A Taiwanese trade secret litigation over optical lens technology ended up in a settlement and nobody had to go to jail. Largan Precision company filed a trade secret theft and copyright infringement litigation against competitor Ability Opto-Electronics as well as their chairman, president, and four ex-Largan employees. Ability allegedly received the trade secrets from the four ex-Largan employees.
Not only were civil complaints filed, but criminal ones as well. The Taichung District Court found the defendants guilty of everything, and imposed financial and jail penalties (about USD $51 million and 5-6 months in jail). Soon thereafter, Largan withdrew all complaints under a settlement agreement, ending a six year battle.
No details of the settlement were made public.
