Wang formally charged in trade secrets case

ERJ staff report (R&PN)

Akron, Ohio - A former senior scientist for Bridgestone Americas has been formally charged in Akron federal district court with stealing trade secrets from his ex-employer, according to the U.S. District Attorney's office in Cleveland.

Xiaorong Wang, 50, of Hudson, Ohio, was charged with stealing proprietary and confidential research information from the Bridgestone Americas Center for research and Technology in Akron.

The charge was made as an “information,” the legal term for a indictment brought by the district attorney without the involvement of the grand jury. In the document, the defendant admits there is enough evidence against him to lead a grand jury to issue an indictment, a spokesman said.

Wang joined Bridgestone in Akron in late 1995, and was senior scientist and project leader there in April 2010, when he was dismissed for sending abusive emails to a colleague in Japan.

On April 14 and 15, 2010, Wang transferred trade-secret information into his personal laptop computer, according to the document and an affidavit filed by an FBI agent in March 2012. Among the items Wang allegedly copied were files on development of new polymers for racing tyres, on planned process changes to butadiene rubber production in Japan, and on the commercialisation of guayule rubber.

From Rubber & Plastics News (A Crain publication)