Intel Alleges Former Employee Attempted to Steal IP and Poach Employees

[Guest_Jim_*]

Protecting intellectual property rights is something every major corporation works very hard at, and Intel is not an exception. Initially it and Micron worked together on what eventually became 3D XPoint memory, but the two companies ceased working together some time ago to build teams to develop their own competing products. Earlier this year an engineer at Intel's Folsom campus, Doyle Rivers, apparently got a job offer from Micron, which he chose to keep secret, only notifying Intel of his departure on September 10, the day he quit. The day before though, he had connected a USB storage device to one of Intel's computers, where he then accessed personnel information and, Intel claims, confidential information on 3D XPoint, copying the data to the drive.

Now Intel is suing Rivers for not only taking the data, but refusing to comply with requests concerning the data but also for attempting to lure other Intel employees to join him at Micron, which is a violation of the employment agreement he signed when first joining Intel. Initially Intel requested the copied files not be destroyed and the USB device be returned. However, instead of responding, Intel claims he turned the device over to Micron instead. Later Intel learned it had been given to a forensic investigator who determined it had been wiped clean, but by this time Rivers was no longer represented by Micron's attorneys, but his own. This new attorney informed Intel the information was transferred to Rivers' home computer before he wiped it, so Intel made the request of allowing an independent investigator inspect this computer, to be sure no Intel data was present, but the November 16 deadline for this passed with Rivers refusing. Now Intel is suing Rivers over this, and requesting injunctions against him to not share any secret Intel information. Micron is aware of this lawsuit, but is not a target of the allegations.

Source: Sacramento Bee

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