Chinese police have arrested several foreign suspects in a crackdown on intellectual property right (IPR) infringements, according to a senior police officer.

"IPR infringement activities are involving more cross-border collaboration, professional skills and organized operations," said Gao Feng, deputy director of the economic crime investigation bureau of the Ministry of Public Security.

The crackdown on infringement of trademarks, from November 2004 to December 2005, involved 3,149 cases, including seven transnational cases. Suspects from the UK, Mexico, Lebanon and Russia were arrested.

Gao called for greater cooperation in fighting against transnational IPR infringement cases, including sharing information.

He said the high profits from counterfeit goods, which equaled those of drug trafficking in some cases, had promoted transnational collaboration in IPR crimes.

For instance, the factory price of a fake Viagra tablet was around 0.3 yuan, export price rose to 8 yuan and the wholesale price abroad soared to 6 U.S. dollars. (1 dollar equals about 8 yuan), he added.

Source: Xinhua