Three People Charged in Taiwan for Theft of TSMC Chip Secrets

Taiwan prosecutors said on Wednesday that three people have been charged with for theft of trade secrets from chipmaker TSMC.

The three are accused of conspiring to use information from the world’s top chipmaker to help Japan’s Tokyo Electron to compete for supplier deals with a 2-nanometre chipmaking process.

The defendants include a former TSMC employee, surnamed Chen, who after joining chipmaking tools supplier Tokyo Electron, allegedly solicited help from former colleagues at the Taiwanese chip giant for details on TSMC’s technology trade secret, the prosecutors said.

ALSO SEE: Trump’s 50% Tariffs on Indian Imports Hits Jobs, Bilateral Ties

The prosecutors said they were recommending a combined 14-year prison term for Chen for violating Taiwan’s trade secrets and national security laws.

TSMC said in an emailed statement that it had a zero-tolerance policy toward any actions that compromise the protection of trade secrets or harm the company’s interests.

The company was committed to “safeguarding our core competitiveness,” it said. “Such violations are dealt with strictly and pursued to the fullest extent of the law.

“To ensure this, we will continue to strengthen our internal management and monitoring systems and will work closely with relevant regulatory authorities as necessary to protect our competitive advantage and operational stability.”

Tokyo Electron did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Prosecutors said it was the first case brought under Taiwan’s National Security Law involving the theft of core technologies.

TSMC’s 2-nanometre chip technology is the most advanced in the semiconductor industry in terms of both density and energy efficiency, according to the company’s website.

On August 5, Taiwanese authorities said they had arrested three people for allegedly stealing technology trade secrets from TSMC.

Tokyo Electron later confirmed that a former employee of its Taiwan subsidiary was involved in the case.