By: Andrew Harris
Bloomberg/Businessweek

A former Dow Chemical Co. research scientist was sentenced to five years in prison for stealing trade secrets and selling them to Chinese companies.

The sentence against Wen Chyu Liu, also known as David W. Liou, was handed down yesterday by U.S. District Judge James J. Brady in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. A jury in February convicted Liu of perjury and conspiring to steal Dow trade secrets. He was indicted in 2005.

Liu, 75, of Houston worked for Dow from 1965 to 1992. At its Plaquemine, Louisiana, facility he had access to secrets related to the manufacture of chlorinated polyethylene or CPE, used in the making of vinyl siding, electrical cable jackets and industrial hoses, according to a U.S. Justice Department statement today.

"The technology that Mr. Liou was convicted of stealing belonged to Dow," the Midland, Michigan-based company said in an e-mailed statement today. "Because of his education and position within the company, Mr. Liou knew of its immense value."