A former Dublin, Ohio, couple has been charged with crimes related to stealing exosome-related trade secrets concerning the research, identification and treatment of a range of pediatric medical conditions announced Assistant Attorney General John C. Demers of National Security, U.S. Attorney Benjamin C. Glassman for the Southern District of Ohio, Assistant Director John Brown of the Counterintelligence division and FBI Special Agent in Charge Todd Wickerham of the Cincinnati division.

Businessman Sentenced to a Year in Prison for Stealing Employer’s Trade Secrets While Planning New Job in China

This conference offers a great opportunity for CCIPS, the Department, and each of our law enforcement colleagues gathered at the table today to discuss our shared efforts in IP enforcement, and to hear your comments about the latest successes and challenges. It’s an event that benefits all of us.

Rosemary Wolf pleaded guilty on June 12, 2019, to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and was sentenced to 51 months in federal prison by U.S. District Judge Amos L. Mazzant on Jan. 2, 2020.

Seattle – A 21-year-old Palmdale, California, man pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to federal crimes related to his computer hacking scheme and his possession of child pornography found on his digital devices, announced U.S. Attorney Brian T. Moran.

The head of a Houston-based company that was the subsidiary of a Chinese company that developed stolen trade secrets was sentenced to 16 months in prison and ordered to forfeit more than $330,000 by U.S. District Judge Christopher R. Cooper of the District of Columbia.

TULSA, Okla. –A former associate scientist was sentenced Thursday in federal court for stealing proprietary information worth more than $1 billion from his employer, a U.S. petroleum company.

A federal grand jury in the District of Columbia returned a 16-count indictment against a former Acting Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and a former subordinate for their alleged theft of proprietary software and confidential databases from the U.S. government as part of a scheme to defraud the U.S. government.

SAN JOSE - Anthony Scott Levandowski submitted documents today requesting that the court accept his plea of guilty to theft of trade secrets charges, announced United States Attorney David L. Anderson and Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent in Charge John F. Bennett. The documents include a request to William H. Alsup, United States District Judge, to accept a proposed plea agreement and a request to schedule a date for a sentencing hearing.

On February 27, in Antigua, Guatemala, OPDAT hosted an Operation Regional Shield meeting with prosecutors, investigators, and analysts from Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Mexico.

On February 28, ICITAP completed an intensive two-week engagement to provide the Nepal Police Job Task working group assistance in finalizing the criminal investigator task list, equipment list, and risk analysis lists for criminal investigator position. 

**NEW DATE: April 20**  Agency FOIA professionals are invited to join OIP and OGIS for a joint Best Practices Workshop on FOIA and technology featuring the Chief FOIA Officer Council Technology Subcommittee.

On February 28, ICITAP concluded the Advanced First Aid Course at the National Highway & Motorway Police (NHMP) Training Facility in Kot Ranjit.

Newly published FOIA Litigation and Compliance Report details a range of efforts by OIP to encourage government-wide compliance with the FOIA, including new policy guidance, robust government-wide training, and other open government initiatives.

**Now Virtual at New Time** The previously scheduled Best Practices Workshop on FOIA and technology featuring the Chief FOIA Officer Council Technology Committee will now be held online.

On April 27, ICITAP’s Central America mission conducted a webinar titled “Pathology and Crime Scene Investigation (CSI) During the COVID-19 Pandemic” for hundreds of subject matter experts from throughout the Western Hemisphere. Chaired by ICITAP-Central America’s Attaché, the 80-minute webinar began with a pre-recorded media interview from the Dominican Republic, which highlighted the critical work currently carried out by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME) in Washington, DC.

OIP is now accepting registration for topic-specific FOIA training sessions to be offered online. 

The Department of Justice has released the agenda and list of participants for its March 11, 2020, public workshop to solicit public dialogue on the proposed vertical merger guidelines. The workshop will be the first in a two-part series hosted together with the Federal Trade Commission. The two half-day workshops will allow for a dynamic discussion about the proposed guidelines to complement the written public comments about the proposed guidelines that were submitted to the agencies.

The Department of Justice this week concluded an arbitration that will resolve a civil antitrust lawsuit challenging Novelis Inc.’s proposed acquisition of Aleris Corporation. The lawsuit seeks to preserve competition in the North American market for rolled aluminum sheet for automotive applications, commonly referred to as aluminum auto body sheet. This marks the first time the Antitrust Division has used its authority under the Administrative Dispute Resolution Act of 1996 (5 U.S.C. § 571 et seq.) to resolve a matter.

The Department of Justice prevailed in a first-of-a-kind arbitration, which will resolve a civil antitrust lawsuit challenging Novelis’s proposed merger with Aleris Corporation.  As a result, Novelis must divest Aleris’s entire aluminum auto body sheet operations in North America, which will fully preserve competition in this important industry.  In addition, under the terms of the arbitration agreement between defendants and the Department, Novelis must reimburse the Department for its fees and costs incurred in connection with the arbitration.

Two commercial flooring executives, Robert A. Patrey Jr. and Kenneth R. Smith, pleaded guilty for their role in an antitrust conspiracy to rig bids and fix prices for commercial flooring services and products sold in the United States, the Department of Justice announced. The defendants are cooperating with the Justice Department’s ongoing investigation.

The Department of Justice Antitrust Division announced today that it has adopted a series of temporary changes to its civil merger investigation processes, which will remain in place during the pendency of the coronavirus (COVID-19) event. These changes will ensure that the Antitrust Division will be able to continue operations as its employees carry out their duties to protect American consumers under a mass telework directive, in accordance with health guidance from the CDC, WHO, and other health authorities.

The U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division and The Federal Trade Commission today issued a joint statement detailing an expedited antitrust procedure and providing guidance for collaborations of businesses working to protect the health and safety of Americans during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Department of Justice announced today that it is requiring United Technologies Corporation (UTC) and Raytheon Company (Raytheon) to divest Raytheon’s military airborne radios business and UTC’s military global positioning systems (“GPS”) and large space-based optical systems businesses in order to proceed with their proposed merger.  Without these divestitures, the merger would eliminate competition between two of the primary suppliers of military airborne radios and military GPS systems to the Department of Defense (DoD), and enable the merged firm to lessen competition for multiple components used in reconnaissance satellites sold to DoD and the wider U.S. intelligence community.  

The U.S. Department of Justice announced today that it will not challenge collaborative efforts of McKesson Corporation, Owens & Minor, Inc., Cardinal Health, Inc., Medline Industries, Inc., and Henry Schein, Inc. (together “Medical Supplies Distributors”) to expedite and increase manufacturing, sourcing, and distribution of personal-protective equipment (“PPE”) and coronavirus-treatment-related medication. These collaborative efforts are part of an emergency response developed and led by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to address supply needs arising from the COVID-19 pandemic.

"At trial, the Antitrust Division argued that Sabre’s acquisition of Farelogix would extinguish a crucial constraint on Sabre’s market power and would result in higher prices and less innovation. While we are disappointed with the court’s decision, we appreciate the court’s thoughtful consideration of this important case. We will closely review the court’s opinion and consider next steps in light of our commitment to preserving competition for the benefit of the American consumer."

South Korea-based company Jier Shin Korea Co. Ltd., and its president, Sang Joo Lee, have agreed to pay $2 million to the United States for civil antitrust and False Claims Act violations for their involvement in a bid-rigging conspiracy that targeted contracts to supply fuel to U.S. military bases in South Korea, the Department of Justice announced today.

The Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division and the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) Bureau of Competition jointly released a statement today affirming the importance of competition for American workers.  The agencies also announced that they will protect competition for workers on the frontlines of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) response in the United States by enforcing the antitrust laws against those who seek to exploit the pandemic to engage in anticompetitive conduct in labor markets.

The Department of Justice announced today that it will not challenge collaborative efforts of AmerisourceBergen Corporation (AmerisourceBergen) to identify global supply opportunities, ensure product quality, and facilitate product distribution of medications and other healthcare supplies to treat COVID-19 patients.

This week, the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division celebrates the 20th anniversary of World Intellectual Property Day. The division marks the occasion by remembering the revolutionary ideal that our nation’s founding fathers embedded in the U.S. Constitution: that “securing . . . to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries” will “promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts.” For over 200 years, this “exclusive Right” has served as the foundation of the U.S. system of patent, copyright, and trademark laws.

Sabre Corporation and Farelogix, Inc. announced today the termination of their merger agreement.

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