Apple Sues Ex-Employee For Stealing Company’s Secrets To The Media

Apple recently filed a lawsuit against its former advanced materials team leader and product designer Simon Lancaster for stealing and selling the company’s secrets.

The ex-employee was accused of appropriating trade secrets, accessing data outside of his work scope, and then selling them to a media company. In exchange, it will post good news about Lancaster’s new start-up.

Lancaster used to be responsible for assessing materials and prototyping for next-generation product development at the Cupertino giant. He also designed the Magic Mouse, iPad, and Smart Cover smart case for iPads.

According to Apple, through investigating the devices Lancaster is using, it discovered concrete evidence that the employee had obtained confidential information and submitted the information at the request of the reporter. It was revealed that they met secretly many times. Confidential information sent out by Lancaster included product plans for unreleased devices and plans to update existing products.

The company also said that on his last working day of January 1, 2019, Lancaster downloaded confidential documents.

The most important piece of information Lancaster is said to have sold to reporters is a secret project called “Project X.” The company didn’t reveal what the project was about. However, many sources said it was about Apple Glass or AirPods Max.

After leaving the company, Lancaster joined a materials research and development firm called Arris Composites. However, Apple stated that confidential information that Lancaster had stolen from Apple would also be very useful for Arris Composites.

The company is looking for compensation for damages caused by Lancaster for stealing trade secrets and violating the written contract.

This isn’t the first time Apple has sued a former employee. Back in December 2019, Gerard Williams, the former chief architect in charge of microprocessor development for iPhones and iPads, was sued for violating his contract with the company.

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