Case study · Disputes
The Process That Walked Out
Departing R&D scientists took a specialty chemical process with them. Months later a new competitor filed for approval on an almost identical route.
- Patent, design & process theft
- Leakage of confidential information
- Evidence destruction
- annual revenue protected
- US$8–12Mannual revenue protected
- injunction obtained
- Interiminjunction obtained
- leavers' devices examined
- 3leavers' devices examined
- controls introduced for R&D
- Exitcontrols introduced for R&D
01The situation
The competitor didn't have a lab history. It had a copy.
A specialty chemicals company had spent years developing a process for a high-margin product. Shortly after a small group of scientists resigned, a newly formed company began offering the same product to the same customers.
How it came to us
A customer mentioned that a new supplier was offering the same product at a lower price, with a process description that matched the company's.
02How it worked
- 01Before resigning, scientists copied batch records, process parameters and analytical methods.
- 02Data moved through personal storage and email in the weeks before exit.
- 03A former colleague had set up the new company months earlier, with the leavers joining as technical partners.
- 04The new company approached the original's customers with a lower price.
Swipe sideways to see the whole diagram.
- The organisation
- Insiders involved
- Channels & documents
- Outside parties
- Where the money ended up
How it was hidden
Gradual copying over weeks, deletion of local copies before handover of devices, and a 'clean room' narrative for the new company's process.
03The challenge
Prove what left, when and through whom, with evidence that would support injunctive relief, while the leavers claimed independent development.
What made it hard
- Proving copying versus independent development
- Devices partly wiped before handover
- Technical evidence requiring expert interpretation
- Need for court-ready evidence quickly
Red flags that were there to see
- Unusual access to process files before resignations
- Group resignations from one team
- New competitor with no visible development history
- Customers receiving lookalike technical dossiers
04Our approach
- Workstream 01
Digital forensics
Preserved and examined returned devices and accounts.
- Workstream 02
Technical comparison
Expert comparison of the competitor's process with the original.
- Workstream 03
Corporate records and OSINT
Formation, ownership and filings of the new company.
- Workstream 04
Litigation support
Evidence chronology and affidavits for counsel.
The breakthrough
Forensic recovery established that specific process documents had been copied before the resignations, and technical comparison showed the competitor's route matched features unique to the company's own development work.
05What we found & did
- Process documents copied by departing staff before exit.
- The competitor's process matched distinctive features of the original.
- The competitor was set up in coordination with the leavers.
- Current employees were cleared.
06The impact
The company obtained interim injunctive relief restraining use of the process, protected its key customer contracts and introduced exit controls for R&D staff.
- annual revenue protected
- US$8–12Mannual revenue protected
- injunction obtained
- Interiminjunction obtained
- leavers' devices examined
- 3leavers' devices examined
- controls introduced for R&D
- Exitcontrols introduced for R&D
07Lessons for your business
The controls that would have stopped this, or caught it sooner:
- Monitor bulk access to process data, especially near resignations.
- Collect and preserve devices on exit.
- Make confidentiality and non-use obligations specific.
- Act quickly; evidence degrades in weeks.
~₹5 Crundue benefit quantified
The CEO's Three Vendors
A subsidiary CEO routed a rural retail rollout through vendors fronted by his own associates. The money trail led back to him.
- Procurement reconstruction
- Corporate and statutory records
- Ground intelligence
- Funds-flow tracing
US$4.7M+diversion traced to the founder
Zero Skin in the Game
An investor funded a road-construction contractor. Within months, the founder's own contribution had quietly gone to zero and the diversion had begun.
- Records digitisation
- Funds-flow reconstruction
- Personal wealth analysis
- Corporate and property records
~1Memails and documents reviewed
The Fortune That Wasn't There
Shareholders suspected their managing director of hiding a fortune. On the data available, the money trail did not support that suspicion, and it surfaced employee frauds instead.
- Digital forensics
- Source and application of funds
- Related-party mapping
- Market intelligence
Client names and identifying details are withheld to protect confidentiality. Specific references and client experiences can be shared on request, with the client’s consent.
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