Tokyo Electron says no organizational role in trade secrets case related to TSM: report

[TSMC Wafer Factory II.]
Gins Wang

Tokyo Electron has not confirmed any organizational role following the indictment of a former employee in Taiwan for alleged theft of trade secrets from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (NYSE:TSM [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/TSM]), Reuters reported.

On Wednesday, Taiwan prosecutors said they had indicted three people in the TSM trade secrets case, accusing them of conspiring to use the information to help Tokyo Electron compete for TSM's supplier deals for the 2-nanometer process technology, the report added [https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/tokyo-electron-says-it-has-no-organisational-role-tsmc-trade-secrets-case-2025-08-28/].

TSM and Tokyo Electron did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Seeking Alpha.

The defendants included a former TSM employee, surnamed Chen, who after joining Tokyo Electron had asked for help from his former colleagues for the information on TSM's technology trade secrets, the prosecutors said, according to the report.

Tokyo Electron said its investigation has "not confirmed any organisational involvement, such as instructions encouraging the inappropriate acquisition of information by the said former employee, nor any leakage of related confidential information to outside parties," the report noted.

Earlier this month, Tokyo Electron said [https://www.tel.com/news/notice/2025/20250807_001.html] that it had taken strict disciplinary action and dismissed the personnel involved who worked at Taiwan subsidiary and was committed to cooperating with the authorities for the investigation.

Prosecutors have said they are recommending a combined 14-year prison term for Chen for breaching Taiwan's trade secrets and national security laws, the report added.

The case is the first brought under Taiwan's National Security Law involving the alleged theft of core technologies, the report noted.

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