China has made fruitful achievement in protecting intellectual property rights (IPR) in 2005, the Ministry of Commerce said Friday.

By the end of September 2005, relevant departments had investigated and dealt with 55,698 cases of trademark right infringements, destroyed 33 illegal CD production lines and captured 225 million illegal video products, the ministry said.

By the end of October 2005, Chinese police cracked down on 2,611 cases of IPR infringement, with 5,001 suspects arrested and 2.06 billion yuan involved, according to the ministry.

During the January-November period of 2005, the procuratorate departments warranted the arrest of 2,856 persons involved in IPR infringement as well as the production and selling of fake and shoddy products, and 2,787 of them were prosecuted, up 17.7 percent year on year, the ministry said.

Meanwhile, Chinese courts handled 3,250 cases involving IPR infringement, the production and distribution of fake and shoddy products and illegal business operations, up 28.21 percent year on year.

China has also enhanced international cooperation in IPR protection. The country has established regular consulting mechanisms on IPR protection with the United States, the European Union and Japan, the ministry said.
 
(Xinhua News Agency January 14, 2006)