But that's exactly how it works. I have worked at a company that did a "clean room" reimplementation of a competitor's product. You cannot have anyone who was

But that's exactly how it works. I have worked at a company that did a "clean room" reimplementation of a competitor's product. You cannot have anyone who was formerly an employee of the other company anywhere near a project like that. It's not that you will be prosecuted as a criminal, it's so that your company has some defense against being sued. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clean_room_design https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clean_room_design