On August 7, 2024, the 6th Circuit upheld a Chinese spy’s twenty-year prison sentence for attempting to steal aviation trade secrets from General Electric (GE). Yanjun Xu, a deputy director in China’s Ministry of State...more
In January of this year, Chinese wind turbine manufacturer Sinovel Wind Group Co. Ltd. was convicted of stealing trade secrets from U.S. company AMSC Inc. ...more
The sorry story of Chris Correa, the St. Louis Cardinal executive convicted of hacking into the Houston Astros computer system expanded last month when Federal Judge Lynn Hughes unsealed details about the extent of the...more
It doesn’t always pay to be a hacker. Major League Baseball (MLB) this week made a strong statement about its tolerance for teams hacking other teams. We previously reported on the incident when a Cardinals employee hacked...more
Christopher Correa, a former scout for the St. Louis Cardinals, was recently sentenced to almost four years in prison for hacking the Houston Astros player-personnel database. While it seems far-fetched that hacking would...more
Although stealing bases, and even signs, in baseball may be part of the game, stealing another team’s trade secrets can land you in federal prison, as one executive recently learned the hard way. As we previously...more
On November 16, 2015, the leaders of the “Group of 20” (“G20”) – the world’s richest and most powerful nations – reached an agreement not to conduct economic cyber-espionage. The agreement, reached during the G20’s...more
On October 5, 2015, years of protracted negotiations of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (“TPP”) concluded. The TPP is a proposed trade agreement between 12 Pacific Rim nations that lowers trade barriers such as...more
President Xi's State Visit Brings Announcements on Cybersecurity and Climate Change - In late September, Chinese President Xi Jinping made his first state visit to the United States. Cybersecurity and climate change...more
In a story reminiscent of a Tom Clancy plot, the Wall Street Journal reported last Thursday on “meticulously documented” cyberespionage conducted by China’s People’s Liberation Army (“PLA”) Unit 78020 to further strategic...more
As we approach the dog days of summer, baseball season is again in full bloom. We previously discussed old-fashioned sign stealing in the context of teams trying to gain a competitive advantage during an actual game. But it...more
Trade secret theft and cybersecurity are hot topics in Congress these days, spawning legislative initiatives left and right....more
No longer cut from the cloth of 007’s expensive suits, fast cars or well-mixed drinks, present-day espionage is carried out, to a great extent, through computer screens, proxy servers and spoofed e-mail addresses. Dubbed...more
The strategy announced on February 20, 2013, should serve as both a wake-up call from the government and an offer of assistance. Given the losses that can arise from competitors’ purposeful theft of trade secrets, entities...more
The Obama Administration’s recent “Strategy on Mitigating the Theft of U.S. Trade Secrets” makes clear the importance for businesses to be aware of and understand the international threats to their intellectual property, the...more
We often talk to companies who believe they are an unlikely target for hackers because they do not have financial account information, Social Security numbers, or medical information. However, personal information is not the...more
On February 20, 2013, the White House issued a report outlining a new plan to combat trade secret theft from U.S. businesses. Faced with the escalating theft of U.S. trade secrets and noting “the crucial role of trade...more