Apple Chipmaker TSMC Employee Accused Of Stealing Trade Secrets Regarding 16nm And 10nm Process Tech

According to Taiwanese publication DigiTimes, an employee of Apple chipmaker TSMC was accused of stealing secrets from the firm and trying t...

According to Taiwanese publication DigiTimes, an employee of Apple chipmaker TSMC was accused of stealing secrets from the firm and trying to bring it to a new company. Yet, Taiwan’s Hsinchu District Prosecutor’s Office only announced the employee’s surname, Zhou.

The report states that Zho was accused of copying confidential documents of TSMC's 16nm and 10nm process technology and related devices, and was indicted for violating integrity. TSMC reported it to the prosecution. However, TSMC will not make public comments or provide more details until the case enters the judicial process.

Surnamed Chou, the former TSMC deputy manager of technology stands accused of copying confidential documents regarding the foundry's 16nm and 10nm node processes and related facilities, and trying to take the data with him to a new job in China, according to Taiwan's Hsinchu District Prosecutors' Office.

This is not the first time we have heard the trade secrets theft related to Apple. Back in 2015, another TSMC employee was sued, due to he had leaked some research and development secrets to Samsung, which enabled Samsung to catch up with the chip manufacturing process, with the final result being that TSMC won the case.