"Wei2, IPR Hotline in China?"

"Wei2 (喂)? Is what you say in Chinese when you answer the phone. Liu Li reports for the China Daily that a nationwide reporting and complaining hotline (12312) was established yesterday, that should be an answer to IPR infringements.

"[..] Yiwu has become the first county-level city in China to boast an IPR reporting and complaint centre. The city, home to the world's largest small commodities wholesale market, has become the 50th place to establish such a centre, in response to the 2006-07 Action Plan on IPR Protection adopted by the State Council."




Photo: Tom Arthur

Liu writes that according to work procedures, the centres will decide
within five days whether to pursue a complaint. If the complaint is accurate, it will be sent up to industry and commerce departments for
administrative punishment, or to public security departments and public prosecutors for criminal punishment. So far, the service centres have received over 6,000 reports and complaints.

Read Liu Li's article here.