TELECOM Digest OnLine - Sorted: Man Accused of Stealing Corning Secrets

Man Accused of Stealing Corning Secrets

Associated Press News Wire (ap@telecom-digest.org)
Fri, 21 Oct 2005 17:29:59 -0500

Man Accused of Stealing Corning Secrets

A former employee of a Corning Inc. glassmaking plant is charged with
stealing trade secrets and selling them to a Taiwanese company.

The FBI arrested Jonathan Sanders, 37, on Wednesday and charged him
with selling information about the process Corning uses to make liquid
crystal display, or LCD, glass for flat-panel TVs, computers, cell
phones and digital personal assistants.

"We have invested hundreds of millions of dollars in this, which is
why it is so important to us," Corning Inc. spokesman Jim Terry told
the Lexington Herald-Leader.

Sanders pleaded not guilty Thursday before a federal magistrate.

Also Thursday, the Taiwanese company, PicVue Electronics Ltd., and
Corning announced a settlement of a Corning lawsuit stemming from the
alleged sales. PicVue agreed not to use the information and to
compensate Corning for any past wrongdoing, Terry said.

Sanders is described as a former employee of the Harrodsburg
plant. Terry said he did know how long Sanders had worked there.

The FBI, in a criminal complaint, said Sanders confirmed Tuesday that
he sold PicVue blueprints about "fusion draw," a glassmaking process
Corning had developed.

The bureau said Sanders told an agent he found the blueprints in 1999
in Corning's Harrodsburg warehouse, in a hopper containing
confidential material to be destroyed.

Prior to September 2000, court records allege, Yeong C. Lin -- a
PicVue consultant -- told PicVue that Sanders was offering drawings he
had obtained from Corning. PicVue authorized a wire transfer of
$30,000, but it was unclear whether Sanders received it.

Sanders met with PicVue President Jacob Lin and Yeong C. Lin several
times over the next nine months, according to court records. Jacob Lin
is no longer the company's president.

FBI Special Agent Steven L. Halter in Buffalo, N.Y., said the
four-year investigation is continuing, but would not say whether
others may be arrested.

Copyright 2005 The Associated Press.

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