On Wednesday China opened hotlines in 12 provinces and
municipalities to record complaints on intellectual property rights
(IPR) infringements. This is latest in a series of government
initiatives to enhance IPR protection.
The 12 locations include Beijing, Heilongjiang, Gansu and Jiangsu. By the end of the year other parts of
the country will also have hotlines and all will use the same
telephone number--12312, according to an official with the State
Office of Intellectual Property Protection.
"As IPR protection involves many departments it often confuses
people as to whom they should turn to," said Liu Zhengang, head of
the Beijing municipal office of intellectual property protection at
the inauguration of the 12312 hotline in the city.
"The hotline will make things simpler," he said.
IPR complaint centers would verify the authenticity of
information gained through the hotlines, sort out the cases and
convey them to relevant departments, he added. These departments
were responsible for handling the cases and reporting results back
to the complaint centers.
The complaint centers would produce written reports on the
handling of cases and submit them to higher authorities, explained
Liu.
(Xinhua News Agency June 29, 2006)