Investigators Track Technology Theft to China, Hit a Dead-End; Scale of Possible Losses Grows Associated Press (08/08/13) U.S. prosecutors say that China-based Pangang Group paid industrial spies to steal information on better processes for making titanium dioxide from chemical industry leader DuPont. Pangang has been indicted on these charges in U.S. court, but officials have had little success in prosecuting the company. DuPont has also asked China to ensure the stolen information is not used, but there is no indication any action has been taken. This situation is not uncommon, say corporate security experts, as the Chinese government is notorious for stonewalling any action against Chinese companies accused to stealing intellectual property. A May report by a former U.S. director of national intelligence shows that China is responsible for 50 percent to 80 percent of the cases of stolen American intellectual property. For these reasons, international companies doing business in China are “increasingly worried about trade secrets and technology being compromised in China,” according to Tadashi Kageyama, the head of the security firm Kroll Advisory Services for Asia. In the case of Pangang, U.S. prosecutors say the theft occurred because Chinese government officials considered it an "economic priority" to find a better process to produce titanium dioxide and DuPont declined to sell or license that information to Chinese companies. Prosecutors were able to obtain a letter from Malaysian-born Walter Liew, one of the DuPont scientists accused of stealing secrets, describing the efforts of Luo Gan, a former high-ranking official in the Communist Party, to entice him to obtain information on titanium dioxide production and other secrets. While China has stepped up enforcement of patents and copyright protection, the United States cannot pursue Luo or Pangang because neither has a presence in the U.S. The Chinese Ministry of Justice has not commented on the case.
Posted on: Sat, 17 Aug 2013 16:40:48 +0000
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