Advanced Micro Devices, popularly known as AMD, has filed a complaint yesterday saying that four of its previous employees, ex-key officials for that matter, brought along with them sensitive documents or electronic files before joining fierce graphics competitor NVIDIA. The defendants are Robert Feldstein, Manoo Desai, Nicolas Kociuk, and Richard Hagen.
The four are former top AMD executives, with Feldstein serving as vice-president and the three as managers. AMD says that the defendants downloaded over 100,000 files into external hard drives and recruited potential NVIDIA employees after their tenure. Feldstein left AMD in July last year. Desai, Kociuk, and Hagen followed months after Feldstein’s departure.
Based on the evidence uncovered, three of the four defendants, namely Feldstein, Desai, and Kociuk transfered trade secret files and information in the days prior to leaving AMD for NVIDIA. The investigation also led AMD to believe that Feldstein and Hagen both recruited Desai, who in turn recruited Kociuk.