September 25, 1997  FEDERAL CRIMINAL CHARGES BROUGHT FOR THEFT OF GILLETTE
SHAVE SECRETS

     BOSTON, MA ...  An Iowa man was indicted yesterday on charges that he
stole and disclosed trade secrets of The Gillette Company. 

     United States Attorney Donald K. Stern and Barry Mawn, Special Agent
in Charge of the Boston office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation,
announced today that a federal grand jury in Nashville, Tennessee, returned
a 10-count indictment charging STEVEN L. DAVIS, 47, currently residing in
Washington, Iowa, with wire fraud and theft of trade secrets.  The
indictment alleges that DAVIS stole and disclosed trade secrets concerning
the development of a new shaving system by The Gillette Company, which is
headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts.

     According to the indictment, DAVIS was employed as a process controls
engineer for Wright Industries, Inc., a Tennessee designer of fabrication
equipment, which had been hired by Gillette to assist in the development of
the new shaving system.  The new shaving system project was extremely
confidential and was treated so by both Gillette and Wright Industries.  In
February and March, 1997, according to the indictment, DAVIS made
disclosures of technical drawings to Gillette's competitors in the razor
market, Warner-Lambert Co., Bic, and American Safety Razor Co.  These
disclosures were made by fax and by electronic mail.  The indictment also
charges DAVIS with wire fraud. 

     In October 1996, concerned about both domestic and foreign economic
espionage, Congress criminalized the disclosure of trade secrets relating
to products sold in interstate commerce.  This case is the first case
involving a Massachusetts victim. 

     U.S. Attorney Stern said, "Congress correctly understood that, in
this day and age, stealing trade secrets can be more damaging than breaking
into a company's warehouse and stealing its inventory.  That is
particularly so in Massachusetts, where intellectual property is our life
blood.  In this case, it is alleged that the defendant stole Gillette's
shave secrets."

     If convicted, DAVIS faces a ten-year term of imprisonment on each of
the five trade secrets counts, and a five-year term on each of the wire
fraud counts.  He also faces a fine of $250,000 on each count.  

     This case was investigated by the Boston Office of the Federal Bureau
of Investigation with assistance from the FBI's Nashville Office.  The case
will be prosecuted in Tennessee by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeanne M.
Kempthorne, Deputy Chief of Stern's Economic Crimes Unit, with the
assistance of Assistant U.S. Attorney Wendy Goggin, of the U.S. Attorney's
Office in Nashville. 

Donald K. Stern, U.S. Attorney
United States Attorney's Office
District of Massachusetts
1003 J.W. McCormack POCH
Boston, MA  02109

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