Moog says Stolen Secrets and Poached Employees Jeopardize its Prospects in Unmanned Aviation Market
Aerospace supplier Moog Inc. said stolen trade secrets and an all-out raid of its flight software employees by an aviation startup in California have jeopardized its foray into unmanned helicopter aviation.
Moog, in a federal lawsuit filed this week in Buffalo, said a software engineer who quit the company’s Los Angeles-area office in December took more than 136,000 digital files related to flight control software to her new employer, Skyryse, a six-year-old startup.
AbbVie, Alvotech Settle Humira Patent and Trade Secrets Disputes, Teeing up Another Biosim Rollout Next Year
Alvotech, the Icelandic holdout battling AbbVie in court over its Humira biosimilar, has reached an accord with the U.S. pharma giant. With a settlement in place, the companies are putting all patent and trade secret litigation to bed.
Under the deal, Alvotech could launch its Humira copycat–approval pending–as early as next summer. AbbVie will grant Alvotech a license to its Humira-related patents in the U.S., which take effect on July 1, 2023. Alvotech is on deck to pay royalties to AbbVie and it “acknowledges the validity and enforceability of the licensed patents,” AbbVie said in a release.
Minnesota Concrete Company and its CEO Indicted for Rigging Bids for Public Contracts
A federal grand jury returned an indictment charging Kamida Inc., a Minnesota-based concrete repair and construction corporation, and its CEO, Steven Dornsbach, with participating in a conspiracy to rig bids for public concrete repair and construction contracts in the state of Minnesota.
According to court documents filed in the U.S. District Court in Minneapolis, Dornsbach and Kamida conspired to rig bids on concrete repair and construction contracts submitted to at least four municipalities in the state of Minnesota, including local governments and school districts in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, from at least as early as September 2012 and continuing through at least July 2017. Last year, Minnesota concrete contractor Clarence Olson pleaded guilty for his involvement in the conspiracy.
Former Canadian Government Employee Extradited to the United States to Face Charges for Dozens of Ransomware Attacks Resulting in the Payment of Tens of Millions of Dollars in Ransoms
According to court documents, Sebastien Vachon-Desjardins, 34, of Gatineau, Quebec, Canada, from April through December 2020, conspired to and did intentionally damage a protected computer and transmit a ransom demand in connection with doing so. The indictment also alleges that the United States intends to forfeit more than $27 million, which is alleged to be traceable to proceeds of the offenses. The defendant will make his initial appearance today in federal court in Tampa before U.S. Magistrate Judge Julie S. Sneed.
Dual U.S.-Russian National Charged with Acting Illegally as a Russian Agent in United States
A federal court in New York unsealed a complaint today charging a dual Russian and U.S. citizen with acting and conspiring to act in the United States illegally as an agent of the Russian government, willfully failing to register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), as well as conspiring to commit visa fraud and making false statements to the FBI.
According to court documents, Elena Branson, 61, beginning in at least 2011, worked on behalf of the Russian government and Russian officials to advance Russian interests in the United States. This work included coordinating meetings for Russian officials to lobby U.S. political officials and businesspersons, and by operating organizations in the United States for the purpose of publicly promoting Russian government policies. Branson never notified the Attorney General as she was required to, including by registering under FARA.
Medical Services Contractor Pays $930,000 to Settle False Claims Act Allegations Relating to Medical Services Contracts at State Department and Air Force Facilities in Iraq and Afghanistan
Comprehensive Health Services LLC (CHS), located in Cape Canaveral, Florida, has agreed to pay $930,000 to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by falsely representing to the State Department and the Air Force that it complied with contract requirements relating to the provision of medical services at State Department and Air Force facilities in Iraq and Afghanistan. This is the Department of Justice’s first resolution of a False Claims Act case involving cyber fraud since the launch of the department’s Civil Cyber-Fraud Initiative, which aims to combine the department’s expertise in civil fraud enforcement, government procurement, and cybersecurity to combat new and emerging cyber threats to the security of sensitive information and critical systems.
