Editor's note: The year 2008 carried great weight for promoting and enforcing the IPR system in China.

In addition to marking the 30th anniversary of China's reforms, it was also the inaugural year for the implementation of the national intellectual property rights (IPR) strategy.

The Chinese IPR system reported 828,328 patent applications and 698,000 applications for trademark registration last year.

After China launched its Compendium of the National Intellectual Property Strategy, the State Intellectual Property Office released a White Paper on China's intellectual property protection and public education efforts in 2008.

The White Paper is a summary of last year's report on IPR protection in China and includes eight parts detailing various aspects of intellectual property.

China Business Weekly has published the first seven parts of the White Paper in the past seven issues. Below is the eighth part of the text:

VIII. International cooperation intensifies with new stages for both bilateral and multilateral cooperation.

In 2008, international cooperation and communications activities in the IPR arena were expanded to promote development of the Chinese IPR system.

In coordination with other agencies, the State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) worked with the World Intellectual P Organization (WIPO) and IPR authorities in several countries to promote cooperation in IPR enforcement.

From March 3 to March 8, representatives of SIPO, the National Copyright Administration of China and State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC) attended the inaugural session of WIPO's Committee on Development and Intellectual Property (CDIP) at WIPO'sheadquarters in Geneva.

From April 21 to April 22, the German Federal Ministry of Justice and China State Council Legislative Affairs Office (LAO) co-hosted the Eighth China-Germany Law Seminar in Munich, Germany.

More than 100 government officials, experts and scholars from China and Germany attended the meeting. The focus was on IPR judicial protections, enforcement and protection.

From May 13 to May 14, SIPO led a delegation to the WIPO coordination committee meeting, during which Francis Gurry was elected director general of WIPO.

From June 16 to June 20, SIPO, the African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO) and WIPO jointly organized the China-Africa Heads of IP Offices Meeting in Beijing.

Strongly supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and WIPO, the gathering enhanced communications and cooperation between China and African countries on IPR issues.

In 2008, SAIC also sent officials to meetings of the WIPO Assembly, the WIPO Standing Committee on the Law of Trademarks, Industrial Designs and Geographical Indications (SCT) and Standing Committee on Information Technologies (SCIT).

SAIC representatives also attended meetings of the Coordination Committee of the Working Group on the Legal Development of the Madrid (Spain) System for International Registration of Marks.

SAIC sent officials to the 26th Session and 27th Session of the APEC IP Expert Group, the Seventh US-JP-EU Trilateral Meeting of Heads of Trademark Offices and the Fourth Sino-US Strategic Economic Dialogue.

The National Copyright Administration (NCAC) of China participated in international meetings concerning copyright protection and signed a China-US Memorandum of Understanding on Copyright Strategic Cooperation.

The NCAC promoted advancement of important bilateral ties with Europe, Japan and Australia, and communicated on copyright legal systems of Australia, Peru and Norway.

The NCAC and WIPO jointly held the Third Beijing International Copyright Forum, successfully introducing WIPO's global awarding mechanism to China and designing the inaugural world copyright gold medal activities.

The NCAC also worked with WIPO on conducting a joint research program on the Contribution of the Chinese Content Industry to the National Economy, following WIPO's discussion on folklore protection, and participated in APEC discussion of copyright issues.

GAC participated in the relevant enforcement activities initiated by the World Customs Organization (WCO).

Customs agencies in China, Japan and Korea formed a trilateral IPR working group and ended the first meeting with a signed IPR action plan.

According to the Memorandum of Understanding on Collaboration of IPR Border Enforcement, customs officials in China and the United States also began to exchange data and offer shared assistance on cases.

Editor's note: The IPR Special is sponsored by the State Intellectual Property Office and published by China Business Weekly. To contact the Intellectual Property Office, the IPR Special hotlines are 8610-64995422 or 8610-64995826, and the e-mail address is ipr@chinadaily.com.cn.

(China Daily 08/03/2009 page9)