ORLANDO — 2025 marks the thirteenth year of IAAPA’s Intellectual Property (IP) Program. Established in 2012, the program was created in response to growing concerns from IAAPA members about the risks associated with copied designs and products in the attractions industry. IAAPA responded by developing an initiative aimed at promoting lawful practices and encouraging fair competition across the global industry.
Thirteen years later, IAAPA’s IP team has resolved more than 250 IP disputes worldwide. In addition, they’ve facilitated countless meetings with members and IP professionals to provide strategic guidance on protecting their products and services.
The program is built on a three-tiered foundation:
- A formal IP Policy – A binding element of the IAAPA Expo Rules, including clearly defined penalties for non-compliance.
- Mediation and enforcement – Supporting the resolution of disputes and upholding the policy.
- Education and outreach – Providing members with critical information about global IP rights, regulations, and protections.
Each of these components plays a vital role in reducing conflict, supporting innovation and promoting ethical business practices across IAAPA’s global membership.
The IP Policy
The foundation for IAAPA’s IP Program is the IP Policy, which applies to all IAAPA members and exhibitors. The IP Policy requires companies to ensure they have the appropriate ownership or licensed IP rights to display and promote their products and services. Essentially, this means that before companies promote their products or services at an IAAPA Expo, or in any IAAPA produced content, they should confirm that the company either owns the IP rights in the product or service or that it otherwise did not copy or incorporate any third party’s product or service in an attraction. The IP Policy also provides that IAAPA may step in and mediate disputes between members and remove content from IAAPA branded materials that it deems to be displayed in violation of the IP Policy and Expo Rules. IAAPA has retained the services of an IP mediator at each of its Expos to assist with this process. Repetitive violations of the IP Policy may lead to sanctions, which are outlined in the IP Policy.
Mediation and Enforcement
At the Expos, IAAPA provides exhibitors with the services of an IP Mediator, who reviews the complaint, considers the relevant IP rights owned or licensed by the complaining and responding parties, and gathers any other information that may be relevant to the analysis, such as the cooperation of the parties, the disruption to fair business dealings on the Expo floor, and whether the issue is one that each party has previously been warned about. All these factors will be relevant to the IP team’s management of the complaint. In some cases, the IP team will remove content, posters, brochures or catalogs from display. In others, attractions may be removed or covered up.
After the Expo, IAAPA’s team will issue sanctions to those parties who have had multiple complaints. The potential sanctions range from monetary penalties to bans from Expos or loss of seniority. IAAPA also keeps files on all the IP Complaints, so that it can continue to monitor compliance each year and keep tabs on companies that have multiple complaints.
Education
One of the hallmarks of the IP Program is the educational component. The IP team takes the time to meet with all exhibitors to explain what rights are potentially at issue, the applicable laws, as well as any contractual considerations or protections. The goal of the IP Program is to educate the industry on ways that the legal system can help minimize the risk of copying or unfair competition. Over the years, the IP team has given webinars, presentations, and had a multitude of one-on-one meetings with exhibitors and their attorneys to provide strategies for ensuring their products are protected when exhibiting at an IAAPA Expo.
Over the past thirteen years, IAAPA has consistently encouraged exhibitors to take proactive steps to protect their products and services. This includes consulting with legal experts or intellectual property specialists within their respective jurisdictions to help mitigate the risks associated with potential IP complaints.
When developing a protection strategy, exhibitors should carefully consider all applicable tools — such as trademarks, copyrights, design and utility patents, contracts, and laws related to unfair competition. Taking these precautions in advance can help minimize unexpected issues and reduce the negative impact of an IP-related complaint during an Expo.
