“I don’t know of any trade secret case in history that required more legal work than this case,” Randall said.
From June 2006 to February 2009, Kolon allegedly conspired with former DuPont employees and others to steal DuPont’s trade secrets for Kevlar, a high-strength, synthetic fiber that is used in products that include body armor. mobile devices and fiber optics. Kolon makes a competing product known as Heracron.
DuPont sued Kolon in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia in 2009. During discovery, the court found Kolon personnel intentionally deleted relevant evidence. U.S. District Senior Judge Robert Payne issued a spoliation-of-evidence order, adverse-inference jury instruction and awarded DuPont attorney fees related to the motion. In 2011, jurors awarded DuPont $919 million after a seven-week trial.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in 2014 overturned the verdict, ruling that Kolon was wrongly prevented from presenting evidence at trial. The appeals court said the case should be assigned to a new judge.
Former DuPont employee Michael Mitchell pleaded guilty to theft of trade secrets and obstruction of justice in December 2009 and was sentenced to 18 months in prison. Another former employee, Edward Schultz, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to steal trade secrets in September 2014 and is scheduled to be sentenced on June 26.
Five former South Korean Kolon executives and employees were charged in an August 2012 indictment filed in the Eastern District of Virginia. None have appeared in the United States to face the charges.
With back-to-back jury trials pending on both the civil and criminal fronts, settlement became a more appealing option, said Kolon counsel Randall.
In separate but parallel proceedings, the government and DuPont entered into settlement talks before U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema to reach a deal.
“Today’s outcome confirms that we will aggressively investigate and prosecute intellectual property crimes, regardless of whether the perpetrators are foreign or domestic, corporations or individuals,” U.S. Attorney Dana Boente of the Eastern District of Virginia said in a written statement. “There are no safe harbors for those who seek to steal trade secrets in the Eastern District of Virginia.”
Related articles:
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law are third party online distributors of the broad collection of current and archived versions of ALM's legal news publications. LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law customers are able to access and use ALM's content, including content from the National Law Journal, The American Lawyer, Legaltech News, The New York Law Journal, and Corporate Counsel, as well as other sources of legal information.
For questions call 1-877-256-2472 or contact us at [email protected]
