Apple sued a former employee on Thursday, alleging that he leaked trade secrets to a reporter and asked the reporter’s favors in return.
The lawsuit was filed against Simon Lancaster in the United States District Court for the Northern California District. Lancaster spent 11 years at Apple before taking a job as head of consumer products at Arris Composites in late 2019. Lancaster was head of advanced materials and product design architect at Apple, where he “was instrumental in the development of the MacBook 13 “/ 15” Pro with the touch bar and the design of unpublished Apple products, “said a press release from Arris Composites at the time.
Apple lawsuit alleged:
Despite more than a decade of employment at Apple, Lancaster has abused his position and trust within the company to systematically disseminate Apple’s confidential trade secret information in an effort to gain personal benefits. He used his seniority to gain access to internal meetings and documents outside the scope of his job responsibilities containing Apple’s trade secrets and provided those trade secrets to his foreign media correspondent. The Correspondent then published the trade secrets stolen in articles, citing an Apple “source”. On several occasions, Lancaster proposed that the Correspondent give Lancaster benefits in exchange for Apple’s trade secrets. For example, Lancaster proposed that the Correspondent provide favorable coverage for a start-up company in which Lancaster was an investor as a quid pro quo. Lancaster even recruited the correspondent to serve as his personal investigator. In one case, Lancaster asked the Correspondent to explore a rumor that could be damaging to a company in which Lancaster had invested.
These last two sentences are related to an incident in the spring of 2019 in which Lancaster told the reporter about his “dissatisfaction with Apple” due to “a story published that day that reported a rumor that Apple would produce a new hardware product. “said the process. “Shortly afterwards, Lancaster asked the correspondent to investigate the content of this story because ‘it could mean problems for my [Lancaster’s] start.’ The correspondent replied, ‘I will see what I can find out.’ “
Lancaster subsequently “communicated to a third party that the Correspondent had committed to publish an article on Lancaster’s startup if it obtained $ 1 million in funding,” said Apple, claiming that “the Correspondent agreed to publish that article in exchange for the misappropriation. Apple’s Lancaster trade secrets. ” When he left Apple for Arris Composites, Lancaster asked the reporter to “write a story about a 12-year-old Apple design veteran leaving for an incredible startup,” said Apple. Whether these stories proposed by Lancaster were published is unclear in the process.
We have contacted Lancaster about the process and will update this article if we receive a response. The reporter was not named in the lawsuit. Apple said the leaks included “unreleased Apple hardware products”, but did not say which ones.
Apple’s trade secrets
Apple’s lawsuit alleged that Lancaster violated the Federal Trade Secrets Defense Act and the California Uniform Trade Secrets Act and violated a confidentiality and intellectual property agreement.
Apple claimed that Lancaster continued to give trade secrets to the reporter after he announced his resignation. “Lancaster’s role as the correspondent’s ‘source’ has deepened even after he announced his resignation from his position at Apple,” the suit said. “In fact, Apple’s internal investigation of Apple-owned devices provided to Lancaster as part of his job shows that, after Lancaster announced his resignation, he communicated with the Correspondent about specific Apple trade secrets sought by the Correspondent. and took specific steps to obtain additional Apple trade secrets. “
Apple is notoriously secretive about its plans for future products, but details are often reported before announcements because of leaks for journalists.
“The trade secrets that Lancaster stole and sent to the Correspondent for publication included details of unreleased Apple hardware products, changes to unannounced features in existing hardware products, and announcements of future products, all of which Apple keeps close up,” said Apple in the process. “Apple’s product teams – innovators, designers and builders – work in complete secrecy, often for many years, and with a significant personal burden, all to surprise and delight Apple customers with their creations. Lancaster’s misappropriation it undermined the morale of the teams that worked on the products and resources in question. “
Apple said that a “forensic analysis” of Lancaster’s work devices shows that “Lancaster and the Correspondent have coordinated to steal specific documents and information about Apple products. On several occasions, the Correspondent has requested that Lancaster obtain specific documents and information from Apple. Apple trade secrets. In multiples Occasionally, Lancaster would send Correspondent some of the confidential materials requested using Apple-owned devices. On other occasions, Lancaster would meet with the Correspondent in person to provide the requested Apple confidential information. conspiracy is currently unknown; however, Apple’s investigation is ongoing. “
Apple security measures
Apple said it “takes all reasonable steps to maintain confidentiality” of its trade secrets, including physical security in buildings, monitoring access to computers, “[ing] all employees must sign strict “confidentiality agreements” and train employees on confidential information handling policies. Apple said Lancaster signed the company ‘s confidentiality and intellectual property agreement in May 2008.
Lancaster had access to confidential information because he had a “senior role” that involved “evaluating materials and creating prototypes of innovations to enable future generations of products,” said Apple.
Although Apple did not directly quote Arris Composites in the lawsuit, the complaint said that Lancaster’s new employer has a supplier service contract with Apple. “Parts of the trade secret information that Lancaster misused is directly related to his role in his new employer, and the misuse of Apple’s trade secrets is likely to continue today,” Apple said. “In fact, on his last day at Apple, Lancaster downloaded a substantial number of confidential Apple documents from Apple’s corporate network to his personal computer, which would benefit his new company.”
The supplier’s agreement with Apple includes a confidentiality agreement to which Lancaster is subject, Apple said. “Apple therefore seeks to return any and all copies of your [trade secrets] and to ensure that Lancaster no longer has such data and information and an injunction against any use of that information, “the complaint said.
Arris Composites, founded in 2017, claims to manufacture “carbon fiber compounds that can be combined with other materials, such as metals and even electronics”.
In addition to requesting an “injunction ordering [Lancaster] to continue to misappropriate Apple’s trade secret information, “Apple asked the court to make Lancaster pay damages, penalties, restitution, and attorney’s fees and costs.
“Why I left Apple”
Lancaster wrote favorably about his time at Apple in a November 2019 LinkedIn post entitled “Why I left Apple and joined Arris Composites.” At Apple, “I was able to help the engineering product design department take the sketches off the drawing board and turn them into real products,” he wrote. “I fell in love with the magic of certain processes, such as additive manufacturing and compounds, and would continue to become Apple’s leader in advanced materials.”
Lancaster has a few dozen patents from his time at Apple. When Lancaster became an angel investor in startups, “I realized how much I missed the emotion of the unknown, the journey of exploration that many of these young founders were experiencing,” he wrote. Apple, by contrast, was a “well-oiled machine” that “works so well that it’s hard to justify changing it.” Lancaster wrote that Arris “will show that the manufacture of composites is not just something for space shuttles, but can change the products we carry in our pockets and cherish on our desks”.