"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