Prosecutors in Taiwan charged three individuals over alleged theft of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) trade secrets linked to its industry-leading 2nm production process. One accused is a former TSMC employee who later joined Tokyo Electron's Taiwan office; Tokyo Electron dismissed the staff member and pledged cooperation. Authorities say the stolen material involves classified secrets tied to core national key technologies, and prosecutors initiated criminal proceedings under the amended National Security Act. The recent amendments raise penalties for technology-related trade secret theft. Potential sentences include up to 14 years for one defendant and up to nine and seven years for the others.
TSMC, the world's biggest contract chipmaker and Taiwan's crown jewel, hailed the move, which followed a legal complaint earlier this month. It says the complaint is linked to "classified trade secrets tied to core national key technologies." The chipmaker confirmed in an emailed statement that the prosecutor had determined the defendants in the company's original complaint "were suspected of violating the National Security Act" and had "initiated criminal proceedings following the conclusion of the investigation."
Taiwan amended its National Security Act two years ago to increase the potential punishments for the theft of trade secrets relating to core technologies. According to a report by Taiwan's national news agency on Wednesday, prosecutors say these are the first indictments under the new provision. The Intellectual Property Branch of the Taiwan High Prosecutors Office released a video explainer (in Mandarin) of the law this morning.
The three accused include a former TSMC worker who joined the Taiwanese office of Japanese chipmaking equipment manufacturer Tokyo Electron, and two others who are alleged to have pilfered secrets about TSMC's industry-leading 2nm production process. Tokyo Electron said earlier this month that it had "taken strict disciplinary action and dismissed the personnel involved who worked at [its] Taiwan subsidiary," and was committed to cooperating with the authorities.
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