Apple today filed a lawsuit against Simon Lancaster, a former employee who allegedly used his position at the company to steal Apple’s “trade secret information” that was leaked to a journalist and was published in rumors.
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Lancaster has worked at Apple for more than a decade, using his seniority to attend internal meetings and access documents that Apple says are “outside the scope of its responsibilities”. The details he obtained were published in media articles that “cited an Apple ‘source’.”
In exchange for the leaked information, Lancaster asked the media person with whom he was in contact with favors, such as providing favorable coverage of a start-up company in which Lancaster invested.
Until November 1, 2019, Lancaster was hired as an advanced materials leader and product design architect involved with various hardware projects. His role was to evaluate prototyping materials and innovations for future hardware devices. He started leaking details for the media contact on November 29, 2018 through text messages, emails and phone calls.
After resigning from Apple, Lancaster “deepened” his relationship with the media correspondent he was talking to, and Apple’s internal investigation of Apple-owned devices that Lancaster returned after employment suggested that he communicated “trade secrets” specific to Apple “while also taking” steps “to look for additional information. On his last day, Lancaster downloaded a “substantial number” of confidential Apple documents.
In addition, the forensic analysis of the devices that Apple provided Lancaster for their work at Apple shows Lancaster and the Correspondent coordinated to steal specific documents and product information from Apple. On several occasions, the Correspondent asked Lancaster to obtain specific documents and information about Apple’s trade secrets. On several occasions, Lancaster sent the Correspondent some of the confidential materials requested using Apple-owned devices. On other occasions, Lancaster met in person with the Correspondent to provide them with the confidential Apple information requested.
According to Apple, the information Lancaster shared included details of “unreleased Apple hardware products, unannounced feature changes to existing hardware products and announcements of future products”. He also took on a new role at Arris Composites, an Apple supplier, and Apple says he accessed confidential information that would help Arris, in addition to leaking Apple documents to the media.
Apple does not provide details on which products were leaked by Lancaster, but many of the leaks occurred around October and November 2019, and concern what Apple calls “Project X”. Shortly after Lancaster left, in fact, he spoke to the journalist for whom he leaked details, congratulating the person on the success of an article that contained details he leaked.
Like all Apple employees, Lancaster signed a “Confidentiality and Intellectual Property Agreement” before being hired by Apple that prohibits them from sharing secret and proprietary information, as well as participating in “security training” and “Business Conduct” events. focused on preventing the theft of secret documents.
Apple is now seeking damages incurred as a result of the trade secrets Lancaster stole, with Apple planning to determine the amount at trial. Apple also wants to recover from Lancaster all the gains, profits and advantages that it obtained from the theft of documents.
The action was first shared by AppleInsider this afternoon. We’ve included the full document below and it’s a fascinating read that covers the culture of leakage within Apple and how far the company will end it.