By Erin Ailworth Jan. 6, 2018 7:00 a.m. ET 21 COMMENTS
“A dispute over the alleged theft of wind-turbine technology is slated to go to trial in Wisconsin on Monday in a test case for intellectual-property battles between the U.S. and China. Federal prosecutors accuse Chinese wind-turbine maker Sinovel Wind Group Co. Ltd. of stealing the source code for software that controls wind turbines from American Superconductor Corp. AMSC 6.64% , a Massachusetts-based engineering company that once counted Sinovel as its biggest customer.
The trial in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin could result in billions of dollars in fines for Sinovel, which has previously denied wrongdoing.
Prosecutors in 2013 indicted the company, along with two of its executives and an American Superconductor employee, on criminal charges of stealing trade secrets.
John W. Vaudreuil, then U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, called it “nothing short of attempted corporate homicide.” ”
Source: Trial Over Theft of Wind Technology Spotlights U.S.-China Tensions – WSJ
Ouch. Here is the top WSJ comment, which I endorsed, even though its tone is harsh.