Motorola worker found guilty of stealing trade secrets
A judge in Chicago ruled this week that a former Motorola employee is guilty of trying to steal trade secrets from the company and flee to China.
February 09, 2012 at 06:04 AM
3 minute read
The original version of this story was published on Law.com
A judge in Chicago ruled this week that a former Motorola employee is guilty of trying to steal trade secrets from the company and flee to China.
On Feb. 28, 2007, U.S. Customs agents at O'Hare International Airport stopped Hanjuan Jin, a Chinese-born naturalized U.S. citizen, before she boarded a flight to China. Jin was holding a one-way ticket to her home country, as well as $30,000 in cash and more than a thousand Motorola documents, which agents found during a search.
Jin claimed she just took the documents to simply refresh her technical knowledge after a long absence from work. Prosecutors claimed, however, that Jin was working with Beijing-based technology company Kai Sun News Technology Co. and had plans to sell the documents when she arrived in China. Her trial began in November 2011.
Although U.S. District Judge Ruben Castillo found Jin guilty of stealing trade secrets, he acquitted her on charges that she did so to sell the secrets to Kai Sun. In his ruling Wednesday, Judge Castillo convicted Jin on three counts of economic espionage, each of which carries a possible sentence of 15 years in prison. Jin will be confined to her home until sentencing on April 18.
“We want to send a message to the corporate community that we take the theft of trade secrets very seriously,” Chicago U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald told reporters after the ruling.
A judge in Chicago ruled this week that a former Motorola employee is guilty of trying to steal trade secrets from the company and flee to China.
On Feb. 28, 2007, U.S. Customs agents at O'Hare International Airport stopped Hanjuan Jin, a Chinese-born naturalized U.S. citizen, before she boarded a flight to China. Jin was holding a one-way ticket to her home country, as well as $30,000 in cash and more than a thousand Motorola documents, which agents found during a search.
Jin claimed she just took the documents to simply refresh her technical knowledge after a long absence from work. Prosecutors claimed, however, that Jin was working with Beijing-based technology company Kai Sun News Technology Co. and had plans to sell the documents when she arrived in China. Her trial began in November 2011.
Although U.S. District Judge
“We want to send a message to the corporate community that we take the theft of trade secrets very seriously,” Chicago U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald told reporters after the ruling.
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
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View All
White Castle GC Becomes Chain's First President From Outside Family
DLA Piper Adds Former Verizon GC Amid In-House Hiring Spree
Trending Stories
- 1The Appropriate Exemption in Students for Fair Admissions v. President & Fellows of Harvard College
- 2DOJ, 10 State AGs File Amended Antitrust Complaint Against RealPage and Big Landlords
- 3New Partners at Cummings & Lockwood, Carmody Torrance Sandak & Hennessey
- 4'Extra Government'?: NY Top Court Eyes Ethics Commission's Constitutionality
- 5South Texas College of Law Houston Selects New Dean
Who Got The Work
Michael G. Bongiorno, Andrew Scott Dulberg and Elizabeth E. Driscoll from Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr have stepped in to represent Symbotic Inc., an A.I.-enabled technology platform that focuses on increasing supply chain efficiency, and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The case, filed Oct. 2 in Massachusetts District Court by the Brown Law Firm on behalf of Stephen Austen, accuses certain officers and directors of misleading investors in regard to Symbotic's potential for margin growth by failing to disclose that the company was not equipped to timely deploy its systems or manage expenses through project delays. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton, is 1:24-cv-12522, Austen v. Cohen et al.
Who Got The Work
Edmund Polubinski and Marie Killmond of Davis Polk & Wardwell have entered appearances for data platform software development company MongoDB and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The action, filed Oct. 7 in New York Southern District Court by the Brown Law Firm, accuses the company's directors and/or officers of falsely expressing confidence in the company’s restructuring of its sales incentive plan and downplaying the severity of decreases in its upfront commitments. The case is 1:24-cv-07594, Roy v. Ittycheria et al.
Who Got The Work
Amy O. Bruchs and Kurt F. Ellison of Michael Best & Friedrich have entered appearances for Epic Systems Corp. in a pending employment discrimination lawsuit. The suit was filed Sept. 7 in Wisconsin Western District Court by Levine Eisberner LLC and Siri & Glimstad on behalf of a project manager who claims that he was wrongfully terminated after applying for a religious exemption to the defendant's COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The case, assigned to U.S. Magistrate Judge Anita Marie Boor, is 3:24-cv-00630, Secker, Nathan v. Epic Systems Corporation.
Who Got The Work
David X. Sullivan, Thomas J. Finn and Gregory A. Hall from McCarter & English have entered appearances for Sunrun Installation Services in a pending civil rights lawsuit. The complaint was filed Sept. 4 in Connecticut District Court by attorney Robert M. Berke on behalf of former employee George Edward Steins, who was arrested and charged with employing an unregistered home improvement salesperson. The complaint alleges that had Sunrun informed the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection that the plaintiff's employment had ended in 2017 and that he no longer held Sunrun's home improvement contractor license, he would not have been hit with charges, which were dismissed in May 2024. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer, is 3:24-cv-01423, Steins v. Sunrun, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Greenberg Traurig shareholder Joshua L. Raskin has entered an appearance for boohoo.com UK Ltd. in a pending patent infringement lawsuit. The suit, filed Sept. 3 in Texas Eastern District Court by Rozier Hardt McDonough on behalf of Alto Dynamics, asserts five patents related to an online shopping platform. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap, is 2:24-cv-00719, Alto Dynamics, LLC v. boohoo.com UK Limited.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250
