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Taiwan Court Sentences Ex-Tokyo Electron Engineer to 10 Years Over TSMC Trade Secrets
The court also fined Tokyo Electron’s Taiwan unit NT$150 million and ordered NT$100 million paid to TSMC.
- On Monday, Taiwan's Intellectual Property and Commercial Court sentenced former Tokyo Electron engineer Chen Li-ming to 10 years in prison for stealing TSMC proprietary data, fining Tokyo Electron's Taiwan unit NT$150 million.
- Prosecutors indicted Chen and other former TSMC employees in August 2025 for allegedly obtaining trade secrets aimed at helping Tokyo Electron secure more equipment orders, prompting the company's Taiwan unit to plead guilty to violating national security laws.
- Judge Chang Ming-huang handed three other defendants prison terms ranging from two to six years, while Tokyo Electron stated it would reinforce compliance systems to "ensure that such incidents never occur again."
- Taiwan remains on alert against intellectual property theft, with authorities investigating potential poaching by Semiconductor Manufacturing International in early 2025 and searching homes of a former TSMC executive who joined Intel.
- The ruling marks a high-profile defense of the island's most strategic sector, where TSMC manufactures chips for Nvidia, Apple, and Google, highlighting growing alarm over industrial espionage targeting Taiwan's advanced technology.
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A Taiwanese court fined the local branch of the Japanese company US$5 million and sentenced five former employees to prison terms of up to 10 years.
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A Taiwanese court has sentenced individuals involved in the leak of secrets regarding TSMC's cutting-edge 2nm (nanometer) process to up to 10 years in prison. The individuals are reported to have handed over the relevant information to Tokyo Electron (TEL), Japan's largest semiconductor equipment manufacturer.
Coverage Details
Total News Sources37
Leaning Left12Leaning Right6Center10Last UpdatedBias Distribution43% Left
Bias Distribution
- 43% of the sources lean Left
43% Left
L 43%
C 36%
R 21%
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