Micron Technology Inc has settled a high-profile intellectual property (IP) theft lawsuit with a key, state-backed Chinese rival amid the US company’s efforts to mend ties with Beijing.
Micron said it has reached a global settlement agreement with Fujian Jinhua Integrated Circuit Co (福建晉華).
“The two companies will each globally dismiss their complaints against the other party and end all lawsuits between them,” a Micron spokeswoman said in an e-mail, declining to provide further details.
Photo: Bloomberg
The settlement comes months after the Chinese government in May barred Micron’s chips from “critical infrastructure” over cybersecurity concerns. The US has also been working with allies to prevent Beijing from obtaining the most advanced semiconductors and the latest chipmaking technologies.
Micron in June said that about half of its sales tied to China-headquartered clients might be affected by Beijing’s move, representing a “low-double-digit percentage” of its global revenue. The US firm said at the time about one quarter of its global revenue came from businesses based in China and Hong Kong.
Micron appears to have attempted to pacify Beijing, including promising to invest another 4.3 billion yuan (US$606.2 million) in its Chinese chip-packaging plant and sending its chief executive officer, Sanjay Mehrotra, to visit the world’s second-largest economy.
In 2017, Micron sued Fujian Jinhua and its Taiwanese partner, United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電), in the US, accusing the two of stealing the Boise, Idaho-based company’s memorychip trade secrets.
A year later, Fujian Jinhua and UMC were charged with conspiring to steal trade secrets from Micron as the US Department of Justice stepped up actions against China in cases of suspected economic espionage.
Former US president Donald Trump’s administration added Fujian Jinhua to the so-called Entity List, blocking sales of US components to the Chinese chipmaker.
UMC has since settled with Micron and pleaded guilty in a deal with US prosecutors, who agreed to drop serious charges of economic espionage and conspiracy for the alleged IP theft.
However, the US Department of Justice’s case against Fujian Jinhua is still pending.
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