Chinese courts accepted 524 intellectual property rights (IPR) infringement cases of first instance in 2005, up 35.4 percent over the previous year, said the Supreme People's Court (SPC) on Friday.

A total of 3,529 IPR piracy cases were adjudicated by the courts in 2005, increasing 28.28 percent year on year, SPC announced at a press conference.

At the same time, 5,336 persons were sentenced to penalties, growing 30.66 percent compared with 2004. Among them, 2,963 persons were sentenced to set term imprisonment, up 23.9 percent over the previous year, according to SPC.

SPC said Chinese courts at various levels have strengthened work on IPR related cases to punish the IPR piracy activities according to law.

Most of the IPR infringement cases happened in the relatively developed regions in China including Guangdong, Beijing, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shandong and Shanghai, according to SPC.

(Xinhua News Agency March 10, 2006)