WASHINGTON DC: Sinovel, one of China’s leading wind turbine-makers, wasfound guilty Wednesday of stealing proprietary technology from US firmAMSC, causing it $800 million in losses, the Justice Department said.
A Wisconsin jury convicted Beijing-based Sinovel Wind Group Co Ltd, ofconspiracy to commit trade secret theft, theft of trade secrets, and wirefraud after an 11-day trial.
It said that in 2011, Sinovel recruited an Austria-based AMSC employee whostole source code from its computers that formed the basis of itstechnology for regulating the flow of electricity from wind turbines toelectrical grids.
At the time AMSC, formerly known as American Superconductor Inc, wasselling its technology to Sinovel. Obtaining that code allowed Sinovel todrop its orders to the US company as it took the technology for its own,causing AMSC an estimated $800 million in losses.
Losing Sinovel orders plunged AMSC into “severe financial hardship,” as thecompany’s market value fell by $1 billion and it was forced to cut 700jobs, more than half of its global workforce.
“Sinovel nearly destroyed an American company by stealing its intellectualproperty,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General John Cronan.
“As today’s jury verdict demonstrates, this type of conduct, by anycorporation – anywhere – is a crime, and won’t be tolerated.”
In a statement to the Shanghai Stock Exchange, where it is listed, Sinovelsaid on Thursday that it is “well prepared to take active measures toprotect our interests and use legal means to strictly defend our legitimaterights and interests”.
It promised to “protect the rights and interests of the company’s mediumand small shareholders” and “release information on the development of thiscase in a timely manner according to relevant regulations”.
Shares in the firm were down more than three percent by the break onThursday.
The US government has repeatedly warned of Chinese companies, both privateand government-related, seeking to steal US trade secrets and technology.
Last week, a Chinese software developer was sentenced to five years inprison for stealing computer source code from IBM to hand over to a Chinesegovernment agency. – AFP