10 ex-Nokian employees sentenced for 'violating secrets'

NOKIA, Finland — A district court in Finland has sentenced 10 former Nokian Tyres P.L.C. employees charged with "violation and abuse" of the company's "secrets," in what has been described by the Finnish tire maker as the "largest business secrecy case that Finland has seen."

In an Aug. 31 statement, Nokian said the former employees were now working for another Finland-based company, Black Donuts Engineering Oy, which offers tire consulting services.

According to the statement, the district court of Pirkanmaa, Finland, convicted all defendants, which included four companies and 10 individuals, with eight individuals sentenced to conditional imprisonment of 6-18 months and two fined.

The managing director and two other executives from Black Donuts Engineering were sentenced to business prohibitions of three to five years in addition to imprisonment, Nokian added.

The 10 individuals had resigned from Nokian between 2010 and 2011.

"They were charged with the theft of tens of thousands of records containing Nokian Tyres' business secrets (related to tire technology and product development, for example) and their utilization in competing business," Nokian said.

Nokian added that Black Donuts had been made to pay $353,000 in fines imposed on corporation and $632,350 in loss of benefits to the state. The defendants were also obliged to pay more than $705,000 in legal expenses to Nokian Tyres.

In correspondence with European Rubber Journal, Black Donuts President and CEO Kai Hauvala confirmed the court ruling, saying his company had been part of a legal dispute related to alleged benefits from knowledge and materials under trade secrets belonging to Nokian Tyres.

"Has this case been a financial burden? Of course, to some extent, but in the end [Black Donuts'] operations continue unhindered with strong financial basis.… The legal case has not affected our customer acquisition in any way," Mr. Hauvala said, playing down the verdict.

Mr. Hauvala stated that the prosecution had sought more than $23.5 million in compensation, adding his company had avoided "worst scenarios".

According to the district court's verdict, Nokian Tyres had been exposed to risk of loss; however, "since the damage caused could not be unambiguously demonstrated, no reparations were imposed."

"This case has been processed since 2011, so we are happy that a decision has finally been reached and all defendants have been convicted," said Nokian Tyres President and CEO Hille Korhonen.

"The decision documents and their appendices contain more than 300 pages, so we will study them carefully and form our final opinion later on",

Nokian said it would preserve the right appeal in the case.