Taiwan’s UMC Pays to Settle Tech Theft Litigation With Micron
(Bloomberg) -- United Microelectronics Corp. and Micron Technology Inc. have settled a civil lawsuit in which the U.S. memory chipmaker accused the Taiwanese company of stealing and leaking its intellectual property to a Chinese partner.
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UMC will make a one-time payment of an undisclosed amount to settle all competing claims between the companies globally, according to a joint statement. The move ends a high-profile chapter in U.S.-China tensions, with the international case serving as a focal point for Washington complaints of Beijing facilitating forced technology transfers from America to China, a charge the Asian country denies.
The case concerned an allegedly illegal transfer of Micron’s memory designs in a chip manufacturing deal between UMC and Jinjiang-based Fujian Jinhua Integrated Circuit Co. In 2020, UMC pleaded guilty in San Francisco federal court in a deal with U.S. prosecutors, who agreed to drop charges of economic espionage and conspiracy. UMC instead admitted to trade-secret theft and agreed to pay a $60 million fine.
Following the move, Micron said it will continue to seek “full restitution” from UMC in a separate civil lawsuit.
Read more about Taiwan’s UMC and its efforts to aid U.S. pursuit of alleged Chinese intellectual theft
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