Indiana companies can take an extra dose of comfort today knowing the Indiana courts and prosecutors are protecting their valuable intellectual property. A Chinese-born scientist pleaded guilty on Tuesday to stealing valuable trade secrets about pesticides and food products from two major U.S. companies and sending the information to China and Germany.

Kexue Huang, 46, worked at a Dow Chemical Co subsidiary from 2003 to 2008 in Indiana where he led a team of scientists developing organic insecticides and then later for another agribusiness giant, privately held Cargill Inc.

Huang pleaded guilty in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana to one count of stealing trade secrets from Cargill and one count of engaging in economic espionage at Dow, only the eighth case charged involving the U.S. Economic Espionage Act of 1996.

Click here for the full Reuters story or the original indictment over a year ago.

For more information on protecting your valuable trade secrets: Creating a Trade Secret Policy