United States v. Kolon Industries, Inc. et al.

On October 18, 2012, the Department of Justice unsealed an August 21st indictment against Kolon Industries, Inc. and five its executives (“Kolon”) in relation to Kolon’s alleged theft of E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company’s (“Dupont”) Trade Secrets. The government brought criminal trade secret misappropriation charges pursuant to the Economic Espionage Act, accusing Kolon of engaging in massive industrial espionage over a six-year period in an effort to steal Dupont’s proprietary Kevlar™ technology.

DuPont had previously brought civil charges against Kolon in relation to the same alleged misconduct, which resulted in a damage award of almost $920 million and injunctive relief. In a statement responding to the charges, Kolon’s counsel accused the DOJ of “effectively assist[ing] DuPont in improperly extending [the company’s] monopoly over [Kevlar] technology beyond the limited term provided by the U.S. Patent laws.”

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