US Professor pleads guilty to lying to FBI on patents in China
Jan 21, 2022
Washington [US], January 22 : A US professor has pleaded guilty to making a false statement to the FBI about the existence of patents for his inventions in China and has admitted that he failed to disclose a conflict of interest to the university.
"An Arkansas man and the University of Arkansas Professor pleaded guilty for making a false statement to the FBI about the existence of patents for his inventions in the People's Republic of China (PRC)," the US Justice Department said.
"Simon Saw-Teong Ang, 64, of Fayetteville entered a guilty plea to count 58 on a superseding indictment charging him with making a materially false and fictitious, statement and representation to an FBI Special Agent," the press release added.
According to court documents, 24 patents filed in China bear Ang's name, the press release noted.
The University of Arkansas required individuals such as Ang to promptly provide full and complete disclosures of inventions and was clear that the university, not individual inventors, would own all inventions created by those subject to the policy, the Justice Department noted.
Despite this requirement, Ang did not disclose his Chinese patents to the university and, when interviewed by an FBI agent, lied about his involvement in the inventions.
Specifically, when asked whether his name would be listed as "the inventor" of numerous patents in China, Ang denied being the inventor, despite knowing he was, the release said.
