United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電), the nation’s second-largest contract chipmaker, and three of its employees were on Wednesday indicted for alleged theft and use of trade secrets from Micron Technology Inc’s local units in the latest row over escalating talent poaching.
UMC, Ho Chien-ting (何建廷), Wang Yong-ming (王永銘) and Rong Le-tien (戎樂天) allegedly illegally replicated Micron’s manufacturing techniques for the profit of UMC businesses in China, the Taichung District Prosecutors’ Office said in its indictment.
UMC is developing DRAM chip manufacturing technologies in collaboration with China’s Fujian Jin Hua Integrated Circuit Co (晉華集成電路) via a Chinese subsidiary.
Photo: Hung Yu-fang, Taipei Times
UMC and its employees contravened the Trade Secrets Act (營業秘密法) and the Copyright Act (著作權法), prosecutors said.
In a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange on Wednesday, UMC said it had not received official notification of the indictment.
UMC would fully cooperate with any investigation and would hire lawyers to safeguard its interests, it added.
Micron said it aims to protect its intellectual property through the lawsuits.
The government’s enforcement of related rules would assure foreign investors who are interested in investing in Taiwan that their properties and interests would be fully safeguarded, it added.
Ho and Wang are former employees of Micron’s local unit, where Ho was a section chief and Wang a manufacturing deputy manager.
In November 2015, Ho joined UMC as technical manager for special projects.
Wang followed suit in March last year, joining UMC as a technical manager for components.
Ho stole classified trade secrets from Micron and used them at UMC, helping a UMC subsidiary in China manufacture memorychip wafers, prosecutors said.
Wang is suspected of stealing manufacturing technology and protocols, which he gave to Rong, a UMC technical division associate, to speed up the design of UMC’s process protocol, prosecutors said.
Micron in February filed a lawsuit after discovering that Wang had made electronic copies of company files, which he allegedly handed over to UMC.
Later that month, prosecutors raided UMC’s Tainan plant.
After learning about the search, Rong reportedly instructed Ho and Wang to delete all related information from the company’s database.
When questioned by prosecutors, Ho and Wang claimed that they took the data for personal research, while Rong said he only made suggestions to Wang on manufacturing design.
Super Typhoon Kong-rey is the largest cyclone to impact Taiwan in 27 years, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said today. Kong-rey’s radius of maximum wind (RMW) — the distance between the center of a cyclone and its band of strongest winds — has expanded to 320km, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. The last time a typhoon of comparable strength with an RMW larger than 300km made landfall in Taiwan was Typhoon Herb in 1996, he said. Herb made landfall between Keelung and Suao (蘇澳) in Yilan County with an RMW of 350km, Chang said. The weather station in Alishan (阿里山) recorded 1.09m of
STORM’S PATH: Kong-Rey could be the first typhoon to make landfall in Taiwan in November since Gilda in 1967. Taitung-Green Island ferry services have been halted Tropical Storm Kong-rey is forecast to strengthen into a typhoon early today and could make landfall in Taitung County between late Thursday and early Friday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, Kong-Rey was 1,030km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), the nation’s southernmost point, and was moving west at 7kph. The tropical storm was packing maximum sustained winds of 101kph, with gusts of up to 126 kph, CWA data showed. After landing in Taitung, the eye of the storm is forecast to move into the Taiwan Strait through central Taiwan on Friday morning, the agency said. With the storm moving
NO WORK, CLASS: President William Lai urged people in the eastern, southern and northern parts of the country to be on alert, with Typhoon Kong-rey approaching Typhoon Kong-rey is expected to make landfall on Taiwan’s east coast today, with work and classes canceled nationwide. Packing gusts of nearly 300kph, the storm yesterday intensified into a typhoon and was expected to gain even more strength before hitting Taitung County, the US Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center said. The storm is forecast to cross Taiwan’s south, enter the Taiwan Strait and head toward China, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The CWA labeled the storm a “strong typhoon,” the most powerful on its scale. Up to 1.2m of rainfall was expected in mountainous areas of eastern Taiwan and destructive winds are likely
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday at 5:30pm issued a sea warning for Typhoon Kong-rey as the storm drew closer to the east coast. As of 8pm yesterday, the storm was 670km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻) and traveling northwest at 12kph to 16kph. It was packing maximum sustained winds of 162kph and gusts of up to 198kph, the CWA said. A land warning might be issued this morning for the storm, which is expected to have the strongest impact on Taiwan from tonight to early Friday morning, the agency said. Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) and Green Island (綠島) canceled classes and work