Prosecutors yesterday charged three people with stealing trade secrets relating to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TMSC, 台積電) most advanced 2-nanometer chips to help a Japanese company that makes equipment for the chipmaking giant.
TSMC is the world’s largest contract maker of chips that are used in everything from smartphones to missiles, and counts Nvidia Corp and Apple Inc among its clients.
The three people — including a former TSMC engineer who went to work for Tokyo Electron’s Taiwan subsidiary and two staff employed by the chipmaker at the time — were charged under the National Security Act (國家安全法) and the Trade Secrets Act (營業秘密法).
Photo: I-Hwa Cheng, AFP
“This case involves critical national core technologies vital to Taiwan’s industrial lifeline, gravely threatening the international competitiveness of Taiwan’s semiconductor sector,” the High Prosecutors’ Office’s Intellectual Property Branch said in a statement.
The ex-TSMC employee surnamed Chen (陳) allegedly used his relationships with former colleagues at the chipmaker to access trade secrets with the aim of helping Tokyo Electron “compete to become a supplier of equipment for more sites in TSMC’s advanced processes,” prosecutors said.
“After obtaining these files, Chen reproduced them to help Tokyo Electron improve etching machine performance and secure a qualification to supply production machinery for TSMC’s 2-nanometer etching process,” they said.
Tokyo Electron is a major producer of chipmaking equipment used by TSMC, winning the 2024 TSMC Excellent Performance Award for both “technology collaboration and production support.”
Prosecutors said they would seek prison sentences of 14 years for Chen, and nine and seven years for the other two defendants.
Another three people initially arrested in relation to the incident were not charged.
Tokyo Electron previously said it had sacked its staff member after they were “confirmed to be involved in an incident announced by Taiwanese judicial authorities on August 5.”
TSMC did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
The company said in a previous statement it had taken “strict disciplinary actions against the personnel involved” in the “potential trade secret leaks.”
TSMC did not provide details about the technology involved in the suspected leaks.
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