Former Nanya engineer sentenced to 22 months in prison for trade secrets theft

　Lee, a former senior engineer at Nanya Technology Corporation (“Nanya”), Formosa Plastic Group’s DRAM manufacturer, was accused of copying, by taking screenshots, the process technology of Nanya’s 20-nanometer technology on his personal computer for landing a high-paying job at Xian UnilC Semiconductors Co., Ltd. in 2016, for which Lee has received a sentence of 22-month imprisonment for the offense as sustained by the Taiwan Supreme Court by upholding the decisions given in the previous court instances that “Lee is found guilty of reproducing, without due authorization, trade secrets for attempted use in China”.  The judgment has become final.  

　Learning that Nanya introduced the know-how of 20-nanometer process technology from Micron Technology Inc. in 2016, Lee took advantage of his participation in the online courses and his free time to copy, print, and study the manufacturing process documents by taking screenshots on his personal computer at the office and further used such information for a job interview with Xian UnilC Semiconductors Co., Ltd. in China on January 17, 2017, even though his attempt ended up being unsuccessful.  Subsequently, Nanya discovered the unusual high volume of photocopies made by Lee during a routine audit of former employees’ photocopying records and then went into thorough investigation on Lee and unexpectedly found that Lee had printed all of the documents regarding the 20-nanometer process technology.  Later Nanya reported this matter to Taoyuan City Field Division of the Ministry of Justice, and this incident was brought to the relevant prosecutors office and Lee was indicted therefor after conclusion of the prosecutorial investigation.  

　During court trial proceedings, Lee admitted that he took screenshots and downloaded the introduction slides of the 20-nanometer DRAM process technology and printed them, and further had job interviews with Xian UnilC Semiconductors Co., Ltd. either in video or in person in China.  Lee, however, argued that those slides he copied are not trade secrets and he copied them simply for self-improvement.  

　Based on the evidence and information gathered, both Taoyuan District Court in the first instance and the Intellectual Property and Commercial Court of Taiwan in the second instance concluded that the documents copied by Lee, including the processing, data, issues, technologies, implementation and key points with respect to the 20-nanometer DRAM wafer are not easily accessible to individuals who are engaged in the DRAM wafer manufacturing, and these documents have significant impact on production capacity and yield and thus possess substantial economic value.  Therefore, the courts sustained that the documents Lee copied constitute Nanya’s trade secrets.  

　According to the court judgments, Lee fully realized that he was not allowed to reproduce Nanya’s trade secrets without authorization, but despite of that and for his job interview, he still reproduced the trade secrets which carry substantial economic value and are crucial to the company’s survival.  Also Lee denied the offense alleged against him, and therefore, the courts sentenced Lee to a jail sentence for 22 months.  The Supreme Court affirmed the decisions made by the courts in the first and second instances and dismissed Lee’s appeal, making the decisions final with binding force.  (Released 2024.03.04) 
/CCS