Sinovel Wind Group Co. Ltd. (“Sinovel”) was convicted on January 24, 2018 for stealing trade secrets from AMSC, a U.S. based company. In March 2011, Sinovel, a manufacturer and exporter of wind turbines based in the People’s Republic of China, contracted with AMSC to sell more than $800 million in products and services for its wind turbines.
On June 27, 2013, Sinovel was charged of conspiracy to commit trade secrets theft, theft of trade secrets, and wire fraud, along with Su Liying, Sinovel’s Deputy Director of Research and Development Department; Zhao Haichun, a technology manager for Sinovel; and Dejan Karabesevic, a former employee of AMSC Windtec Gmbh, a wholly-owned subsidiary of AMSC. The evidence presented at trial showed that Sinovel conspired with the other defendants to obtain AMSC’s copyrighted information and trade secrets in order to produce wind turbines and to retrofit existing wind turbines with AMSC technology without paying AMSC the more than $800 million it was owed under the contract.
Because of the theft of its information and trade secrets, AMSC lost more than $1 billion in shareholder equity and approximately 700 jobs, over half its global workforce. Sentencing is set for June 4, 2018. U.S. Attorney Scott C. Blader stated that the “verdict sends a strong and clear message that the theft of ideas and ingenuity is not a business dispute; it’s a crime and will be prosecuted as such.”