Society

Guangdong to step up campaign to protect IPR

By Qiu Quanlin (China Daily)
Updated: 2011-04-09 08:43

GUANGZHOU - Authorities in the southern province of Guangdong have vowed to take further efforts to crack down on violations of intellectual property rights (IPR) and the production and distribution of fake and shoddy products.

As of March 31, local IPR and commercial and industrial authorities had dealt with 7,943 such cases, involving 195 million yuan ($29.8 million) worth of goods, since a nationwide campaign was launched in October.

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"Further efforts will be made to crack down on IPR violations in some key Pearl River Delta cities, which have developed into booming industries," Jiang Haiyan, deputy secretary-general of Guangdong provincial government, said at a news conference on Friday.

The nationwide campaign targets pirated publications, software products, DVDs, designs and other products involving IPR. It also goes after violations of registered trademarks and patents at both the production and distribution levels.

The campaign increases China's vigilance against the import and export of fake goods and metes out stern punishment to businesses involved such activity.

Guangdong is one of the 14 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions targeted in the campaign, given its booming development in trade and manufacturing industries.

Most of the cases of IPR violations and production and distribution of fake goods, involving producers of fake tobacco goods and shoddy leather and garment knockoffs of items by brands such as Louis Vuitton and Calvin Klein, according to Ma Xianmin, deputy director of the Guangdong Intellectual Property Office.

Courts in Guangdong have also dealt with 378 such cases, criminally prosecuting 453 people, Ma said.

"We have attached special importance to cracking down on fake and shoddy goods exported to Africa, which has established an ever-growing trade relationship with Guangdong," Ma said.

Internet piracy and the sale of pirated and fake goods via the Internet are also targeted, according to Ma.

Authorities in Guangdong have scheduled a series of events to promote the protection of IPR in the next two months, including an IPR protection week and a public burning of fake and shoddy products on April 15.

The nationwide campaign, which lasts until June, has had clear successes, rooting out many cases of IPR violation, sources with the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine said.

For example, eight food processing factories in Shanghai have been destroyed because they were operating without official production licenses, the authority said.

In Yunnan province, local authorities have dealt with some 824 cases of violation of IPR and the production and distribution of fake goods worth 20 million yuan.