Chinese government recognised in IP awards

A Chinese ministry has been recognised as a champion of intellectual property (IP) by the US Chamber of Commerce in its 2014 awards.

Operation Cloud - an operation led by China's Ministry of Public Security to disrupt the production, distribution, and sale of illicit oncology medicines - was one of 12 IP Champions highlighted at the second annual awards ceremony convened by the Global IP Center (GIPC)  last month.

In the 2013 operation, about 15,000 counterfeit medicines were uncovered, and more than 1,300 suspects were arrested.

Other winners included: the Be Safe, Buy Smart consumer awareness campaign by The Center for Safe Internet Pharmacies (CSIP), to help people buy medicines safely online; the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC) for its Don't buy into organized crime campaign; the MycroPC.com project to capture counterfeit software being sold online; and the Anti-Counterfeit Consumer Awareness Campaign run by Canon USA that highlighted the danger of counterfeit electronic goods.

The full list of winners is available to view here.

"Intellectual property rights are the cornerstone of our innovative economy and are critical to dozens of industries and millions of consumers across the globe," said David Hirschmann, president and chief executive of the GIPC.

"We thank this year's IP Champions for the tremendous contributions they have made toward growing our economy and enhancing our lives."