Nuclear Fusion Trade Secret Trial Set for March 15, 2010; General Nanotechnology, et al. v. Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC, et al., Alameda County Superior Court Case No. VG08384523

OAKLAND, Calif., March 12 /PRNewswire/ -- A major intellectual property jury trial, involving the theft of trade secret information and the breach of Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA), is set to start on Monday, March 15, 2010.  The trial is in Hayward, California, Department 512, Judge John True, III.

Plaintiff Victor Kley, who is the sole owner of General Nanotechnology and Metadigm (the other plaintiffs), approached Lawrence Livermore Lab in the Spring of 2004 with a unique idea to assist them in their National Ignition Fusion Project (NIF).  The NIF program involves firing laser beams at a small target containing nuclear materials.  The purpose of this project is to see if nuclear fusion can be developed for energy purposes.  This is an important national and international scientific program.

Plaintiff Victor Kley, inventor and entrepreneur, invented a method for producing a very hard shell or target to serve as a capsule to capture the nuclear materials that the laser beams strike.  The material he said could be used was diamond (not the jewelry type), one of the hardest material substances known to science.  The Lab did not have the ability to make these targets from diamonds before Kley showed them it could be done.  They expressed great interest in this invention and entered into a Non-Disclosure Agreement with Mr. Kley to have him work on developing these diamond shells in 2004.

Plaintiff contends that instead of dealing with Mr. Kley in good faith, the Lab immediately began to use his trade secret information for their own purposes and eventually took the information that he gave them to Germany to try to develop the diamond target shells on their own.  After several months of discussions and negotiations the Lab suddenly broke off communications with Mr. Kley in October 15, 2004.  However, 10 days before on October 4, 2004, the Lab entered into an agreement with a German company (Fraunhofer) to develop the diamond shells.  Plaintiff contends the Lab stole his technology, lied to him, and breached the Non-Disclosure Agreement.

The case involves important issues of fraud deception and lying by members of the NIF project and their decision to mistreat a local inventor, steal his technology, and send the matter to Germany, rather than have it developed in the United States.  

The jury trial should take 2-3 weeks.  For further information, please contact J. Gary Gwilliam, Randall Strauss or Jane Gorelick  at (510) 832-5411, fax: (510) 832-1918), or e-mail- [email protected].

SOURCE The Law Firm of Gwilliam, Ivary, Chiosso, Cavalli & Brewer