Chinese prosecutors sued 167 individuals for infringing on business secrets in the first half of the year, up 89.8 percent year-on-year, said the Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP).
The perpetrators are often
employees within an enterprise, especially key technicians and executives, who choose to work for another employer, according to prosecutors.
The data was disclosed as part of a review of intellectual property right infringement in China between January and June.
Prosecutors also saw new types of intellectual property crimes and an increasing number of tricky and complicated cases, said the SPP, warning that these crimes can cause significant harm to consumers' interests and disrupt the order of the market economy, as well as the society.
In an increasingly digital world, the dissemination of written works, audiovisual works, musical works, and computer software has become incredibly convenient and swift. However, this has also resulted in a rise in rights violations and high-tech crimes, said prosecutors.
Prosecutors sued 1,122 individuals for copyright infringement between January and June, almost 3 times the figure in the same period in 2022, according to the SPP.
More counterfeiting activities have been found in newly emergent industries such as electronic products, car parts and live-broadcast sales.
Prosecutors said they will strengthen the protection of intellectual property rights in high-tech fields including electronic information, biological medicine, new energy, and smart manufacturing.
