Intellectual Property Law

New Matter WINTER 2021, VOLUME 46, EDITION 4

THE DOJ’S CHINA INITIATIVE AND THE CONTROVERSY OF PROSECUTING PROFESSORS AND RESEARCHERS IN THE U.S. FOR TRADE SECRETS THEFT

AUTHORS

Catherine Lui
Orrick, Herrington, & Sutcliffe LLP

Krystal Anderson
Orrick, Herrington, & Sutcliffe LLP

Despite the DOJ successfully obtaining convictions on a number of prosecutions under its China Initiative, many contend that it may be on the cusp of unraveling, particularly regarding the DOJ’s efforts to target professors and researchers at American universities with alleged ties to China. On September 9, 2021, Anming Hu, a professor at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville ("UTK"), was acquitted over an alleged failure to disclose ties to a Chinese university in receiving federal grant funds. In July 2021, the DOJ also voluntarily dismissed five indictments against researchers alleged to have ties with the Chinese military. As a result of these headlines, particularly the Hu acquittal, the China Initiative has garnered a number of critics, and raised a number of questions pertaining to academic freedom, racial profiling, and the criminalization of routine research collaboration. This article explores the history of the DOJ’s prosecution of professors and researchers at American universities under the China Initiative, and discusses the impact of the recent acquittal in the matter of United States v. Hu.1

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