For years, the IPR authorities of GD have been endeavoring to conduct IPR publicity and education in order to raise the public's IPR awareness and fundamentally improve IPR protection in GD. In 2006, they made full use of such mass media as TV, radio broadcasting, Internet websites, newspapers and magazines to publicize IPR knowledge and advance awareness, and held diverse seminars and colloquia for IPR capacity building. Meanwhile, in certain significant periods, for instance, the World IP Day in April, the International Day for Protecting Consumers' Rights in March, and the period of special campaigns for IPR protection, they launched large-scale publicity campaigns such as the "Publicity Week for IPR Protection", hence conducting focused publicity work and cooperating to foster an atmosphere of respecting IPR in the whole society.

In 2006, GD Office of Rectification and Standardization of Market Economic Order organized relevant IPR authorities to participate in China Exhibition of IPR Protection Achievements, and the positive effects of IPR protection in GD received full recognition of major leaders of the State Council. The IPOs at all levels, in the one month around April 26, the World IP Day, organized a series of IPR publicity activities. For instance, GD Provincial IPO held the Press Conference for Release of Typical Cases of IPR Enforcement, filmed and televised IPR protection advertisements, and held the first Open Day of IPO.

The AICs in GD actively publicized trademark knowledge by organizing special IPR pages in newspapers in both mainland and Hong Kong, and conducting public counseling activities. The Copyright Bureaus launched across GD the Publicity Week for Copyright Protection; the activities included holding the Ceremony for Awarding Plates for Pilot Areas of Copyright Industry, and advertising copyright protection in busy traffic lines via buses for three months. The Agriculture authorities printed and distributed over 180,000 leaflets publicizing protection of new plant varieties, and over 2.99 million leaflets publicizing suppression of fake fertilizer and agricultural chemicals. The Culture departments, during the One-Hundred-Day Campaign Against Piracy, extensively conducted publicity and education among enterprises of A/V products, and their efforts proved to be effective. Some enterprises took the initiative in stopping sale of IPR-infringing products; some turned in IPR-infringing A/V products to the Culture authorities; during the One-Hundred-Day Campaign, a total of 101,000 pieces of illegal A/V products were turned in by GD enterprises.

The IPR education in primary and middle schools, since its activation in 2002 in such pilot cities as Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Foshan and Yunfu, has gained national influence as well as commendation from the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). In 2006, GD Provincial IPO and GD Provincial Department of Education, together with two other organizations, jointly launched the work of identifying and cultivating GD Pilot Schools for IPR Education of Children. They identified 30 primary and middle schools across the province as the first batch of GD Pilot Schools for IPR Education of Children, indicating that IPR education of the young has been gradually spreading to all GD municipalities.

Editor: Wing