A former employee of IBM was accused of sharing trade secrets with his new employer Hewlett Packard
A former vice president at Hewlett Packard (HP) pleaded guilty to stealing trade secrets in a Californian District Court.
Atul Malhoutra admitted that in March 2006, while employed at IBM, he received confidential information concerning product costs and materials. He was directed not to distribute the information due to its sensitive nature.
In May 2006, Malhotra became a vice president of imaging and printing services for HP.
“Malhotra shared the trade secrets with his superiors in an email entitled For Your Eyes Only.
According to the prosecution, shortly after starting in his new position at HP, Malhotra shared the trade secrets with his superiors in an email entitled ‘For Your Eyes Only’.
The court also heard that in the e-mail message, Malhotra noted knowledge of this information would help HP sales teams to understand their competitors and determine pricing for prospective deals.
The court accepted the guilty plea and sentencing is due for October. Malhotra faces a maximum of 10 years in prison.
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