Micron: DRAM trade secrets stolen by UMC for Chinese firm

Half a year ago, we wrote Chinese memory makers are facing legal trouble. Now there's an update over at NY Times, about Micron's legal battle to protect its DRAM technology. In short, the US-based memory maker alleges that it was the target of a heist in Taiwan, in which engineers from foundry UMC stole DRAM trade secrets for Chinese state-backed memory maker Fujian Jinhua Integrated Circuit Company.

Here's some background information about what got Micron suspicious:

First, UMC lured away engineers from Micron’s Taiwan operations with promises of raises and bonuses, according to the Taiwanese authorities. Then, it asked them to take some of Micron’s secrets with them, according to Micron’s court filings and the authorities. The engineers illegally took with them more than 900 files that contained key specifications and details about Micron’s advanced memory chips, the authorities said.

Micron grew suspicious, according to its court documents, after discovering that one of its departing engineers had turned to Google for instructions on how to wipe a company laptop. Later, at a recruiting event in the United States aimed at Micron employees, Jinhua and UMC showed PowerPoint slides that used Micron’s internal code names when discussing future chips it would make, according to the court documents.