After first floating $20bn penalty, DoJ suggests $60m fine for UMC's theft of Micron’s DRAM secrets

After first floating $20bn penalty, DoJ suggests $60m fine for UMC's theft of Micron’s DRAM secrets

Taiwanese chip-maker United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC) will plead guilty to theft of trade secrets from Micron Technologies and pay a $60m fine to the USA.


The case was brought in 2018 when the US Department of Justice (DoJ) alleged that UMC and Chinese outfit Fujian Jinhua Integrated Circuit conspired to steal Micron’s DRAM technology, including details of manufacturing processes, in order to start their own DRAM business. It’s alleged that those documents came from three former Taiwan-based Micron staffers who went to work on the joint UMC and Fujian project.


UMC and Fujian gave the game away when they applied for patents on their own DRAM tech that bore eerie resemblance to Micron’s own documentation. The three workers have since been found guilty of the theft in Taiwan and charged by US authorities.


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