Lilly goes to court over acts of former employee
摘要:
• An employee of our Lilly China Research and Development facility
violated Lilly policy by downloading confidential business records to a non-
company storage device (example: an unencrypted USB thumb drive).
• The employee, who has since left the company, refused to return
the confidential information. That prompted Lilly to file legal action in
the Chinese courts to recover the company’s confidential business records
and protect them against possible disclosure to third parties.
• The stolen information and data are important—including
intellectual property, trade secrets, and confidential information. But
while serious, this incident does not raise a material concern at this time.
• Senior Vice President and General Counsel Mike Harrington
explains what harm was caused by the former employee’s actions and adds, "
Let’s be clear. Our intellectual property is the foundation of our work to
discover and develop innovative medicines, and we will pursue every legal
remedy to protect it."
full articles:
Lilly goes to court over acts of former employee
Lilly is asking the Chinese court system to order recovery of company
confidential business records that were inappropriately downloaded to a non-
company storage device (example: an unencrypted USB thumb drive) by a
research employee.
The employee, who has since left the company, has refused to return the
confidential records or to cooperate with Lilly’s investigation. At issue
is proprietary information relating to our scientific research.
With the confidential information still at risk, Lilly this week filed the
legal action in China that would:
• Require the former employee to return/delete company files.
• Require the former employee to identify any persons with whom he
has shared the information.
• Direct the former employee to not further use, disclose, or
transmit the company files to a third party.
"Obviously, we’re terribly disappointed this has occurred," said Mike
Harrington, senior vice president and general counsel, "but let’s be clear:
Our intellectual property is the foundation of our work to discover and
develop innovative medicines, and we will pursue every legal remedy to
protect it. The improper use of our trade secrets is a betrayal of all Lilly
employees and, more importantly, the patients who are waiting for new
medicines."
The former employee, a scientist, was hired to become one of approximately
150 employees at Lilly China Research and Development Center (LCRDC), which
officially opened in late May 2012.
Bei Betty Zhang, Ph.D., vice president of China research and the center's
site head and general manager, said she is "appalled and saddened" by the
former employee’s acts. "We are proud of the innovative research we’re
conducting to address the needs of the Chinese people, as well as the
dedication and diligence of our team," Zhang said. "It is difficult for us
here at LCRDC to learn such news about a former colleague."
The former employee had agreed to respect company confidentiality as a
condition of employment with Lilly.
Damaging consequences
This incident is not typical conduct by the overwhelming majority of
employees, Harrington said. He added that the issue of data theft is not
unique to China and could happen anywhere in the world.
"Protecting our intellectual property has long been a sacred trust for Lilly
innovators," Harrington said. Even a single instance of violating that
trust is "an unfortunate reminder of problems that can be caused by not
safeguarding confidential information that is essential for the success of
companies like Lilly."
Because of the former employee’s actions:
• A comprehensive evaluation had to be conducted to determine the
level of sensitivity of materials exposed outside Lilly’s secure computer
network and to resolve patent-related questions.
• Unscheduled expenses were incurred and important projects set
aside as a lawyer worked full-time on the matter, supported by scientists
diverted from pipeline priorities.
The former employee’s refusal to cooperate with the company led to Lilly’s
pursuit of legal action.
The stolen information and data are important—including intellectual
property, trade secrets, and other confidential information. But while
serious, this incident does not raise a material concern at this time.