January 08, 2024
The only employee of a Santa Clara, California, chipmaker to be convicted for involvement in a scheme to steal trade secrets in order to launch a startup has failed to convince a federal appeals court that he shouldn't have to face three years of probation and pay a fine, because he had problems using the files he was found guilty of stealing.
January 07, 2022
A California federal jury in August didn't have sufficient evidence to convict a former Applied Materials employee of most of the criminal charges alleging he possessed stolen company trade secrets, a federal judge ruled Thursday, but declined to toss three of the counts.
August 24, 2021
A California federal jury on Tuesday cleared two former Applied Materials employees of criminal charges alleging they conspired for months to steal proprietary LCD chip technology trade secrets to launch a startup, but found a third employee guilty of possessing stolen trade secrets, according to their attorneys.
August 06, 2021
An Applied Materials executive testified in a criminal trade secret jury trial Friday against four former workers that Applied requires suppliers to sign multiple nondisclosure agreements to protect its IP but conceded during a tense cross-examination that under the agreements vendors are allowed to download and store certain confidential designs.
August 03, 2021
An FBI agent testified during a criminal trade secret theft trial Tuesday that Applied Materials Inc. asked the agency to investigate and charge four ex-workers with stealing its intellectual property, but conceded the company never disclosed emails showing Applied's executives encouraged one of the defendants to launch a spinoff company.
August 02, 2021
A venture capitalist testified Monday in a criminal trial that one of the four former Applied Materials Inc. workers accused of trade secret theft asked him to invest in their startup, which would pay Applied $6 million over five years to license its intellectual property.
July 30, 2021
Applied Material Inc.'s current CEO testified during a criminal trial Friday that Munger Tolles & Olson LLP partners, who represent Applied in civil trade secret theft litigation that precedes the criminal case, helped him prepare to testify in the government's criminal case against four former Applied employees.
July 28, 2021
Applied Materials Inc.'s former CEO took the stand Wednesday in a California federal jury trial over criminal charges that four ex-employees stole trade secrets to launch a startup, testifying that he shut down their division and rejected their pitch to license Applied's IP for $8 million before they allegedly stole it.
July 27, 2021
Prosecutors told a California federal jury during trial openings Tuesday that four former Applied Materials employees stole LCD chip technology trade secrets to launch a startup, while defense counsel said Applied's top brass planned to lay off their division and encouraged them to find investors to fund a spinoff entity.
July 26, 2021
A California federal judge presiding over a criminal trade secret theft trial told prospective jurors on Monday that social distancing is optional and that they're only required to wear masks if they haven't been fully vaccinated, adding that she won't ask or require the jurors to prove their vaccination status.