Rare Economic Espionage Act Prosecution Fails in California

Well, we'd already told you that Economic Espionage Act prosecutions were rare: http://wombletradesecrets.blogspot.com/2009/10/we-first-blogged-about-this-economic.html. It certainly won't help future prosecutions that these claims have been thrown out by the federal judge and all that is left is a potential re-trial on theft of trade secrets grounds.

According to Law.com, the judge reasoned "The government must present evidence that defendants intended to confer a benefit on the [People's Republic of China], not receive a benefit from it," Ware wrote. "The court finds evidence that defendants intended to apply for a grant from the PRC is insufficient to satisfy the statutory requirement that the government prove that the defendants intended to provide a benefit to the PRC, or one of its instrumentalities or agents."

Call your next case.