Chinese police uncovered 1,804 cases on intellectual property right (IPR) infringement, arrested 3,667 suspects and retrieved economic losses worth 420 million yuan (about 52 million US dollars) between November 2004 and July 2005.

In November 2004, public security departments launched a one-year-long operation, "Hawk", to crack down on IPR infringement nationwide. In the first eight months of the campaign, police dealt with 2,054 IPR infringement cases, involving 1.33 billion yuan (about 164 million US dollars).

These cases touched many items including mechanical and electric equipment, farm products, medicine, wine, soft drinks, cigarettes, cosmetics, daily necessities, costumes, bags, cultural and sports goods, audio-visual products, and publications.

Difficulties have remained in this ongoing campaign, including lack of information sources, said Bao Suixian, an official with the ministry. He called on local IPR owners to enhance the awareness of protecting their rights.

Source: Xinhua