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Two former employees of the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company and a third suspect were arrested because they allegedly stolen proprietary technology of the world’s largest chip manufacturer, said the prosecutors in Taiwan on Tuesday.
TSMC, which had reported the case of the public prosecutor, said that after the routine internal surveillance, it took legal action against the staff that they were involved in “potential trade secret”. The investigators also searched the premises of the Japanese chip tool manufacturer Tokyo Electron in Taiwan.
The probe is the first case of business secrets under the National Security Act of Taiwan since the legislator added provisions to protect key technologies three years ago.
The case also underlines the violent competition in the race for the production of the most modern semiconductors. TSMC Makes more than 90 percent of the most advanced chips in the world and has expanded its lead over the rival Samsung and Intel in recent years.
The branch for intellectual property of the Taiwan High CDO. Anruders said that between the 25th and 28th July they questioned several suspects and witnesses, searched their residences and some jobs and arrested three of them because they arrested the “serious suspicion of violation of the national security laws”.
The suspected suspects include a former TSMC engineer and an engineer who, according to the prosecutors, was still employed in the company when he discovered the problem but has been released since then. The shots were first reported by Nikkei Asia.
The public prosecutor rejected it to explain why Tokyo Electron’s premises were searched as part of the investigation.
“Thanks to our comprehensive and robust surveillance mechanisms, we were able to identify the problem early,” said TSMC. The company rejected it to provide further details or to inform whether the business secrets were passed to a competitor, citing an active examination.
Taiwan included the protection of the “National Core Technologies” in his National Security Act after a number of cases in which Chinese companies received chip manufacturing know -how by wild engineering in Taiwan.
Under intellectual property, it is expressly prevented from getting to “foreign enemy forces” and other competitors who produce technology for chips less than 14 nanometers. TSMC expects the mass production of 2NM chips to begin this year.
In the past, the company has conducted extended junction against competitors who have received TSMC’s technology through former engineers.
This includes cases against a former manager who came to Samsung, the South Korean conglomerate, who has long been a competent competitor, and has come against the Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation, China’s largest contract chipmaker.
TSMC promised “zero tolerance” to measures that affect its protection of business secrets.
“Such violations are … pursued in full of the law,” it said. “We will further strengthen our internal management and surveillance systems and work closely with the responsible regulatory authorities to protect our competitive advantage and our operational stability.”
Tokyo Electron in Japan did not immediately respond to a request for comments and the calls to the company’s Taiwanese offices were not answered.
Additional reporting by Harry Dempsey in Tokyo
