China's top court pledged to strengthen intellectual property protection in the seed industry and associated sectors to ensure food safety and promote innovation.

The Supreme People's Court gave details of 10 important IPR cases involving seeds on Thursday, two of which were criminal cases, demonstrating the judiciary's determination to protect IPR and punish seed-related IPR violations.

In one of the cases, for example, three people were fined and given sentences ranging from 30 to 34 months for selling fake seeds by a court in Central China's Henan province.

The SPC said that the three defendants had benefited from selling fake pea seeds to five farmers between October and November 2019, causing financial losses of more than 140,000 yuan ($22,040).

"The quality of seeds affects incomes and agricultural development, so we must fight those who produce or sell fake seeds," the top court said in a statement.

The punishment handed down to the three defendants, who knowingly sold fake seeds that would adversely affect farmers, was intended to protect the farmers' rights and interests, as well as serve economic development.

The other eight were civil cases mainly related to new varieties of plants, and included cases involving pear, cucumber and soybean seeds.