The first IPR disputes settlement service desk launched by the Chinese government is available at the CeBIT in Hannover, Germany, the world's largest trade fair showcasing digital IT and telecommunications solutions, according to Directorate General Trade of European Commission.

The service, under the name of "China IPR Desk" inaugurated by China's Ministry of Commerce on March 3, helps to settle disputes with Chinese companies on IPR issues. European and Chinese companies can call on the new China IPR Desk for assistance in disputes over patent, trade mark and industrial design infringements between European and Chinese exhibitors.

Chinese and European experts at the IPR Desk will provide exhibitors with free advice. The aim is to help resolve disputes on the spot and defuse conflicts between Chinese and European companies over intellectual property rights.

Chong Quan, Assistant-Minister at the Ministry of Commerce, said, "China has taken significant steps to improve the protection of intellectual property and the enforcement of IP rights. Attention is being given in particular to the protection of IP during trade fairs and international exhibitions, where Chinese companies have frequently been experiencing conflicts. The China IPR Desk is a pilot project to help ensure the protection of intellectual property rights at trade fairs."

Ewa Synowiec, Director at the European Commission's Directorate General Trade, said "The China IPR Desk is an important initiative within the framework of the joint EU-China IPR2 project. It is appropriate that this mediation service should be offered at CeBIT, the largest and most important IT and telecommunications trade fair, with its numerous exhibitors from Europe and China."

CeBIT 2009 was inaugurated on March 2 and 4,300 exhibiting firms from 69 countries are there, according to the website of the trade fair.

China's initiative is part of a national strategy outline presented by the Chinese government in June 2008 to strengthen intellectual property rights. The setting up of a mediation desk at European trade fairs is part of a bilateral co-operation program for intellectual property protection, known as the EU-China IPR2 project, which was inaugurated in Beijing, November 2007 by the then EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson and the former MOFCOM Vice-Minister Yu Guangzhou, and which focuses on the enforcement of intellectual property rights in China.

By People's Daily Online