On Wednesday China opened hotlines in 12 provinces and municipalities to record complaints on intellectual property rights (IPR) infringements. This is latest in a series of government initiatives to enhance IPR protection.

The 12 locations include Beijing, Heilongjiang, Gansu and Jiangsu. By the end of the year other parts of the country will also have hotlines and all will use the same telephone number--12312, according to an official with the State Office of Intellectual Property Protection.

"As IPR protection involves many departments it often confuses people as to whom they should turn to," said Liu Zhengang, head of the Beijing municipal office of intellectual property protection at the inauguration of the 12312 hotline in the city.?

"The hotline will make things simpler," he said.

IPR complaint centers would verify the authenticity of information gained through the hotlines, sort out the cases and convey them to relevant departments, he added. These departments were responsible for handling the cases and reporting results back to the complaint centers.

The complaint centers would produce written reports on the handling of cases and submit them to higher authorities, explained Liu.

(Xinhua News Agency June 29, 2006)