Former Corning Consultant Gets 30 Month Prison Sentence for Trade Secrets Theft Conspiracy

BusinessWeek is reporting that a California consultant has been sentenced to 30 months in federal prison by U.S. District Court Judge Charles J. Siragusa for conspiring to steal highly valuable flat-panel-glass blueprints from Corning Inc. and turn them over to a rival business in Taiwan.

Yeong Lin pleaded guilty in June 2007 to theft of trade secrets. Sentencing in federal court for the 70-year-old has been postponed numerous times over the last three years.

While working as a consultant for Taiwan-based PicVue Electronics, prosecutors allege Lin put PicVue officials in contact with a Corning employee who offered drawings he had obtained illegally from a Corning glassmaking plant in Harrodsburg, Ky.

Prosecutors say the materials, which were returned to Corning after it sued PicVue, were valued at more than $50 million. Corning, a specialty glassmaker, is based in the wonderful Finger Lakes region of Western New York. “As we go forward into the Twenty-First Century, the value of the unique and creative ideas of a person or company will often times become the difference between those who succeed commercially, and those who fail,” said U.S. Attorney Hochul. “For these and other reasons, this Office is committed to protecting the hard work and intellectual property of all of who call our region home.”