Courts in China settled about 100,000 intellectual property rights cases last year, according to a recent work report by the Supreme People’s Court, a sharp rise over the average of 55,600 between 2008 and 2012. Experts said the increase indicates both improved IP awareness and more cases of infringement. At the same time prosecutors nationwide filed criminal charges against more than 8,800 suspects for alleged violations of trademark, patent, copyright and trade secret laws, according to the Supreme People’s Procuratorate’s work report.