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.