Apple is suing Simon Lancaster, a former product design architect for the company, accusing him of selling trade secrets and details about unreleased Apple products to an unidentified media correspondent. Lancaster apparently did this in the hope of gaining publicity for his next venture after leaving Apple. AppleInsider first reported in the legal process.
“Tens of thousands of Apple employees work tirelessly every day on new products, services and features in the hope of delighting our customers and enabling them to change the world. Stealing confidential ideas and information undermines your efforts, harming Apple and our customers, ”commented Apple in a statement to The Verge. “We take this individual’s deliberate theft of our trade secrets very seriously, the violation of our ethics and policies, all for personal gain. We will do everything we can to protect the innovations that we cherish so much. “
According to the Apple lawsuit, Lancaster and his correspondent began communicating in 2018 about the possibility of obtaining information; the two spent the next year in communication. Lancaster then reportedly contacted his correspondent in the spring of 2019, asking him to investigate rumors of a potential Apple product that could “spell trouble for my startup.” The lawsuit also claims that Lancaster bragged to a third party shortly after that. talk, that your media contact would be writing a story about your startup if it reached $ 1 million in funding.
In October 2019, Lancaster notified his correspondent that he was planning to leave Apple, giving away secret information about Apple products and asking if they wanted to “write a story about a 12-year-old Apple design veteran leaving for an incredible startup?” The correspondent also allegedly asked Lancaster for additional information about an unannounced project that Apple calls “Project X”.
Lancaster then sent his notice of resignation to Apple on October 15, but continued talking to his media source – the next day, they allegedly asked for specific documents they wanted Lancaster to receive before leaving the company.
Apple also claims that Lancaster specifically attended a “Project X” meeting, even after he submitted his resignation, specifically to get more information to pass on to his media contact, despite the fact that he was instructed by others employees not to attend.
The company also claims that Lancaster used his Apple credentials to download confidential information almost until his job ended at midnight on November 1, 2019. According to Apple, Lancaster logged in from an outside location at 10:24 pm that day – this time, to obtain materials that the company says would help its new employer.
Lancaster started working at Apple in 2008 and spent 11 years working at the company, serving as a leader in advanced materials and product design architect in his final role before leaving in 2019 to join Arris Composites, a material design company, as head of consumer products. According to a press release announcing his move to Arris, Lancaster worked on the 13-inch and 15-inch Macbook Pro with a redesign of the Touch Bar, along with “unpublished Apple products”.