leave to you. The application link: the notice gives exhibitor.cantonfair.org.cn/#/complaintAgentLogin, while the 2026 page gives badge.cantonfair.org.cn/dombadge/badgeApply/complaintAgentApply/list; if the one you try does not work, ask tsz@cantonfair.org.cn. The collection point: the 2026 page says Hall 16.1 in Area C (the Fair's staff badge desk). The organiser's 140th-session badge notice of 22 September 2026 lists the two business badges (商事贸易纠纷 and 商事知识产权) at the badge centre in a temporary shed west of Gate 11, Area C, from 4 October to 4 November, closed on the first day of each phase. The 2024 notice says the designated counter at the Registration Center. We are not going to pick one for you. Ask tsz@cantonfair.org.cn in writing. Whatever the answer, do not plan on collecting at the Gate 11 shed on 15, 23 or 31 October.

This badge is for staff of IP agencies and law firms. We are neither, so we cannot be your filing agent and we do not offer to.

6. The calendar: when the station takes complaints

For this session the station has points in Areas A, B, C and D, each taking complaints about its own area; the C and D points take IP complaints only. The 140th-session guide, which we found only in Chinese, sets a cut-off (one sentence):

因线下被投诉企业需有24小时抗辩时间，每届展会每期倒数第二天16:00之后原则上不受理新的知识产权线下投诉。

Our working translation: "Because an exhibitor facing an offline complaint must be given 24 hours to respond, new offline IP complaints are in principle not accepted after 16:00 on the second-to-last day of each phase." For this session that is 18 October, 26 October and 3 November.

The agent notice explains why the timing is tight. In the organiser's English (point VIII(III), two of its three sentences):

The Complaint Station only handles on-site complaints during the Canton Fair's opening period. Each complaint requires at least one working day for on-site investigation before a preliminary decision can be made, and further procedures such as rebuttal or appeal may follow.

And from the 2017 provisions and the procedures, in the organiser's English or our summary of it:

• The station "shall not accept the complaints in forms of telephone, e-mail or others" — you file in the system and appear with originals.
• An exhibitor that disagrees with the outcome has one working day to bring further evidence.
• For a complaint about a product's internal structure or a manufacturing method, the station can ask for further proof. It may decline patent complaints about large machinery, the internal structure of precision instruments or manufacturing methods that are hard to judge on site.
• The station generally does not accept a repeat complaint by the same complainant on the same right against the same exhibitor. If the station handled the case at an earlier session, you need an effective administrative decision, court judgment or arbitral award obtained after that session closed (Article 12, which has exceptions).
• A complaint is withdrawn in writing, within the same phase.

7. If it has already gone wrong

• Your documents were not notarized or legalized. The procedure names notarization in your own country, and the agent notice names the country where a document was formed. Whether the station will accept anything else is its decision. Ask it before you fly. Until 14 October the IP enquiry line is 4000-888-999 / (008620)89138313; from 15 October it is 4000-888-999 / (008620)89061306. The 4000 number is listed as a domestic line in the guide, so call the (008620) number from abroad. The email is ipcomplain@cantonfair.org.cn throughout.
• Your translation has no translator's signature or no agency seal. Get one that has both. We can do it. Send us the pages and your deadline, and we will tell you whether we can meet it — that answer is per job, and we will not guess it in an article.
• Your agent already holds another Canton Fair badge. The station will not take complaints filed by an agent holding any other badge type, and issuing a new badge cancels the old one. The badge is also limited to the agent named in the power of attorney. Whether that person can switch, or the firm can name someone else, is for tsz@cantonfair.org.cn to answer.
• You missed 16:00 on the second-to-last day. New offline IP complaints for that phase are, in principle, closed. Whether anything can still be done is the station's call.
• The product is shown online. The organiser's FAQ describes an online complaint route through the complaint system on its website for content on its online platform; it has its own conditions, which this article does not cover.
• The station declines the complaint. Any other route — administrative or court — is a legal question. Instruct a lawyer; we do not give legal advice.
• It is a trade dispute. During the Fair the email is tradesdispute@cantonfair.org.cn. The organiser's Chinese page, dated for this session, gives the phone line as (8620)89-061-309; its English page, dated earlier, gives 4000-888-999 / (008620) 89-061-307. If in doubt, use the email, which is the same on both.

8. What we sell, and what we do not

Certified Chinese translation of the documents in §2 to §5. Tell us the use, the deadline, and that item 7 asks for the translator's signature and the agency's official seal, as in §4.

Interpreters are not part of a complaint. Article 8 in §2 penalises taking the matter up with the exhibitor yourself, and the agent notice lets the Fair cancel the badge of anyone using another badge type for investigation or complaints. Do not use an interpreter, ours or anyone's, to look into booths or to talk to an exhibitor about your right. If you are also at the Fair as an overseas buyer, an interpreter for your buying needs the accompanying-personnel badge. Only you, the buyer, can apply for it, at least 2 calendar days ahead; the rules are in our badge article. Our Guangzhou interpreters for that are listed in the interpreter directory.

What we do not do. We do not file complaints, we cannot hold the agent badge, we do not obtain notarization, apostilles or legalization abroad, and we do not tell you whether an exhibitor is infringing. We do not give legal advice. If you need it, instruct a lawyer or an IP agency.

To reach us: WhatsApp +86 139 2416 6640, or WeChat (ID Saralee93), or our contact page. If it is about a translation, say so in the first line and give the deadline.

For the wider difference between certified and notarized translation, see our explainer; for apostille versus three-step legalization, see this one.

9. Sources and dates

• 投诉代理人证件申请 (complaint agent badge application), published 16 September 2026 — the four points, including the at-least-2-days rule and the Hall 16.1 address: Canton Fair website. We found no official English version of this page.
• 关于广交会知识产权和贸易纠纷投诉代理人证件办理有关事宜的通告, the notice linked from that page: PDF, undated on its face, file created 3 April 2024; and the organiser's English, Notice on Badge Application Affairs for Agents Handling IPR and Trade Dispute Complaints at Canton Fair, dated 24 September 2024: Canton Fair website.
• 广交会知识产权线下投诉、处理流程 (patent, trademark and copyright procedures): the Chinese PDF, linked from the organiser's Chinese offline-complaints page published on 16 September 2026, and the organiser's English PDF, linked from its English page (first published 7 April 2024, last updated 20 October 2025); both files were created in June 2025.
• Complaint and Settlement Provisions for Suspected Intellectual Property Infringement in the Canton Fair (2017 revision) — Articles 7, 8, 9, 11, 12 and 20: the organiser's Chinese PDF and English PDF, linked from the same two pages respectively.
• 第140届广交会知识产权和贸易纠纷投诉处理指引 (140th-session IP and trade dispute guide), 16 September 2026: Canton Fair website. We found no official English version.
• 第140届广交会知识产权投诉常见问题解答 (140th-session IP complaint FAQ), 16 September 2026, including both enquiry lines and ipcomplain@cantonfair.org.cn: Canton Fair website. We found no official English version.
• 第140届广交会参展、服务单位办证工作通告 (140th-session badge notice), dated 22 September 2026 — the Gate 11 shed and its dates: Canton Fair website.
• The Fair's customer service channel in §1 (info@cantonfair.org.cn, (0086) 20-28888999) as printed in its 140th-session accompanying-personnel notice of 28 September 2026, which is also the source of the 2-calendar-day rule in §8: Canton Fair website.
• Trade dispute contacts: the organiser's Chinese page (16 September 2026) and English page (2022, last updated 25 September 2025).
• Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 《取消外国公文书认证要求的公约》将于2023年11月7日在中国生效实施: mfa.gov.cn.
• Our own FAQ, read on 5 October 2026: translationchina.com/m/en/faq/.

All Canton Fair pages were retrieved on 5 October 2026. "We found no official English version" means we asked the site's own content interface for the same id with an EN suffix and got nothing back. Rules can change during a session. Check the organiser's own pages before you rely on any of this.