Former Dupont Chemist Pleads Guilty

Dr. Hong Meng Admits Theft of DuPont Trade Secrets Relating to Organic Light Emitting Diodes (OLEDs)

June 9, 2010 - WILMINGTON, DE—David C. Weiss, United States Attorney for the District of Delaware and Richard A. McFeely, Special Agent in Charge of the Baltimore Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Field Office announced today that HONG MENG, age 43, a former research chemist for E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company (“DuPont”), waived indictment and pleaded guilty to one count of theft of trade secrets, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1832. The offense carries a maximum prison sentence of 10 years, a fine of up to $250,000.00, and restitution. United States District Judge Sue L. Robinson scheduled a sentencing hearing for September 14, 2010 at 8:30 a.m.

According to facts admitted to by MENG in a plea agreement, MENG was involved in research in the field of Organic Light Emitting Diodes (“OLED”) during his tenure at DuPont. OLED technology represents the next generation of display and lighting applications, and DuPont has expended significant resources on OLED research and development. In early 2009, DuPont’s OLED research efforts resulted in the development of a breakthrough chemical process that increased the performance and longevity of OLED displays. The chemical process was considered to be a “trade secret” by DuPont, which took commensurate measures to protect it. MENG was aware of these security measures and knew that the chemical process was a DuPont trade secret.

In Spring 2009, while still employed by DuPont and without company permission, MENG accepted a position as a faculty member at Peking University (PKU) College of Engineering, Department of Nanotechnology, in Beijing, China. After MENG accepted employment with PKU, he hired an assistant and graduate student; received office space, lab space, and an email address; was listed as a faculty member on the PKU website; and gave a presentation to officials of a regional Chinese government, soliciting funding to commercialize his OLED research at PKU. MENG failed to inform DuPont about his actions.

On July 30, 2009, MENG emailed a Microsoft Word document to his PKU email account which contained, embedded on the second page, the protected chemical process. In August 2009, MENG downloaded the same Word document from his DuPont work computer to a thumb drive, which he subsequently uploaded to his personal computer. MENG admitted that he knew to a practical certainty that his conduct in misappropriating the chemical process would injure DuPont.

In addition, MENG admitted in his plea agreement that he willfully made false statements to the Federal Bureau of Investigation with respect to a material matter during the course of the investigation. In August 2009, MENG mailed a package containing 109 samples of DuPont intermediate chemical compounds used in organic electronics to a colleague at Northwestern University and instructed his colleague to forward the materials to MENG’s office at PKU. Eight of the 109 samples were trade secret chemical compounds whose structures had not been publicly disclosed by DuPont. During interviews with government agents, MENG willfully denied that he had sent the sample compounds to his colleague at Northwestern with instructions for the compounds to be shipped to China, when he knew that such statements were false.

United States Attorney David C. Weiss said of the case: “The conviction of Dr. Hong Meng demonstrates our office’s commitment to prosecuting offenses involving the unauthorized accessing of trade secret information. We will continue to vigilantly enforce intellectual property offenses, particularly when such offenses involve the possible transmittal of sensitive trade secret information outside the United States.”

“Ensuring the protection of sensitive technologies created by our trusted partners in the private sector has, and will remain, a critical goal of the FBI’s Wilmington office,” said Richard McFeely, Special Agent in Charge. “We remain committed to investigating and prosecuting individuals who exploit U.S. technologies for their own gain.”

This case is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Wilmington Resident Office. Assistant United States Attorney Robert F. Kravetz is prosecuting the case for the United States Attorney’s Office.

For further information, contact Assistant United States Attorney Robert F. Kravetz.