First posted on Commercial Law International on March 23, 2009.

No, no, this is not a joke, nor is it a case of a 007 mission gone awry. It is a simple case involving two British engineers; a British company and its subsidiary; a mobile phone; an American tire company’s secret equipment; and a Chinese tire company.

Oh all so simple, indeed.

The two engineers, Mr. Clark Roberts and Mr. Sean Howley, are due to stand trail in May in Knoxville, Tennessee charged with 12 offences relating to theft of trade secrets and fraud. Both men are looking at a maximum sentence of 150 years — yes, you read correctly, 150 years — and a fine of $2.75 million.

Oh all so simple, indeed.

The story of how these men found themselves in this predicament unfolds as interestingly as any spy novel — if not better. As they say: truth is often stranger than fiction.

The two men worked for Wyko Tire Technology Inc. in Greenback, Tennessee, which happens to be a member of the Wyko Group, one of Britain’s largest suppliers of engineering components. It is alleged that the pair conned their way into a Goodyear plant in Topeka, Kansas, where they took photographs which were emailed to Wyko Tire Technology in Dudley, Midlands, UK.

And what piece of sophisticated spy gear was used?

Are you ready for this? The answer: a mobile phone. Yes, a mobile phone. No, not a watch, or a pen that doubles as a camera, but an everyday, run-of-the-mill cell phone.

According to US prosecutors, after conning their way into the Goodyear plant, Mr. Roberts acted as a lookout for Mr. Howley as he proceeded to take the seven photographs. The pictures were of a piece of a top secret, specialized equipment used in the manufacturing of large off-road tires for earth-moving equipment. Later, the seven photos just so happened to end up in the hands of Wyko Tire in England. This company just happened to have a $1.2 million contract with Haohua South China (Guilin) Rubber Company — based, you guessed it, in China — to produce a very similar piece of equipment.

Both men of course deny all the charges.

Oh all so simple, indeed.