Taiwan Issues First Convictions Over Chip Trade Secret Leak
The case was handled by the Intellectual Property and Commercial Court, which ruled that former employees had unlawfully shared proprietary information linked to advanced chipmaking processes. The decision marks the first corporate-related conviction under Taiwan’s amended National Security Act.
One of the defendants, former Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company employee Chen Li-ming, received a 10-year prison sentence. The court found that he had shared confidential sub-14 nanometer manufacturing technologies, including details on key gases, chemicals, and equipment used in production after joining Tokyo Electron’s Taiwan operations.
According to reports, Chen allegedly sought proprietary technical data from former colleagues between the second half of 2023 and the first half of 2025, particularly information related to etching machine performance.
Three other engineers—Ko Yi-ping, Wu Ping-chun, and Chen Wei-chieh—were also convicted and received prison terms ranging from two to six years.
In addition to the individual sentences, the court imposed a fine of 150 million New Taiwan dollars (about $4.77 million) on Tokyo Electron Taiwan, with most of the penalty directed to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company as compensation.
The court stated that the leak posed a serious risk to Taiwan’s semiconductor industry, warning that the actions “endangered the international competitiveness of the industry and national economic security” by exposing highly sensitive trade secrets, according to reports.
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