TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan’s Intellectual Property Court sentenced former TSMC engineer Chen Li-ming (陳力銘) to 10 years in prison for violating the National Security Act in a 2 nm semiconductor trade secret leak case involving multiple engineers and Japanese equipment supplier Tokyo Electron.

Current TSMC engineers Wu Ping-jun (吳秉駿) and Ko I-ping (戈一平) were sentenced to three years and two years for their roles in the case, per CNA. Another TSMC engineer, Chen Wei-chieh (陳韋傑), received a six-year sentence for stealing the firm’s trade secrets.

Tokyo Electron employee Lu I-yin (盧怡尹) was sentenced to 10 months in prison, suspended for three years, and ordered to pay NT$1 million to the public treasury, CNA reported. The firm was fined NT$150 million, with a three-year suspended enforcement period, and ordered to pay NT$100 million to TSMC and NT$50 million to the public treasury.

According to prosecutors, Chen Li-ming previously worked in the yield department at TSMC’s Fab 12. After leaving the company, he joined Tokyo Electron’s marketing division, a semiconductor equipment supplier to TSMC.

Prosecutors said that from the second half of 2023 to the first half of 2024, Chen Li-ming allegedly sought to help Tokyo Electron become a supplier of more advanced process-tool installations at TSMC. He repeatedly asked TSMC engineers Wu and Ko to provide confidential key technologies and trade secrets, which were photographed and reproduced to help improve the performance of etching equipment in an effort to qualify for TSMC’s 2 nm production lines.

After detecting irregularities, TSMC conducted an internal investigation and suspected that current and former employees had unlawfully obtained key technologies and trade secrets. The company filed a complaint on July 8.

Prosecutors and investigators carried out searches and interrogations between July 25 and 28, after which Chen Li-ming, Wu, and Ko were detained. On Aug. 27, prosecutors indicted the three under the National Security Act and Trade Secrets Act for the unlawful acquisition and overseas use of national core technologies.

They sought prison terms of 14 years for Chen Li-ming, nine years for Wu, and seven years for Ko. Prosecutors later determined that Tokyo Electron bore supervisory responsibility but had insufficient internal controls, leading to additional charges and a requested NT$120 million fine, according to CNA.

Further investigation found that Tokyo Electron’s cloud storage still contained TSMC’s classified core technologies, including IC manufacturing processes for nodes below 14 nm, as well as related gases, chemicals, and equipment. In January, prosecutors expanded the indictment to include Chen Wei-chieh, Lu, and Tokyo Electron, seeking additional prison terms and fines.