Arik Johnson’s Weblog

Bernard Charlès, the chief executive of Dassault, said that Siemens might not have actually sought the data but might have received the files from a third party. Nonetheless, he said, business ethics demand that a company return the data.

Mr. Charlès declined to identify anyone suspected of having illegally obtained the data but said it appeared to have been a Dassault employee in Germany who took confidential data when leaving the company. The employee left Dassault on good terms, he said, but might have hoped to get a job at Siemens P.L.M.

He stressed that the data had been properly secured. “We did not lose those files,” Mr. Charlès said. “They were stolen.”