On Trade Secrets merger

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Thank you,
Eric Perrott

"Nooks and Crannies" to remain secret

On February 7th, U.S. District Judge R. Barclay Surrick granted a preliminary injunction against Chris Botticella, a former senior vice president at Bimbo Bakeries USA, the company that owns Thomas' English Muffins. The injunction prevents Botticella from starting a position at Hostess Inc. Judge Surrick cited concerns about the suspicious circumstances surrounding Botticella's departure, when evidence was presented that showed Botticella announcing his retirement, while never mentioning an offer he accepted from rival company Hostess. Judge Surrick also cited the suspicious activities, including the accessing of confidential trade secrets on his final day, as reason for preventing Botticella from starting his new job. Botticella is said to be one of seven individuals with the secret methods involved in creating Thomas' "nooks and crannies".

Sources:
http://abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/thomas-english-muffins-nooks-crannies-knowledge-remain-secret/story?id=9933006&page=2 

http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202443728649&Secret_Muffin_Recipe_Prevents_Executive_From_Switching_Jobs#

Four Rio Tinto employees charged with stealing trade secrets in China

Four employees of the Rio Tinto Group, the world’s third- largest mining company, were charged in Beijing  with accepting bribes and stealing trade secrets. China came short of charging the employees with espionage, but included charges of "damaging the interests of China’s state-owned steel makers". This case is being carefully watched by the international community, specifically other Western companies operating in China. The government did not offer any specifics to the charges against the four employees, only saying that they had “requested and received” bribes from Chinese-owned steel producers. The government claims that the Rio Tinto employee's obtained valuable trade secrets by “luring with valuable goods and other illegal methods.”

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=9752629
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/11/world/asia/11riotinto.html

Several Charged in South Korea for Stealing Samsung Trade Secrets

This week has been a busy one for South Korean prosecutors, as two more former employees of Samsung were charged with selling the company's trade secrets to a rival Chinese company. After Wednesday's arrest of eighteen people involved in leaking technologies to rival company Hynix, two people, one a current and one former employee of Samsung were charged in Seoul. One unidentified suspect sold Samsung's trade secrets for $208,000 USD but only received about $20,000 at the time of arrest.

The ongoing dispute centers allegations that Applied Materials Korea (AMK), a firm that provides semiconductor equipment to both Hynix and Samsung, allegedly provided Hynix with trade secrets acquired by Samsung employees. Hynix expressed regret for the detentions, but insists that it did not use Samsung technology in the production or design of its microchips.

Additional stories:

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/infotech/view/20100204-251262/2-charged-with-selling-Samsung-trade-secrets

http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20100204-703509.html?mod=WSJ_World_MIDDLEHeadlinesAsia

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory?id=9743603

Bristol-Myers-Squibb Employee Charged With Trade Secret Violations

Shalin Jhaveri, an Indian-American living in Syracuse, New York, has been charged with stealing trade secrets from his former employer, pharmaceutical giant Bristol-Myers-Squibb. Jhaveri, who worked in technical operations, reportedly planned on using trade secrets and other proprietary information to establish his own company in India. Jhaveri, if found in violation of Title 18 United States Code Section 1832.1, faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The operation was a joint effort between the FBI and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Service. John Pikus, the Special Agent In Charge of the FBI acknowledged the growing threat of trade secrets and intellectual property as well as the need for government agencies to pool their resources to address these threats.

Jhaveri is being held without bail pending a detention hearing scheduled for February 8th.

Additional news

FBI Press Release - http://albany.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/pressrel10/alfo020310.htm

Thaindian News - http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/world-news/indian-american-charged-with-stealing-trade-secrets_100315117.html

Reuters - http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN0316062420100204?type=marketsNews

Forbes - http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2010/02/03/general-us-drugmaker-trade-theft_7328146.html?boxes=Homepagebusinessnews

 

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OTS

Weekly Digest: 11/24 - 12/1

Ex-Ford employee ordered detained by a Federal Judge for theft of trade secrets (Detroit Free Press 11/24/09)
Former ford employee Xiange (Mike) Dong Yu was indicted on "federal charges of theft of trade secrets, attempted theft of trade secrets and unauthorized access to a protected computer." Judge Gerald Rosen ordered that Yu be held until his trial, overturning a previous ruling that allowed Yu to be free while he awaited trial. Yu was arrested on Oct. 14 at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, where the government reportedly found a laptop "that had thousands of pages of documents from Ford as well as from another, undisclosed company. The government estimates that the documents are worth $24 million to $32 million."

Economic Espionage Act case ends in mistrial; Defendants found not guilty on two of five charges (USA Today 11/24/09)
The trial of Lan Lee, an American citizen, and Yuefei Ge, a Chinese national ended in a deadlocked jury. The two men are accused of stealing plans for a microchip from Silicon Valley company NetLogic Microsystems. Tried under the rarely used Economic Espionage Act (18 U.S.C. § 1831(a)). The United States has until February to decide whether or not to retry the case.

The trade secrets case between Starwood and Hilton talk settlement as a grand jury decides whether or not to bring criminal charges against Hilton. (AmLaw Litigation Daily 11/30/09, Wall Street Journal 10/8/09)
After almost seven months since Starwood Hotels & Resorts obtained an injunction against Hilton for trade secrets allegedly stolen that led to the Hilton "Denizen" hotel, the two sides are reportedly in settlement talks. Meanwhile, a federal grand jury is investigating whether Hilton or any of it's former executives should be charged with theft of trade secrets.