Chinese wind turbine maker Sinovel must pay US$59 million as punishment ‘for stealing trade secrets’
Although Sinovel had been providing long-term maintenance for some US projects, it ‘fled from the United States’ in 2013 ‘in attempt to avoid facing prosecution’, say prosecutors
Chinese turbine maker Sinovel Wind Group must pay US$59 million as punishment for scheming to steal trade secrets from another wind technology firm, AMSC, formerly known as American Superconductor Corp, a US judge ruled.
Sinovel was found guilty in January of orchestrating the theft in a rare criminal trade-secrets trial that called into question whether China is doing enough to clamp down on infringement of intellectual property, while escalating tensions between the countries.
A federal jury in January found Beijing-based Sinovel guilty on conspiracy, trade-secret theft and wire fraud charges.
US District Judge James Peterson ordered the Chinese company to pay US$1.5 million in fines and US$57.5 million in restitution at a sentencing hearing on Friday in Madison, Wisconsin, according to the US Justice Department.
AMSC claimed it suffered at least US$800 million in losses from Sinovel’s scheme to pilfer its technology, and reached a US$57.5 million settlement with Sinovel that was filed with the court on Wednesday.
The US Justice Department said Sinovel has already paid AMSC US$32.5 million.
AMSC partnered with Sinovel on wind power projects after China passed a clean energy law in 2005, launching the development of major wind farms throughout the country. The Chinese firm built turbines and the US company developed software and technology to control them.