Procurator-General Zhang Jun delivers work reports of the top court and the top procuratorate, in Beijing, on May 25, 2020. (FENG YONGBIN / CHINA DAILY)Twelve thousand people were prosecuted for infringing on intellectual property rights last year, about 64 times the number in 1999, reflecting China's constant improvement in IPR protection, the head of the Supreme People's Procuratorate said.

IPR protection is a critical support for building an innovation-oriented country, and protecting IPR is protecting innovation, Zhang Jun, SPP procurator-general, told China Daily on the sidelines of the ongoing annual two sessions on Friday.

He said that the significant increase shows that legislation on IPR protection in China has been continuously improved and strictly implemented, and the comprehensive judicial protection of IPR has become more effective.

Intellectual property rights protection is a critical support for building an innovation-oriented country, and protecting IPR is protecting innovation, said Zhang Jun, Supreme People's Procuratorate procurator-general

The Communist Party of China Central Committee, with Xi Jinping at its core, has always attached great importance to and made major decisions, arrangements and instructions for IPR protection since the 18th CPC National Congress in 2012, Zhang said. Procuratorial organs have also comprehensively performed their duties in strict accordance with the law to protect IPR and made pragmatic and fruitful efforts, he added.

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From 2016 to 2020, more than 45,000 people were prosecuted for crimes of infringing on intellectual property rights. In November 2020, the SPP integrated its criminal, civil and administrative functions and set up an intellectual property rights procuratorial office to strengthen comprehensive protection of IPR.

Pilot projects with specialized teams to deal with IPR cases were implemented in 2020 in nine provincial regions, including Hainan province, Tianjin and Chongqing.

Zhang said IPR cases often involve cutting-edge technologies and a number of different fields and require professional knowledge.

"The specialized office can coordinate the use of criminal, civil and administrative procuratorial functions to effectively offer judicial protection to IPR," he said.

"It can also promote the establishment of high-quality IPR procuratorial teams and improve their working capacity, quality and efficiency," Zhang added.

Even in cases in which rights holders have not defended their rights in a timely fashion in criminal IPR cases, Zhang said procuratorates have fully implemented the policy of notifying involved parties of litigation rights and obligations. That facilitates the parties' participation in litigation activities as well as providing for supplementary evidence to be provided in a timely manner to safeguard their interests.

The establishment of the office has fully demonstrated the procuratorial organs' determination and confidence to resolutely confront IPR infringement crimes, Zhang said.

Last year, the number of people prosecuted for IPR infringement nationwide increased by 10.5 percent year-on-year.

Zhang said the increase does not necessarily mean that more such crimes occurred last year, but mainly shows that law enforcement and judicial departments have stepped up efforts in cracking down on such crimes.

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Last year, the SPP and the Supreme People's Court issued a judicial interpretation on handling criminal cases of IPR infringement. The SPP also made improvements in the filing of cases and prosecution standards for infringement cases involving commercial secrets in conjunction with the Ministry of Public Security.

New amendment

The latest amendment to the nation's Criminal Law, which took effect on March 1, revised the crime of infringing on IPR and included general acts that were not previously treated as crimes.

Zhang said activities now classified as crimes under IPR provisions include stealing, spying, buying illegally and providing commercial secrets for overseas institutions, organizations and personnel. Bribery, fraud and electronic intrusion have been classified as improper acts for obtaining commercial secrets under the crime of infringing on commercial secrets.

The amendment has also adjusted the criteria for incrimination under several kinds of crimes and made changes in provisions for applying the maximum legal penalty. Except for the crime of patent counterfeit, all crimes of infringing on IPR will incur prison sentences, he said.

"The obvious change is that the standards for criminalizing IPR infringement have been lowered, and the punishment for violators is tougher."

The procurator-general stressed that Premier Li Keqiang said China will promote high-quality development of the real economy through innovation, improve the capacity for science and technology innovation and strengthen IPR protection

In one case cited by the SPP, the procuratorate in Rui'an, Zhejiang province, charged Jin Yiying, a former employee of an optical instrument company in Wenzhou, Zhejiang, with the crime of infringing on commercial secrets in 2018.

Jin signed a confidentiality agreement with the company when he was hired in 2005. But after leaving the company in 2011, he registered a new company in the name of his brothers-in-law and used technologies stolen from his former employer to produce similar products, costing his former employer a loss of more than 1.22 million yuan (US$187,785).

Although Jin did not admit to the criminal act of infringing on commercial secrets, the procuratorate filed a case against Jin based on evidence in August 2018. Jin was sentenced to 18 months in prison and fined 700,000 yuan in June 2019.

The procurator-general stressed that Premier Li Keqiang said China will promote high-quality development of the real economy through innovation, improve the capacity for science and technology innovation and strengthen IPR protection. Li addressed the issues in his Government Work Report at the fourth session of the 13th National People's Congress on Friday.

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While fully performing their criminal procuratorial functions, Zhang said prosecutors will also pay more attention to civil and administrative procuratorial functions, enhance judicial supervision and cooperate with other departments to comprehensively protect IPR.

"The intellectual property rights for domestic and foreign enterprises will be treated equally and protected on an equal basis," he said.

Zhang said procuratorates are actively working with the courts and administrative authorities that handle intellectual property issues to establish a data exchange mechanism. That would enable prosecutors to conduct analysis and more accurately detect problems in the judicial protection of IPR. Also, public interest litigation is being explored to protect IPR.

The SPP instructed procuratorates at all levels to strengthen the protection of commercial secrets in key technical areas under the new situation. While dealing with infringement cases, prosecutors were urged to protect commercial secrets and prevent malicious rivals from seeking criminal prosecution of competitors.

The infringement of commercial secrets concerning advanced and core technologies that threaten the survival and development of enterprises will be targeted as a priority in the next step, to support and protect innovation.

yangzekun@chinadaily.com.cn