TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwanese prosecutors have filed additional indictments against Tokyo Electron’s Taiwan unit and three defendants over the alleged theft of trade secrets from TSMC, Reuters reported Monday.
Prosecutors said the new indictments name three defendants: Chen Li-ming (陳力銘), a former TSMC engineer who worked at Tokyo Electron Taiwan, another former TSMC employee also surnamed Chen (陳), and a former Tokyo Electron Taiwan employee surnamed Lu (盧).
They are seeking prison terms of seven years for Chen Li-ming, eight years and eight months for Chen, and one year for Lu, according to prosecutors.
Prosecutors are also requesting an additional NT$25 million (US$790,000) fine for Tokyo Electron’s Taiwan unit, on top of a previously sought fine of up to NT$120 million filed in December.
TSMC said the supplementary indictment stems from investigations linked to the trade secret lawsuit it filed in August, adding that it could not comment further as the case is now under judicial review.
Prosecutors said the Tokyo Electron unit was charged under the National Security Act and the Trade Secrets Act. They said that the two former TSMC employees illegally reproduced core trade secrets and that Lu destroyed potential evidence.
They added that investigators found TSMC trade secrets still stored in the unit’s cloud system, while Tokyo Electron has previously said its parent company was not indicted and that the case has no impact on its financial results.
