Today, the rumors about the investigations on the monopoly-oriented activities conducted by multi-national companies such as Microsoft Corp. were firmly denied by China’s State Intellectual Property Office.

The bureau’s officials wanted to make it clear that no such activity concerning any of the  companies is being conducted at this point.

The topic was started two days ago by the state-run newspaper Shanghai Securities News which presented a story about the upcoming untitrust lawsuits prepared by the local companies and the on-going investigations of the bureau on the large software companies’ monopolistic practices.

The newspaper quoted several sources on the strategies of international companies, which use their position to sell their products at very high prices. One of the examples given referred to Microsoft which retails its Windows operating system at about 1,000 - 2,000 yuan ($145 - $290) and its Office software sells at 4,000 - 5,000 yuan, which add up to the price of a brand new computer.

The information was linked to a new anti-monopoly law, currently in development, which is expected to take effect starting the 1st of August.

"Our office has never conducted research on monopoly behavior aimed at any enterprises. And at present we have no plan to conduct this work," the notice issued by anti-piracy bureau said, according to the Associated Press.

According to the office’s list of activities, the only research slightly related to the issue is a study on software piracy rates, which was publicly available starting May 28.

Microsoft’s officials offered a similar answer, stating that they are unaware of any investigation being conducted by China, and also expressed their intentions to fully collaborate with the government’s officials on any issues that demand attention.

Microsoft is no stranger to such situations, as three years ago in 2005, the Korean Fair Trade Commission slapped the company with a $32 million fine, demanding a version of Windows XP without Windows Media Player and Windows Messenger, in order to offer purchasers the possibility of choosing their operating programs.