Jury selection is scheduled to begin Tuesday in federal court in San Jose, Calif, in the trial of Lan Lee, 44, and Yuefei Ge, 36. Both have pleaded not guilty to charges of theft of trade secrets and violations of the Economic Espionage Act, intended to prevent illegal transfer of technology to foreign governments, the San Jose Mercury News reported.

They are suspected of having stolen plans for a super fast computer chip from their former Silicon Valley employer to start a competing company to be backed by China, the newspaper said.

Several people have pleaded guilty to violating the Economic Espionage Act but only one case has gone to trial. A former Boeing Co. and Rockwell International engineer was convicted this year in Santa Ana, Calif., federal court of passing space program information to China, the newspaper said.

Scott Frewing, a former federal prosecutor who consults companies on trade secret security, told the Mercury News it's tough for prosecutors to prove "clear intent to benefit" foreign governments in cases like this.

"And the challenge for the defense is that in China, every part of the economy is dominated by the government, so the links are more obvious," Frewing said.

If convicted, Lee and Ge face at least 10 years in prison but most recent economic espionage sentences in recent years have not been as sever, the newspaper said.

A service of YellowBrix, Inc.