Intellectual property authorities in Guangdong province have handled 145 cases in the last two years involving alleged copyright infringement related to the Guangzhou Asian Games.

"A series of regulations played a fundamental role in protecting the Asian Games' intellectual property," Zhu Wanchang, deputy director of the Guangdong intellectual property office, said at a press conference on Tuesday.

To protect property related to the Asian Games, authorities from the central, provincial and city governments issued regulations and carried out enforcement campaigns over the past two years, according to Zhu. For example, the regulation on Asiad copyright protection was passed by the Guangzhou government in November 2008 and took effect in January 2009.

The regulation includes 20 articles specifying the concepts of intellectual property rights for the Asian Games, the behaviors of copyright infringement, the responsibility of related departments, the communication and coordination mechanism between departments and the resolution approach to disputes.

Authorities in Guangzhou also signed agreements with the co-host cities of Dongguan, Foshan and Shanwei to strengthen enforcement.

It also released additional rules that specifically address Asian Games logos.

"So far, there have been no serious and massive cases of infringement of Asian Games intellectual property thanks to the implementation of these regulations," said Zhu.

As of the opening of the Asian Games on Nov 12, some 160 items related to the Asian Games emblem, mascots and slogans had been registered, sources with the provincial intellectual property office said.

"As the Asian Para Games are yet to come, we will continue our efforts to strengthen intellectual property protection related to the games," Zhu said.

The Guangzhou Asian Games, which had an attendance of more than 14,000 athletes from 45 Asian countries and regions, concluded on Nov 27. The Asian Para Games are scheduled for Dec 12-19.

Intellectual property protection of the Asian Games was just part of local authorities' strengthened efforts in recent years as some 835 disputes were handled from 2006 to 2009 in the province.

(China Daily December 1, 2010)