Editor's note: The year 2008 carried great weight for enforcing the international property rights (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 (IP) strategy. The Chinese IPR system received 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 issues 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 developments.

China Business Weekly will publish the full text of the white paper in a series during the following weeks. The fourth part about IPR enforcement was published on July 6. Below is the fifth part of the text:

V. Publicity of IPR advances. Cultural construction scores first points

In 2008, IPR publicity centered on the release of the 'Outline of the National IPR Strategy, Beijing Olympics: Thirty Years of Reform and Patent Law Amendments.'

The Beijing Olympics attracted extensive news coverage on important pages and in major time slots of major central media.

The media coverage focused on the development process of the Chinese IPR system and IPR cultural issues in the past 30 years. This elevated the public's awareness of China's IPR system.

Following the release of the Outline of National Intellectual Property Strategy, a series of public activities ensued.

The website www.gov.cn published the Chinese and English versions of the Outline on its home page.

Xinhua News Agency, People's Daily and China Intellectual Property News published the Outline.

The State Council Information Office invited six agencies - SIPO, SAIC, NCAC, National Development and Reform Commission, MOST and MOFCOM - to a press conference to brief the media on the Outline.

SIPO also published Guidance Materials for the Study of the Outline of National IPR Strategy.

The Ministry of Publicity offered a guiding opinion on the publicity of the 2008 Action Plan for IPR Protection in China, issuing the Publicity Plan on Campaign of a Cleansing Publication Market and IPR Protection.

It also organized central media to cover important events and activities. These activities included the nationwide destruction of pirated and illegal publications, the implementation of networks to supervise the quality of China products, the campaign of "No counterfeit sold in thousands of shops in hundreds of cities", and the April 26 World IP Day.

With April 26 2008, the eighth World IP Day, as its starting point, SIPO organized the activities of IP Protection Publicity Week with 18 agencies.

SIPO hosted its third Open to the Public Day, hosted a 2007 press conference on IP protection and a 2008 press conference during IP Protection Publicity Week.

SIPO also hosted the first national traveling exhibition on paintings or calligraphy by a hundred celebrated Chinese artists featuring IP topics as the theme.

SIPO also participated in organizing the Shanghai IP Protection Summit Forum and IP Criminal Protection Forum.

SIPO held a press conference on patent information issues and patent technology recommendations.

The book, Intellectual Property Culture Reader, and the video, Intellectual Property Culture in China, also were released.

Working with SAIC, NCAC, the General Administration of Customs, Ministry of Agriculture, State Forestry Administration and Supreme People's Court, SIPO hosted the IP Section of the Exhibition Reviewing 30 Years of China's Reforms. Along with the exhibit, the book, IP and 30 Years of Reform, was published.

SAIC held these events: the East-West China Co Trademark Strategy Forum; One Agency, One Trademark Conference, and the Conference on Implementing the Trademark Strategy under the Outline of the National IPR Strategy, introducing trademark registration and protection in China and stepping up publicity of trademark strategy.

In 2008, NCAC continued its publicity campaign on copyrights, using multiple forms, channels and means to conduct diversified public education activities.

NCAC published selected works of Zheng Chengsi on copyright issues, completed the third series of traveling speeches on copyright protections and organized an awards ceremony for college students who wrote papers on copyright issues.

NCAC organized the initiative, Creation and Future-Copyright Protection Activities of Young People. NCAC also compiled a book, Copyright Protection and its Little Defenders.

A second annual college debate was held in Beijing on copyright protection.

NCAC hosted the BIBF International Copyright Trade Seminar and also the inaugural International Copyright Expo in partnership with Beijing municipal government.

An initial Almanac of Copyright in China also was published.

                                                                                                     Source: China Daily