Opinion ID: 3010675
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 8

Heading: Cell lines excluded!!!

Text: Chou also allegedly told Hartmann that she would offer $400,000 in cash, stock, and royalties to the Bristol-Myers scientist in exchange for his disclosure of the Taxol secrets. In addition, Chou and Hsu purportedly began making arrangements for a 1997 meeting between the parties, the purpose of which was for YFP to establish the authenticity of the corrupt scientist and to determine whether Hartmann really could produce the Taxol trade secrets that Chou and Hsu had requested. Hartmann agreed to a meeting, and on June 14, 1997, he and the Bristol-Myers scientist met with three 4 representatives from YFP, including Hsu, Ho, and another unidentified scientist, at the Four Seasons Hotel in Philadelphia. Ho was a professor of biotechnology and the Director of the Biotechnology Innovation Center at the National Chiao Tung University in Taiwan, and he had apparently been asked to evaluate the Taxol technology at the meeting as a favor to YFP. The indictment alleges that the bulk of the June 14 meeting consisted of detailed discussions regarding the manufacturing processes for Taxol. The Bristol-Myers scientist explained the background and history of Taxol production, and displayed copies of Bristol-Myers documents outlining specific technological processes and scientific data pertaining to the manufacture of the drug. According to the indictment, these documents contained trade secrets and were clearly marked with Bristol-Myers identification as well as the block stamped word `CONFIDENTIAL.'  Hsu, Ho, and the other YFP employee reviewed the documents during the meeting and purportedly asked the Bristol-Myers scientist numerous questions regarding specific areas of Taxol technology. Finally, after Hartmann and the Bristol-Myers scientist left the room, the FBI rushed in and arrested Hsu and Ho at the hotel.2 The indictment returned by the grand jury charged Hsu, Ho, and Chou with six counts of wire fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. S 1343, one count of general federal conspiracy in violation of 18 U.S.C. S 371, two counts of foreign and interstate travel to facilitate commercial bribery in violation of 18 U.S.C. S 1952(a)(3), one count of aiding and abetting in violation of 18 U.S.C. S 2, and, most importantly for our purposes, two counts of criminal activity under the Economic Espionage Act of 1996 (the EEA), including attempted theft of trade secrets, and a conspiracy to steal trade secrets, in violation of 18 U.S.C. SS 1832 (a)(4) and
_________________________________________________________________ 2. An arrest warrant has since been issued for Chou, but she lives in Taiwan, which has no extradition treaty with the United States. 5