Jury clears Livermore lab officials of trade secret theft allegations

[OKIsItJustMe]

http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_14915314

Jury clears Livermore lab officials of trade secret theft allegations

By Suzanne Bohan
Contra Costa Times
Posted: 04/19/2010 03:02:59 PM PDT
Updated: 04/19/2010 06:03:39 PM PDT

An Alameda County jury ruled in favor of Lawrence Livermore National Security, or LLNS, in a trial alleging it stole trade secrets from a Bay Area inventor, according to a statement released Monday.

LLNS runs Lawrence Livermore Laboratory, which helps manage the nation's nuclear weapons stockpile and engages in multidisciplinary research under contract with the Department of Energy.

An April 2008 lawsuit by Bay Area inventor Victor Kley alleged that laboratory employees co-opted a nanotechnology process Kley invented for creating an extremely hard diamond capsule that could be used in the fusion chamber of the National Ignition Facility. Specifically, Gary Gwilliam, the Oakland attorney representing Kley, asserted the lab engaged in theft of trade secrets and violations of a nondisclosure agreement.

The jury reached its unanimous decision on April 5 inside Alameda County Superior Court in Hayward.

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