AU Optronics Corp (友達光電), the nation’s second-largest LCD panel maker, yesterday said former research executives stole trade secrets from the company and supplied them to a Chinese rival in exchange for hefty rewards and employment.
The Hsinchu-based company said in a statement published on its Web site that the executives offered a Chinese rival important and advanced know-how, including information on active-matrix organic light-emitting diode (AMOLED) technology, image quality technology and technology related to a 4-Mask process for manufacturing TFT-LCDs.
“The behavior of these former executives has not only infringed on the fruits of our investments in research and development, but also seriously hurt fair competition in the industry,” AUO said in the statement.
The company did not name its former executives nor identify the Chinese company.
AUO said it had reported the issue to the Ministry of Justice’s Investigation Bureau and filed a lawsuit against the executives in question with the Hsinchu District Court.
“The company will cooperate with the investigation and provide all necessary assistance to prosecutors and investigators,” AUO said in the statement.
Several local media, including the state-owned Central News Agency (CNA), said the AUO officials involved were a person surnamed Lien (連), who worked at the company’s display business unit, and Wang (王), who worked at the organic light-emitting diode (OLED) division.
The reports, citing sources from the Investigation Bureau, also named the Chinese company involved as China Star Optoelectronics Technology Co (華星光電), China’s No. 2 flat-screen panel maker and a member of the leading TV maker TCL Group.
The rise of Chinese TV panel makers, such as China Star Optoelectronics and its bigger peer BOE Technology Group Co (京東方), have gradually become a threat to Taiwanese and South Korean businesses thanks to the massive Chinese TV market and support from the Chinese government, David Hsieh (謝勤益), vice president of NPD DisplaySearch for the Greater China market, said in August.
The local media’s reports said the two executives joined the Chinese company in September last year, after they resigned from AUO.
Citing sources from the Investigation Bureau, the reports said Lien was serving as a vice president of TCL’s industrial research institute on a three-year US$2.5 million contract, while Wang was working at China Star Optoelectronics’ AMOLED business division, with an annual salary of NT$5 million (US$170,000).
According to the reports, investigators conducted a nine-month probe of the case and searched the two executives’ houses on Sept. 26, when they returned to Taiwan for the Mid-Autumn Festival.
Following questioning of the two, prosecutors have not issued arrest warrants, but have barred the two individuals from leaving the country pending further investigation, the reports said.
Under the National Technology Protection Law (國家科技保護法), flat-panel technology is one of the nation’s most sensitive technologies, which could have a significant impact on Taiwan’s national security and technological competitiveness if exported without government approval.
‘SWASTICAR’: Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s close association with Donald Trump has prompted opponents to brand him a ‘Nazi’ and resulted in a dramatic drop in sales Demonstrators descended on Tesla Inc dealerships across the US, and in Europe and Canada on Saturday to protest company chief Elon Musk, who has amassed extraordinary power as a top adviser to US President Donald Trump. Waving signs with messages such as “Musk is stealing our money” and “Reclaim our country,” the protests largely took place peacefully following fiery episodes of vandalism on Tesla vehicles, dealerships and other facilities in recent weeks that US officials have denounced as terrorism. Hundreds rallied on Saturday outside the Tesla dealership in Manhattan. Some blasted Musk, the world’s richest man, while others demanded the shuttering of his
Taiwan’s official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) last month rose 0.2 percentage points to 54.2, in a second consecutive month of expansion, thanks to front-loading demand intended to avoid potential US tariff hikes, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. While short-term demand appeared robust, uncertainties rose due to US President Donald Trump’s unpredictable trade policy, CIER president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) told a news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s economy this year would be characterized by high-level fluctuations and the volatility would be wilder than most expect, Lien said Demand for electronics, particularly semiconductors, continues to benefit from US technology giants’ effort
TIGHT-LIPPED: UMC said it had no merger plans at the moment, after Nikkei Asia reported that the firm and GlobalFoundries were considering restarting merger talks United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電), the world’s No. 4 contract chipmaker, yesterday launched a new US$5 billion 12-inch chip factory in Singapore as part of its latest effort to diversify its manufacturing footprint amid growing geopolitical risks. The new factory, adjacent to UMC’s existing Singapore fab in the Pasir Res Wafer Fab Park, is scheduled to enter volume production next year, utilizing mature 22-nanometer and 28-nanometer process technologies, UMC said in a statement. The company plans to invest US$5 billion during the first phase of the new fab, which would have an installed capacity of 30,000 12-inch wafers per month, it said. The
ADVERSARIES: The new list includes 11 entities in China and one in Taiwan, which is a local branch of Chinese cloud computing firm Inspur Group The US added dozens of entities to a trade blacklist on Tuesday, the US Department of Commerce said, in part to disrupt Beijing’s artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced computing capabilities. The action affects 80 entities from countries including China, the United Arab Emirates and Iran, with the commerce department citing their “activities contrary to US national security and foreign policy.” Those added to the “entity list” are restricted from obtaining US items and technologies without government authorization. “We will not allow adversaries to exploit American technology to bolster their own militaries and threaten American lives,” US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick said. The entities
RSS