Tokyo Electron confirms Taiwan unit employee's involvement in intellectual property case

Tokyo Electron Ltd said on Thursday a former employee of its Taiwan subsidiary was involved in a case cited by the Intellectual Property Branch of the Taiwan High Prosecutors Office on Tuesday.

Taiwanese authorities have detained three people for allegedly stealing technology trade secrets from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), the world's largest chip foundry, Taiwanese prosecutors said on Tuesday. 

Tokyo Electron, a Japanese chip-making machinery maker, said in a statement it has dismissed the employee involved and that its internal investigation has found no evidence of confidential information being shared with third parties.

Tokyo Electron said it is fully cooperating with authorities in the investigation, but declined to disclose further information, saying "the case is now under judicial review".

Nikkei Asia earlier reported that the breach involved suspected attempts to obtain critical proprietary information on TSMC's 2-nanometer chip technology.

Shares of Tokyo Electron closed the morning session down 3.2%, while the benchmark Nikkei average rose 0.8%. 

Reuters