Apple Sues to Stop Ex-MacBook Architect From Leaking Trade Secrets

Former Apple engineer Simon Lancaster-Larocque stole and disseminated trade secrets that included “details of unreleased Apple hardware products, unannounced feature changes to existing hardware products, and future product announcements, all of which Apple guards closely,” alleged the company Thursday in a complaint (in Pacer) in U.S. District Court in San Jose. The complaint, which refers to him only as Lancaster, seeks an injunction to stop his alleged misbehavior, plus damages and the recovery of any profits he gained from the allegedly stolen material. It also alleges Lancaster-Larocque breached an intellectual property confidentiality agreement (in Pacer) he signed in May 2008, a month before joining Apple. “Despite over a decade of employment at Apple,” Lancaster-Larocque “abused his position and trust within the company to systematically disseminate Apple’s sensitive trade secret information in an effort to obtain personal benefits,” said the complaint. “He used his seniority to gain access to internal meetings and documents outside the scope of his job’s responsibilities containing Apple’s trade secrets, and he provided these trade secrets to his outside media correspondent.” The correspondent is not identified in court papers. After Lancaster-Larocque resigned from Apple, “he began working at a company that served as a vendor for Apple under a vendor service agreement,” said the complaint. Portions of the information he misappropriated “relate directly to his role at his new employer,” and it’s likely his “misuse of Apple’s trade secrets continues to this day,” it said. On his last day at Apple, he downloaded “a substantial number of confidential Apple documents from Apple’s corporate network onto his personal computer that would benefit his new company,” it said. Lancaster-Larocque’s LinkedIn profile shows him as joining Arris Composites as head-consumer products in November 2019. His profile says he was Apple’s “advanced materials and prototyping lead” for years and was a key product design architect on the MacBook. Arris didn’t respond to questions, and attempts to reach Lancaster-Larocque were unsuccessful.