Former Philips engineer convicted of stealing X-ray tube secrets for Chinese rival
A 71-year-old ex-engineer of Philips was found guilty of taking X-ray tube trade secrets and giving them to a Chinese competitor.
A federal jury in Chicago convicted 71-year-old former Philips engineer Chih-Yee Jen of stealing multiple trade secrets related to X-ray tubes used in CT scanners. Jen had worked at Philips’ Aurora, Illinois facility since 2006 and left the company on December 29, 2017, shortly before the plant’s closure. Court filings show he collaborated with Xiaoqin Du, a vice-president at Kunshan GuoLi Electronic Technology, to obtain proprietary specifications, manufacturing processes and code, which he then supplied to a Chinese-owned subsidiary operating in Aurora.
The subsidiary, later sold to Kunshan Yiyuan, marketed the illicitly derived tubes in China. Two additional ex-employees, Fince Tendian and Vladimir Nevtonenko, also pleaded guilty. Sentencing for Jen is scheduled for January 5, 2027, with prosecutors emphasizing the national security implications of the theft.
Why it matters
The case highlights risks to U.S. tech leadership when proprietary medical-technology data is illicitly transferred abroad.
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