The protection of Olympic-related intellectual property rights (IPR) will be a key job of Beijing's law-enforcement agencies in 2007, according to officials.

The Beijing IPR Office has established synchronized working mechanisms with the Olympic co-host cities to ensure that any case of infringement of IPR can be dealt with rapidly, said Wang Lijun, deputy head of the office.

"An emergency-response system will ensure the rapid treatment of any case of Olympic-related IPR violations," he told a press conference at the Beijing Olympic Media Center on Tuesday.

"If any infringement of the Olympic-related IPR, especially in the patent area, happens in an enterprise, the emergency response system will be in action and our patent law- enforcement personnel will come to the scene in 24 hours to solve the problem, after receiving complaints or reports though phone calls," he said.

The protection of the Olympic-related copyright is an important area of the Beijing Copyright Administration, said vice director Wang Yefei.

Meanwhile the Beijing Administration for Industry and Commerce is taking measures to crack down on sales of counterfeit Olympic merchandise and is mobilizing the general public to take part in the Olympic-related IPR protection, said an administration official.