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Taiwan court sentences ex-Tokyo Electron
staff to 10 years in TSMC trade secrets case
[April 27, 2026]
By JOHNSON LAI and CHAN HO-HIM
NEW TAIPEI
CITY, Taiwan (AP) — A court in Taiwan sentenced a former employee of
Japanese computer chip equipment maker Tokyo Electron to 10 years in
prison on Monday in a landmark case over trade secrets of the island’s
leading chipmaker TSMC. |
A worker walks past the logo of TSMC or Taiwan Semiconductor
Manufacturing Corp., a Taiwanese multinational semiconductor contract
manufacturing and design company, in Hsinchu, Taiwan, on Thursday, Jan.
29, 2026. (AP Photo/Daniel Ceng, File) |
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Tokyo Electron was also fined 150 million new Taiwan dollars ($5
million) and four other people were sentenced to up to six years
in jail.
The heavy sentencing under Taiwan’s national security act and
other statutes underscores Taiwan's efforts to protect the
self-ruled island’s advanced technology and semiconductor
sector, which are vital for its export-oriented economy as
artificial intelligence booms.
TSMC, or Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp., is one of the
world’s most valuable companies and counts Nvidia and Apple as
key customers.
In handing down the 10-year sentence at Taiwan’s Intellectual
Property and Commercial Court, Judge Chang Ming-huang said Chen
Li-ming, who worked at TSMC before moving to Tokyo Electron's
subsidiary in Taiwan, was believed to have used his
relationships with his former TSMC colleagues to illegally
access and collect the chip maker's trade secrets.
Chen photographed, copied and passed along the materials to help
Tokyo-based Tokyo Electron upgrade its technologies and improve
its bids as a TSMC supplier, according to the court.
Chen's motivation was mainly to “improve his personal work
performance,” Chang said, but he jeopardized the competitiveness
and economic security of Taiwan and its chipmaking industry.
TSMC did not immediately comment on Monday’s ruling.
Taiwan’s prosecutors indicted Chen and others in August on
alleged trade secret theft. Tokyo Electron said in a statement
at the time it had dismissed an employee involved in the case
but also said its internal investigation had not confirmed
evidence of the that confidential information was leaked.
The Japanese company said Monday that it takes “the court’s
finding with the utmost seriousness” and will strengthen its
"information management systems and other relevant measures.”
But it stressed that the court and its own probe had not found
any organizational involvement by Tokyo Electron.
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Chan reported from Hong Kong.
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